Creative Dramatics is an integrative process that develops imaginative thought and creative expression in children. Through the use of movement, pantomime, improvisation, story dramatization and group discussion, children acquire language and communication skills, social awareness, problem-solving abilities, self-concept enhancement, and an understanding of theatre. Rather than an attempt to create professional child actors, the goal of Creative Drama is to guide a child to self-fulfillment through the process of theatre techniques. In this introductory course to Creative Drama, a study group, teachers and Day Care Providers will learn to create and implement drama exercises in their own classrooms and foster an environment where youngsters can feel comfortable to work creatively and think critically. Students will analyze the works of theorists in the field and be able to apply their ideas as well as formulate their own ideas into creative expression. Also, students will learn to contribute to their own students' development as thinking, feeling, and creative human beings.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This studio-based class is taught at the David Brunetti Studio and is part of a partnership with the Yip Harburg Foundation. The goal for the student is to learn a step-by-step process for bringing emotionally alive, theatrical acting to the singing of songs. Student will learn, by doing and observing, about the relationship of acting to singing. They will develop a technique that will allow them to be engaged emotionally while singing; this technique can also be applied to non-musical theater work. Students will begin the development of a repertoire of songs which can later be used for auditioning and performance purposes. Students MUST request permission to take this course

Attributes: Liberal

The purpose for this study is for students to become familiar with therapeutic approaches to drama as tools in treating clients.

In this study, students will learn how to analyze, adapt, and perform literature in a range of genres and styles. The student will choose selected poetry, short story excerpts, and nonfiction materials as source material for developing a series of short solo performances. Students will be encouraged to incorporate an experimental use of movement, sound, music and visual elements in the staging process. The study will examine relevant concepts, practices, and processes of interpretation and performance. The performer’s position as cultural critic and/or ethnographer will be addressed.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This study is an exploration of popular music in relation to social issues, primarily in the United States, from the early decades of the twentieth century to the present. Students will consider how popular music has inspired social change through providing voices of opposition. We will investigate the contributions of selected musical artists that have demonstrated a commitment to social change through responding in song to the development of major social movements. This course is cross listed as MUSC 1030 Popular Culture and Social Justice. Students cannot take both for credit.

Cross-listed with MUSC 1030.

Attributes: American History Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This is a group laboratory that supports the student in creating a dramatic work for the stage. We will spur the playwriting process by reading plays and theoretical texts, participating in weekly work-in-progress readings by their peers, and analyzing and critiquing these works as well as those of established playwrights.

Attributes: Liberal

This introductory independent study will support the student in the construction a dramatic solo work for the stage, culminating in a work-in-progress reading that the student will perform or direct.

Attributes: Liberal

This advanced independent study will support the student in the construction a dramatic solo work for the stage at the advanced level, culminating in a work-in-progress reading that the student will perform or direct.

Attributes: Liberal

This independent study will support the student in writing a dramatic work for the stage at the introductory level, spurring the playwriting process by reading plays and theoretical texts, and culminating in a final work-in-progress reading.

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Performing Arts (ARTP). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

The purpose of this study is to learn about the history and major theories in the field of performance studies. Students will attend and analyze diverse cultural and social performances in a range of urban spaces. Students will investigate topics including performing arts, popular entertainments, rituals, play, games, and performance in everyday life.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this course, students learn, explore and develop skills in a range of techniques of theatre games, improvisation and clowning, which can be incorporated into performance improvisation, playbuilding, group and community building, and can also be used as tools in social change, personal growth and education.

Attributes: Liberal

In this study students will work together to identify, analyze and write about individual areas of experiential learning gained through the study and practice of performing arts, whether gained in the studio, in rehearsal, performance or in independent study. Students will share these efforts with each other and offer peer support, helping each other to identify and articulate the learning gained through the learning embedded in experience that sometimes feels ephemeral, intuitive or instinctual. (This study may be used to fulfill educational planning with mentor approval.)

Attributes: Liberal

In this study, students will gain experience in the ways in which the tools of theatre can be used to engage communities in dialogue and create change, and in really thinking about the historical and theoretical contexts of the field. The study will address issues ranging from social justice to health education to conflict resolution.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Performing Arts (ARTP). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

In this study, the student will develop, design, and present a solo performance work. Using the student's preferred medium such as memoir writing, letters, choreography, photography, music, sound, etc. as a starting point, he/she will develop a solo piece while incorporating additional elements. The student will explore a range of materials, processes and practices used in developing work in this genre. The history of performance will be investigated in order to provide a frame of reference for the student's own work. The study will culminate in an informal presentation of the student's solo work-in-progress. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): a background in one or more art disciplines

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The purpose of this advanced level study is to investigate the history, theory, and development of physical theatre in the United States and Europe with a focus on the practice of physical theatre since the 1950's.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This studio-based class is taught at the David Brunetti Studio and is part of a partnership with the Yip Harburg Foundation. The goal for the student is to work at the advanced level to deepen the process of bringing emotionally alive, theatrical acting to the singing of songs, begin to work on character, to act and sing duets, and develop an advanced level repertoire for audition and performance. Students MUST request permission to take this course.

