In this course, students will engage in the study of notable plays written by African-American playwrights including Lorraine Hansberry, LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Adrienne Kennedy, Ntozake Shange, George C. Wolfe, Suzan-Lori Parks, August Wilson and Anna Deavere Smith. Students will also learn about each of these seminal playwrights and their stylistic contributions to US theater. As each play is analyzed, students will explore how these plays relate to US culture, history, and politics while also considering how race, gender, sexuality and class are reflected in these works.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study, students will learn about the history of theater in the United States from the colonial days to the present. They will engage in learning about important plays, playwrights, producers, actors, directors, theaters and significant events such as theater riots. This theatrical history will be contextualized with the social, political, and economic history of the United States during this time.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The student will begin this study by learning about the context of Japanese theatre within the study of global theater history. This will help her situate her learning about Japanese theatre within various historical and cultural movements. Then, the student will turn her attention to the history of Japanese theatre and how that history has evolved today. In particular, she will study Kabuki, Bunraku, Noh, and Kyogen styles of performance. She will learn how these styles of theater have developed over time as she studies the dramaturgy, acting styles, design, and music of these important forms of theater and performance. As theater is created within and as a response to other aspects of society, the student will also study distinctive features of the history, institutions, economy, society, and wider culture of Japan. She will complete her study by investigating how these performance forms have evolved in our current times.

Attributes: Liberal

This study engages students in a wide range of 20th and 21st century plays written by US playwrights. Explore how these plays relate to US culture, society and politics as you consider how race, gender, sexuality and class are reflected in them. Some questions you will consider include: What makes a play 'American?' When does US drama tend to suggest new ways to construct society and when does it reflect familiar customs? Additionally, students will consider dramatic structure and how different playwrights use dramatic structure to achieve various goals.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

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

In this study, students will learn about the history of western theater as it developed in Greece, Rome and Asia as well as in Europe during the medieval period and the Renaissance. This study situates developments in theater within the context of political, social and cultural frameworks and focuses on innovations in theater architecture, scene design, acting, dramatic literature, and audience patronage. Students will also learn about the accomplishments of great theater artists (architects, designers, actors, directors and playwrights) as you explore their contributions within a social-historical context.

Attributes: 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, we will ask the following kinds of questions: How does theatre make meaning? How are gender, class and race represented in the plays we read? Who makes theatre? Who is represented and who is left out? Who is the intended audience? How does theatre reflect and/or shape social, political and economic reality? What are the functions of theatre in a given moment? How do we come to what we assume we know about theatre history, and what are the forces that shape the ways theatre history is recorded and understood? Although we will focus on 19th century and beyond, we will look first at classic Greek theatre as a way in to our study. We will consider a range of interpretive and critical approaches, combining readings of dramatic texts, theories and histories with viewings, writing, student presentations and discussion.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

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

In this course, students will engage in the study of notable plays written by African-American playwrights including Lorraine Hansberry, LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Adrienne Kennedy, Ntozake Shange, George C. Wolfe, Suzan-Lori Parks, August Wilson and Anna Deavere Smith. Students will also learn about each of these seminal playwrights and their stylistic contributions to US theater. As each play is analyzed, students will explore how these plays relate to US culture, history, and politics while also considering how race, gender, sexuality and class are reflected in these works.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This is a study of race and representation in theatre and performance in historical context and how these both respond to and shape socio-political, economic and cultural issues.

Attributes: Liberal

In this study, students will learn about the history of theater in the United States from the colonial days to the present. They will engage in learning about important plays, playwrights, producers, actors, directors, theaters and significant events such as theater riots. This theatrical history will be contextualized with the social, political, and economic history of the United States during this time.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Students will survey classical Greek drama by reading in depth several key works by four great playwrights in this era.They are advised to read for what seems to be the playwright's 'position' on his subject, as best as this can be determined in such complex and elusive work, and then to determine how the various characters, situations, and incidents help to dramatize this position. Students should also consider the nature of the gods as presented in each play, as well as each play's estimation of mankind. In a more conventional approach, he/she should consider the relevancy, as appropriate, in each play of concepts such as tragedy, comedy, family curse, tragic flaw, recognition, reversal and 'final gesture of heroism'.

Attributes: Liberal

In this interactive and participatory study group, 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

The purpose of this course is for the student to learn about the major events, and changes over time in American Musical Theatre. The study will examine American social, political, and cultural history as it is reflected in American Musicals. The course will seek to answer the question, 'How has American Musical Theatre told the stories of Americans from its inception in the 1890s to today, and how has it changed over time?'

