Tuesday, Nov 19, 4pm-6pm
Room 9207

Join us as Christine Bacareza Balance presents ongoing research and writing from her book project, Making Sense of Martial Law. In it, she studies what the diverse and contradictory poetics of Philippine martial law (1972-1986) perform and reveal about authoritarianism and cultural memory, as illustrated by both U.S.- and Philippines-based performances and productions. Making Sense of Martial Law also aims to illuminate important facets of the relationship between art and politics in dictatorships across the globe.

Balance will offer a short presentation addressing the book’s main arguments, themes, and structure, and her research & writing process, as a way to open up discussion with others working in the fields of performance studies, cultural studies, transnational American studies, Filipino/Filipino American studies, and Southeast Asian studies, as well as those interested in bridging critical & creative writing, scholarly & public humanities projects.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Christine Bacareza Balance is an Associate Professor of Performing & Media Arts and Asian American Studies and core faculty in the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) at Cornell University.

For 2024, she is the Thomas Tam Visiting Professor with the Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI) at CUNY. Her writings on former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, Asian American YouTube artists, Bruno Mars, Glee’s karaoke aesthetics, and spree killer Andrew Cunanan have been published in various academic journals. Balance is the author of Tropical Renditions: Making Musical Scenes in Filipino America and co-editor of California Dreaming: Movement & Place in the Asian American Imaginary. She has collaborated with arts organizations Visual Communications (VC), KulArts, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), and CinemaSala on various public humanities projects.

 

Co-sponsored by the Asian American/Asian Research Institute, the MA in Liberal Studies program, and the PhD/MA program in Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies