Dr Lourdes Orozco

Dr Lourdes Orozco

Profile

Contemporary theatre and performance practice; animal studies; cultural policy.

Dr Lourdes Orozco, BA, Barcelona; MA, PhD, Durham

I am a Theatre Studies scholar with a background in Modern European Languages and Societies, Literary Studies and Cultural Studies. My BA degree at the University of Barcelona covered all these areas with a final focus on Theatre Studies in the last two years.

I moved to the UK in 1998 to finish my degree at the University of Bristol and continued my Post-graduate studies at the University of Durham, where I completed my PhD on cultural policy and national identity in the city of Barcelona. My first academic job was at Goldmiths College, University of London where I worked in the School of English and Comparative Literature.

 

Since my arrival at the University of Leeds in 2006, I have developed my academic profile in Contemporary Theatre and Performance practices, Animal Studies, Environmental Humanities and Cultural Policy.

Research interests

My first research project, published as a book in 2007 (Teatro y Politica en Barcelona: 1980-2000) was a study of the cultural policy affecting Barcelona's theatre from the transition years to the millennium. In this project I was particularly interested in highlighting how Catalan politics have played an important role in shaping the theatre of this city and I have, since then, developed an acute interest on the field of cultural politics and cultural economics in general. This interest is ongoing and can be seen in my current work on cultural policy in the city of Leeds - the Donut Pilot Project - in collaboration with Prof David Bell (School of Geography) and Dr Ben Walmsley (School of Performance and Cultural Industries). See film summarising the project here

My recent publications focus largely on contemporary performance practice with special focus in Western Europe. I have co-edited two special issues of Contemporary Theatre Review on Catalan Theatre and on Flemish Theatre which embrace different aspects of the making and producing of theatre in these regions as well as dealing with theatre's interaction with politics and national identity issues. I have written on the work of contemporary Euopean directors such as Rodrigo Garcia, Jan Fabre, Alain Platel, Albert Boadella, Alex Rigola, Simon McBurney and Robert Lepage amongst others.

I have a strong interest in the intersection between Theatre and Performance Studies and Animal Studies. I am particularly interested in how animals (live or otherwise) feature in performance and how performance might be a productive platform to investigate animal-human relations. This work will materialize in the publication of Theatre & Animals, Performing Animality: Animals in Contemporary Performance Practices. Click on  Performance Pod 205 to hear a recent podcast on my research on theatre and animals.

I am the current Editor of Performing Ethos: An International Journal of Ethics in Theatre and Performance (Intellect).

 

Research Supervision

I would be willing to supervise projects on the following areas: contemporary European Theatre and Performance, contemporary European directors; risk and contemporary theatre and performance; animals in theatre and performance; theatre and cultural politics/economics.

 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • PhD
  • MA
  • BA
  • PGCE

Professional memberships

  • TaPRA
  • PSi
  • IFTR

Student education

I am a Lecturer in Theatre Studies and a member of the teaching team in the Workshop Theatre delivering the course BA in English and Theatre Studies. I deliver core and option modules for this degree which include lectures, seminars and practical workshops. I regularly design, teach and assess the following modules: Approaches of Theatre and Performance (Level 1, core), Drama: Reading and Interpretation (Level 1, core), Theatre Society and Self (Level 2, core) and The Practical Essay (Level 3, core). I have also designed, taught and assessed option modules for the School of English such as Opposition Theatre; Text, Body and Space and Undisciplined Theatre.

Research groups and institutes

  • Environmental Humanities Research Group
<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>