This course takes advantage of New York City’s extensive performance and participatory art programming. Grounded in historical frameworks and critical texts emerging from performance studies, students will gain an understanding of contemporary performance and participatory art. We will visit spaces such as, but not limited to, The Kitchen, PAGEANT, PerformanceSpace, Danspace Project, Park Avenue Armory, Abrons Art Center, and live performance and activations accompanying museum and gallery exhibitions across the city. This elective coincides with the 2025 Performa Biennial, a three-week showcase of newly commissioned works by contemporary visual artists in November. Together we will consider what structures elicit dependent participation and the role of embodiment as an audience member. This course aims to unsettle notions of the spectacle, deepen considerations of the body and site, and attend to the socio-political subjectivities at play in live performance.