Professor Goodlander’s main area of research and teaching centers puppetry and objects to explore the tensions between tradition and modernity as expressed in transnational performance, literature, and other arts—primarily in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. She is especially interested in the productive boundary between text, embodiment, material culture, and visual representation as investigated through an ethnographic lens.
Currently, Dr. Goodlander is working on several projects related to intercultural performance theory in order to trouble the Western hegemonic dynamic generally associated with intercultural performance by drawing on recent theories of global Asia(s).
Research Areas:
- Performing traditions of SE Asia, especially shadow puppetry; Japanese performing arts: noh, kyogen, kabuki, taiko; Asian performance as it intersects with gender studies, ethnography, performance studies, postcolonial theory, visual culture studies
