Bachelor of Arts in Theatre

Students engage in content, methods, and practices with faculty in order to develop the capacity to use theatre as a medium to connect with audiences.

Theatre outcomes at a glance

• 77% are employed within eight months of graduation.
• 12% are in volunteer service programs such as AmeriCorps.
• 7% are accepted into graduate school or a professional internship.

Students engage critically and creatively with the wider culture that surrounds them while they analyze, evaluate, and produce different narratives across periods, styles, and genres. Students can also customize their major with Theatre electives and one of the Modules of Inquiry:

• Media, Politics & Technology
• Popular Culture and Civic Life
• Digital Storytelling

Foundation courses explore literature, techniques, and criticism. Intermediate courses develop aesthetics, analysis, and history. Advanced courses emphasize criticism, styles, and logistics, leading to a critical and/or creative Senior Project.

Year 1

3 courses. Most majors take all three introductory courses: Introduction to Theatre, Theatre Production (students can focus on scenery, costumes, or lighting), and Acting 1. Most majors participate in one or more Playshop Theatre productions.

Year 2

3-4 courses. Most majors take Text and Performance, a Theatre Elective course (Acting, Directing, Production Design, Management, or Theatre History), and begin their selected Module of Inquiry (usually at the 100- or 200-level). The three modules are Media, Politics, and Technology; Popular Culture and Civic Life; and Digital Storytelling. Most majors complete their first Practicum, which is integrated with a Playshop Theatre production.

Year 3

4+ courses: Most majors take Theatre History 1 or 2, the Junior Seminar, a Theatre Elective, and continue their selected Module of Inquiry (usually at the 200- or 300-level). Most majors complete their second Practicum, which is integrated with a Playshop Theatre production.

Year 4

3 courses: Majors complete their Theatre Electives and Module of Inquiry (300-level courses) as well as complete the Theatre Senior Project, often integrated with a Playshop Theatre production or produced by Student Experimental Theatre (SET).

Theatre majors learn to:

• Situate works and ideas in historical, cultural, and political contexts.
• Analyze critically multiple forms of human expression.
• Create meaningful original work.
• Participate productively in the public sphere.