: As a part of women’s history month, ESU assistant professor of history, Joyce Thierer held a performance named “This Land Can Not Be Sold” last Tuesday night at Bruder Theatre in King Hall in the form of a personal narrative. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin
As a part of women’s history month, ESU assistant professor of history, Joyce Thierer held a performance named “This Land Can Not Be Sold” last Tuesday night at Bruder Theatre in King Hall in the form of a personal narrative.
Thierer portrayed a woman named Grower, who lived in a plains Earth Lodge village before white settlers came. As a composite character, Grower told teaching stories that are stories that have been told by native peoples, and talked about change, trade and farming.
“Some people call it oral biography,” Thierer said. “I chose the name Grower because to grow is what women did, to be a grower, someone to grow things need to be women. I grow thing but there will be more complex name that one will not share with the culture because you have your personal name and public name. ”
The people created by Thierer with the background of American and Western history are concerned about loss not so much of control of the land, but of use of land.
“They know very well what has happened to the peoples to the East, how they have lost the land because the women, not the men, were farming it. For all of these peoples, to farm, to be a producer of food means to be a woman. This is one of the basic clashes of cultures, that of production – what it is and who does it,” Thierer said.
At the end of the performance, the issue for Grower is that of how many of the white ways the people will need to adopt to survive.
“I have never seen this kind of historic performance before. Dr. Joyce left me strong impression and impact with her unique performance,” said Alison Li, junior business major. “I was not familiar with the history that was told tonight before, but now I know it. It’s about hope, about survival, about adjusting to the change. It makes me think about it again and again.”
“With performance, we have one time to connect, and the level of excitement is what I learn from the performance. I am working very hard on my teaching delivery and my teaching style,”
Thierer said.
Thierer held her first performance of Calamity Jane in 1988 while she was working on her doctorate degree in history from Kansas State University and teaching history for Emporia State University.
“History is the story of the choices we have made over time, and the story of how we have explained those choices,” Thierer said.
Some of Thierer’s creative performance teaching styles were inspired by her earlier experience. Thierer has been performing with “Ride into History” since she founded the historic performance touring troupe in 1990.
“The more I think, the much better the students like it,” Thierer said. “Because when I am out on the road, and I drive around campus, and talk to Kansa, I get excited about the topics, so it keeps me always thinking. The performances keep me learning and interested in it,”
Thierer recently published, “Telling History: A Manual for Performers and Presenters of First-Person Narratives,” and also won the Philadelphia Award.
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