PhD Oral Exam - Allison Peacock, Humanities

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

Simultaneous Natures: A Gardening Triptych in Montreal uses an interdisciplinary combination of Performance Studies, Ethnography, Geography, and Research-Creation to examine the performances and the practices of gardening in Montreal, Canada. The research is composed of three local fieldwork case studies in Montreal, a city full of social, cultural, linguistic, and deindustrializing frictions (Tsing), and develops a reflexive choreographic work to accompany each study. The introduction describes the project, methodology, and establishes a recent history of site-specific dance performance in urban gardens, asking what is at stake in the overlapping characteristics of horticultural and dance practices by comparing the technicity of gardeners and dancers who call on embodied knowledge to perform tasks and observe the details of the places around them. The first fieldwork study concentrates on the Japanese Garden at Espace pour la vie (formerly the Montreal Botanical Garden) designed by Ken Nakajima, concentrating on the interplay of the garden’s key elements: rocks, plants, and water. The second fieldwork study is an ethnographic portrait of a professional urban gardener heading public gardens for a small Montreal municipality over the course of a season, concentrating on the physical technicity of gardening. The third fieldwork study is a long-term observation of a local Home Depot Parking Lot (2019-2024). The Home Depot Parking Lot/Garden becomes a speculative place to admire the remnants of capitalist excess amidst a broad definition of a garden. A final section gives context and describes site-related choreographies for each of the gardening studies, analyzing and disseminating the research through corresponding artistic works to reveal what is embedded in the garden through embodied knowledge, dedicated practice, and long-term observation.