As part of this course, a group of 20 journeyed to Broadway in Chicago to see Hamilton on Jan. 24, 2019. This trip provided the opportunity for the class to bond and be ready to engage with the course material on a deeper level.
 
Prof. Shelley Manis is a trained dramaturg and excited to connect the students with this creative curriculum.
 
Below is an excerpt from the official course description:

“Hamilton is everywhere. It’s a show that wasn’t originally meant to be a show, and it has seemingly outgrown the limits of the musical, even of the mega-musical. It’s a show about who the U.S. as a nation want(ed) to be and how we got here--what arguments and debates have shaped us. It’s a show that’s generated lots of arguments and debates about who we are and what we represent. It’s a show that participates in public arguments and debates. It’s a show about history, yes, and representation, yes. But it’s really a show about writing. It cracks writing wide open, as it does everything else it touches (hearts, minds, genres), and it’s a show that generates lots of writing.
Our purpose in this course will be to explore these arguments in and about the show--how it crafts them, who it speaks to, what it invites--in order to craft our own, so that we can join conversations it raises. We’ll do this by engaging with scholarly work in theater and history, reading some of the same source material Miranda used and analyzing how he translated that knowledge to the stage, reading original historical documents, and closely, meticulously analyzing the music, lyrics, staging, and critical and fan reception of the show.”