Document Type   Publication Date    What does it mean to
“perform race?” How do we, and how can we, understand the
relationship between race and performance? This talk will
examine the meanings of various performances and explore the
interrelation of racial performances in everyday life to those
on stage and in film; the case studies in this presentation will
be far ranging, going from the horrible spectacle of slavery to
the plays of Lorraine Hansberry to the film Bamboozled and
finally to the 2012 presidential campaign. After the election,
Dr. Elam will look at how power and politics figured into
representations of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.