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The student will begin this advanced level study by learning about the context of Japanese theatre within the study of global theatre history. This will help her situate her learning about Japanese theater within various historical and cultural movements. Then, the student will turn her attention to the history of Japanese theatre and how that history has evolved today. In particular, she will study Kabuki, Bunraku, Noh, and Kyogen styles of performance. She will learn how these styles of theatre have developed over time as she studies the dramaturgy, acting styles, design, and music of these important forms of theatre and performance. As theatre is created within and as a response to other aspects of society, the student will also study distinctive features of the history, institutions, economy, society, and wider culture of Japan. She will complete her study by investigating how these performance forms have evolved in our current times.

Attributes: Liberal

This study engages students in a wide range of 20th and 21st century plays written by US playwrights. Explore how these plays relate to US culture, society and politics as you consider how race, gender, sexuality and class are reflected in them. Some questions you will consider include: What makes a play 'American?' When does US drama tend to suggest new ways to construct society and when does it reflect familiar customs? Additionally, students will consider dramatic structure and how different playwrights use dramatic structure to achieve various goals.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study, we will ask the following kinds of questions: How does theatre make meaning? How are gender, class and race represented in the plays we read? Who makes theatre? Who is represented and who is left out? Who is the intended audience? How does theatre reflect and/or shape socio-political and economic reality? What are the functions of theatre in a given moment? How do we come to what we assume we know about theatre history, and what are the forces that shape the ways theatre history is recorded and understood? Although we will focus on 19th century and beyond, we will look first at preliterate forms (ritual, storytelling, shamanism) and on classic Greek theatre as a way in to our study. We will consider a range of interpretive and critical approaches, combining readings of dramatic texts, theories and histories with viewings, writing, student presentations and discussion in order to critically examine material, analyze assumptions and compare and contrast points of view. Note: Students undertaking this study at the advanced level should begin with a background in theatre or history or both.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

We will explore ways in which tools of theatre have and can help people to grapple with specific health challenges and the broader health of their communities. We will look at theatre both on stage and in non-traditional venues. We will examine international examples of applied theatre: engaged participatory theatre as a method to foster social change and critical education in a variety of health contexts. These include theatre for health education and prevention, such as responses to the AIDS pandemic, health in refugee settings, in the field of aging and dementia care, in women's health, and regarding issues of gender inequality. We will also look at on-stage theatre that represents and responds to specific health situations such as the Federal Theatre Project's Spirochette (syphillis) in the 1930s, Tony Kushner's Angels in America (HIV/AIDS), and Robbie McCauley's one-person show, Sugar (diabetes). Finally, we will examine contemporary theatrical responses, both on and off stage, to the global pandemic of COVID 19.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The purpose of the study is to expose the student to the solo queer theatre movement in America. Examination of the historical political, social and personal constructs of queer solo performance artists. In addition, the course will examine and analyze the structure, forms and production techniques utilized by these artists.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This interdisciplinary project-based course applies theoretical learning in digital media arts and technologies to individualized projects that incorporate at least one arts-based technology. Students will have the opportunity to develop their unique aesthetic vision and technical expertise while experimenting with new forms, within the framework of arts-based learning and research. They will design, implement, build, install, program and/or perform for an audience/viewer/learner within the context of their choice, whether this is within mixed media installations, virtual worlds, a live simulcast, or other digital distribution systems. The primary course project will be threaded throughout the course, including processes such as a proposal, storyboard, script, rough cut/dry run, and refined project. The course will include a critical analysis of aesthetic, ethical, social and professional considerations. Students will be expected to use social media, web 2.0 tools, and emerging media environments and potential control software: iE Isadora, Max/Jitter or Q-Lab. for course communications and research.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed

This study will expose the student to a variety of contemporary plays by women from diverse backgrounds. Issues of theme and dramatic structure will be studied along with analyzing the images of culture and demographics of women in contemporary theatre. Prior to taking this course, students should have some previous dramatic literature, cultural studies, or women's studies course work.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This course analyzes the theatrical aspects of the Tony Award winning musical, Hamilton. Students will explore the evolution of this musical and will delve into a creative critique of the musical’s story, music, choreography, staging, design elements, casting and more. We will also study the creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and will situate his work within theater history. We will consider questions such as: Why is this musical so popular? What makes this musical stand out from other musicals? And, as so many people ask, why are tickets to this musical so expensive? Note: Students in this course are *required* to secure access to the video version of the original NYC production through Disney+ or similar platforms.  

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

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

Shakespeare's plays are excellent pieces of literature but they were originally performed live by actors. Today, more people see Shakespeare's work through film than any other medium. This study examines seminal film productions of various Shakespeare plays including Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Richard III, Othello, and As You Like It. Students will read these plays and then watch assigned films to analyze how these films bring the worlds created by Shakespeare to life for contemporary film audiences. Literary criticism and film criticism will help us along on our journey as students consider how scholars and critics have also reacted to these important cinematic works.

Attributes: Liberal

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