What does the history of tuberculosis in South Africa illuminate about contemporary politics in the region?
| An innovative series of "performance lectures" combining creative expression and theoretical inquiry offer new ways to study colonial and postcolonial histories of tuberculosis. |
This research project will explore biographies and geographies of breath through a focus on the colonial histories and postcolonial politics surrounding tuberculosis in South Africa. It will be a research- and performance-based collaborative endeavor between anthropologist Kaushik Sunder Rajan (University of Chicago), writer Stacy Hardy (Polokwane and Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa), and composer Neo Muyanga (Cape Town, South Africa). Together, we will plan and perform six performance lectures over the three-year period of this grant, targeted towards different kinds of audiences in different venues. The sixth lecture will be a synthetic performance lecture that incorporates elements from and reflects upon the trajectory of the first five lectures, and will be held at the University of Chicago. Sunder Rajan will also teach two graduate seminars on Pulmonographies over a three-year period at the University of Chicago.
Lecturer in Creative Writing
Rhodes University
Stacy Hardy is a writer, researcher, and editor whose work explores the intersections of embodiment, the individual, and society. Her writing has appeared in various anthologies and journals including the New Orleans Review, New Contrasts, The Evergreen Review,...
Independent Composer and Musician
Neo Muyanga is a composer and installation artist. His work traverses new opera, improvisation and African idiomatic song. He lives and works out of Cape Town.
To learn more about his work and hear his music, please visit his website.
Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in the College; Co-Director, Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory
University of Chicago
Kaushik Sunder Rajan works on the global political economy of the life sciences and biomedicine, with an empirical focus on India, South Africa, and the United States. He is the author of Biocapital: The Constitution of Postgenomic Life (2006) and Pharmocracy: Value, Politics, and...
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Tamara Guhrs and Stacy Hardy discuss the multiple failures in their attempt to stage Franz Fanon's 'The Drowning Eye.'
Scholars Bharat Jayram Venkat (At the Limits of Cure) and Janina Kehr (Specters of Tuberculosis) will discuss their histories of disease and cure.
Performance Lecture by Frida Robles and Stacy Hardy
Experimental performance by Asher Gamedze and the Black Lungs
Lecture performance and listening session featuring Stacy Hardy, James Webb, and Asher Gamedze
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Tamara Guhrs and Stacy Hardy discuss the multiple failures in their attempt to stage Franz Fanon's 'The Drowning Eye.'
Scholars Bharat Jayram Venkat (At the Limits of Cure) and Janina Kehr (Specters of Tuberculosis) will discuss their histories of disease and cure.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Performance Lecture by Frida Robles and Stacy Hardy
Experimental performance by Asher Gamedze and the Black Lungs
Lecture performance and listening session featuring Stacy Hardy, James Webb, and Asher Gamedze