Attributes: Liberal

In this study, students will learn how to analyze, adapt, and perform literature in a range of genres and styles. The student will choose selected poetry, short story excerpts, and nonfiction materials as source material for developing a series of short solo performances. Students will be encouraged to incorporate an experimental use of movement, sound, music and visual elements in the staging process. The study will examine relevant concepts, practices, and processes of interpretation and performance. The performer’s position as cultural critic and/or ethnographer will be addressed.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study, we will survey the development of avant-garde performance, aesthetics, and culture from the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth-century. Students will learn about seminal figures and innovative practices in modernist movements including Symbolism, Expressionism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Constructivism. Students will learn about the exciting world of cabaret and follow its progression in major cities throughout Europe. We will continue our investigation of postmodernist art and performance in the late twentieth-century, will address the evolution of avant-garde theatre, Happenings, Fluxus, body art, and performance art. Throughout, we will consider contested definitions and theories of performance. Prerequisites include training and/or a practical background in the arts.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This study is an exploration of popular music in relation to social issues, primarily in the United States, from the early decades of the twentieth century to the present. Students will consider how popular music has inspired social change through providing voices of opposition. We will investigate the contributions of selected musical artists that have demonstrated a commitment to social change through responding in song to the development of major social movements.

Cross-listed with MUSC 3035.

Attributes: American History Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This is a group laboratory that supports the student in creating a dramatic work for the stage at the advanced level. We will spur the playwriting process by reading plays and theoretical texts, participating in weekly work-in-progress readings by their peers, and analyzing and critiquing these works as well as those of established playwrights. 1. Critically examine the dramatic elements in their own work and in those of others. 2. Analyze each work in terms of possibilities and process for their own work. 3. Develop student’s own language and theories of playwriting. This class may be repeated up to three times. The topics and focus of the course vary each term and student work is individualized.

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Performing Arts (ARTP). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

The student will investigate the materials, methods, and processes used in developing performance art and installation projects. The student will create a performance art or installation work, drawing on prior experience in one or more aesthetic practices, while exploring new forms and approaches. The student will learn about the history of Live Art practices and original works that integrate performance with installation, media arts, and socially engaged art practices.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study students will learn about some of the exciting theoretical and practical work that theater and performance artists have written about over the past 100+ years. It is important to remember that 'theories' are always based in 'practice' and that 'practice' is also grounded in 'theory.' This interesting cyclical relationship between theory and practice will inform the work completed.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study students will work together to identify, analyze and write about individual areas of experiential learning gained through the study and practice of performing arts, whether gained in the studio, in rehearsal, performance or in independent study. Advanced level students will share these efforts with each other and offer peer support, helping each other to identify and articulate the learning gained through the learning embedded in experience that sometimes feels ephemeral, intuitive or instinctual. (This study may be used to fulfill educational planning with mentor approval.)

Attributes: Liberal

This advanced independent study will support the student in the construction a dramatic solo work for the stage at the advanced level, culminating in a work-in-progress reading that the student will perform or direct.

Attributes: Liberal

This independent study will support the student in writing a dramatic work for the stage at the advanced level, spurring the playwriting process by reading plays and theoretical texts, and culminating in a final work-in-progress reading.

Attributes: Liberal

This advanced independent study will support the student in the revising and further developing a solo musical, telling the story in a one-person show through song and text, culminating in a work-in-progress reading with music that the student will perform or direct. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): experience in music composition or songwriting

Attributes: Liberal

This advanced independent study will support the student in the development of an original work for the stage based on or inspired by historical figures or factual events, spurring the playwriting process by reading historical plays and theoretical texts, as well as researching the subject area, culminating in a final work-in-progress reading.

Attributes: Liberal

In this study, students will gain experience in the ways in which the tools of theatre can be used to engage communities in dialogue and create change, and in really thinking about the historical and theoretical contexts of the field. The study will cover theatre as it engages issues ranging from social justice to health education to conflict resolution.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Performing Arts (ARTP). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.