Christopher Swift’s Profile
medieval and early modern theatre and religion, avant-garde performance, puppets and automata, object oriented ontology, the production of space
My Courses
A survey of the development of architectural and scenic styles in the physical structure of theatre from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its most current forms. Emphasis placed on the stylistic influences of theoreticians and artistic movements. Interdisciplinary Option: This course is a conversation between theater history and architecture. As such, the work in class focuses on purpose-built and adapted spaces for live performance. Each week we will examine historical theatre spaces and technologies in the context of prevailing cultural and social forces in order to better understand audience/stage relationships. To fulfill the interdisciplinary requirements for this course, specialists from architecture, art history, and performance technology will guest lecture six times over the course of the semester.Students will learn skill-sets from architecture technology: GIS mapping and hand sketching. Avatar image credit: Filippo Brunelleschi, Perspective Drawing for Church of Santo Spirito in Florence, 1428
A survey of the development of architectural and scenic styles in the physical structure of theatre from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its most current forms. Emphasis placed on the stylistic influences of theoreticians and artistic movements. Interdisciplinary Option: This course is a conversation between theater history and architecture. As such, the work in class focuses on purpose-built and adapted spaces for live performance. Each week we will examine historical theatre spaces and technologies in the context of prevailing cultural and social forces in order to better understand audience/stage relationships. To fulfill the interdisciplinary requirements for this course, specialists from architecture, art history, and performance technology will guest lecture six times over the course of the semester.Students will learn skill-sets from architecture technology: GIS mapping and hand sketching. Avatar image credit: Filippo Brunelleschi, Perspective Drawing for Church of Santo Spirito in Florence, 1428
ENG2180 OER Studies in Identity and Orientation
This course provides students with an introductory understanding of identity, focusing specifically on the concepts of gender and sexuality as they intersect with race, class, ethnicity, and other aspects of social location and identification. Students will analyze the appearance of gender and sexuality as integrated social concepts by reading and discussing contemporary American literature across multiple genres and media, learning relevant biographical information about the authors, situating the texts within their historical and literary context, and exploring the major symbols and themes present in the work.
LIB / ARCH 2205ID Swift / Almeida FA19
This special topics course offers an interdisciplinary approach to investigating our built environment using a case study focused on a specific place each semester. This course combines physical examination with information research and data collection using methodologies developed in multiple disciplines. Students from a variety of departments engage in on-site exploration and in-depth research of a location in New York City.
AFR1130 Africana Folklore Spring 2018
A study of African folklore on the African continent and the African Diaspora. As a “bridge course,” Africana Folklore is specifically designed for students who are not CUNY reading and writing proficient. Prerequisite: None This course explores the oral, customary and material folklore of Africans and their descendants in the Americas and the Caribbean. We will use readings and films to examine various ways West African folklore was transmitted to and survived in the New World, and how Africans in the Americas created new oral, customary and material traditions. The survival and maintenance of African lore and the creation of new traditions through combination with Native and European traditions functioned as survival mechanisms for the all the peoples in the Americas and influenced global culture. We will compare and contrast fictional and historical folk characters from Africa, the Northern and Southern American hemispheres, with a special focus on the English, Spanish and French-speaking Caribbean. We will examine some of the customs and practices that continue to exist in those regions and how all have contributed to global culture. In addition to required readings, there will also be weekly writing exercises. This course is designed to help prepare the student for further academic study in general, and African, African-American and Caribbean studies, specifically. It will introduce the student to the various disciplines that inform the study of people of African descent worldwide.
My Projects
Repository for planning and information for multi-year blended reality Wayang theatre project
City Tech’s Source for Academic Affairs Information
Interdisciplinary Studies Committee
Fall 2024 December 9 (Monday) (tentative) Spring 2025 February 13 (Thursday) March 13 (Thursday) April 24 (Thursday) May 15 (Thursday) (tentative)
Legislative Committee, College Council
The Legislative Committee of College Council needs a virtual space to share its work. We will eventually add a public site for the limited content that we want the college community to access.
The Project Site for the New YorK City College of Technology College Council.
My Clubs
Theatreworks, the resident theatre company at New York City College of Technology, is composed of students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members. Founded in 1974, Theatreworks has been recognized in the media and theater circles for its commitment to professionalism in performance, technology and the advancement of multicultural casting and crews in plays, videos, musicals, dance and other events. This unique approach to theatre has given Theatreworks citywide recognition and an audience from the greater New York area. Theatreworks is now performing in the state-of-the-art Voorhees Theatre, where a haunted hotel, the Gravesend Inn, has opened each October to hundreds of spectators for over 13 years. Each spring semester a resident group is hosted on campus to work with the Theatreworks students. Student technicians receive valuable training by participating in the lighting, sound, costume, video, publicity and scenery crews for performances each year. Theatreworks alumni can be found in the professional theater, in television and concert venues, and working with many theater-related companies in their respective communities. For further information about Theatreworks, call Professor Chip Scott in the Entertainment Technology Office in the Voorhees Building, room V 205, at 718.260.5590 or email cscott@citytech.cuny.edu
This club is a place for COM 1330 Public Speaking Instructors to share great ideas for teaching speech. This is the “profile” page of the club. If you want to visit the website, please click “Visit Club Site” on the upper right. If you want to view the uploaded files, click on “Files” on the right hand menu. On the “Files” page you can also upload your own assignments, rubrics, videos, etc. You can also access the “Files” page from the “Files” link on the Club Site. To access the Club Site, click on the “Visit Club Site” link on the upper right of this page. If you have any questions, feel free to contact dlee@citytech.cuny.edu
CityTech Theatre Students and Faculty Brainstorm Archive Chat Post
Restricted site for theatre faculty
Communication Curriculum Committee — Department of Humanities
Repository for research, documents, and curriculum materials for communication faculty, Department of Humanities.
