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In this course, we explore the ways in which artists in theater and dance create performances. In particular, we will focus on collaboration as the primary mode of artists' creative research. How do collaborating artists play with one other? What kinds of conversations are the most generative? How can we interact playfully with movement, text, space, and time? How do the design elements of performance (such as light, sound, objects, etc.) “play” with each other? Study of performance conventions and forms, seminal performance works, and theoretical readings will provide context for experiential learning. Through the creation of short pieces, students will learn to embrace the role of improvisation in various rehearsal situations and creative discussions, and increase their sensory awareness and responsiveness to others, while distinguishing among modes of thought and action. Regular journaling and writing will be required. In addition, visits to in-progress rehearsals and performances outside of class will also be included.
Two class meetings per week. Spring semester. Professors Bashford and Kim.
2022-23: Not offeredThis introductory course focuses on movement as a language that communicates our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, habits and sensations. We will explore and expand our individual movement vocabularies through improvisation and various movement practices. Each week different practices and themes will be introduced to offer multiple viewpoints, different ways of moving, approaches of dance/performance making and compositional methodologies. The emphasis of the course will be exploration and trials in attempting various approaches and aesthetics. Working in small groups collaboratively, students will develop creative projects based on their questions and interests, through a process that includes creative research, rehearsals, work-in-progress showings, and feedback. The creative projects will be shared in an open showing at the end of the semester. Selected readings and viewing of videos will be included to give students a broad overview of dance, movement practices and methodologies of dance/performance making. Examples include Jonathan Burrow, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, Alva Noë, Marilyn Arsem and Liz Magic Laser among others.
Limited to 20 students. Six seats reserved for first-year students. Fall semester Professor Kim. Spring Semester Professor Riegel.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022, Spring 2023A first college-level course in the fundamentals of acting, with an emphasis on the connections between dramatic action and character. Students learn how to analyze dramatic texts and bring them to life through a collaborative process, and by using body, voice and imagination. Classwork includes regular exercises designed to develop acting craft. Homework includes memorization, regular rehearsals and relevant reading, alongside practical research and short writing in various modes. Assignments progress toward realizing performed scenes.
Limited to 20 students. In the fall, six seats reserved for first-year students. Fall and Spring semesters. Professor Sears.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022, Spring 2023The study and practice of ballet as a contemporary movement vocabulary. Objectives include the intellectual and physical introduction to, or continuing practice in, ballet, as well as increased body awareness, alignment, flexibility, coordination, strength, musical phrasing and the expressive potential of movement. The course material is presented at the beginning/intermediate level. A half course. This course may be repeated for credit.
Fall semester. The Department.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022In this studio course for beginners and intermediate dancers, students will learn about the dance techniques and culture of Hip-Hop, a popular form of Afro-diasporic cultural production and, for many, a lifestyle. Dance is a community thing. Students will learn about what differentiates hip-hop from related dance movements, alongside movements from the funk era, and social party dances from the 80’s to today. This study of movement vocabulary will be contextualized in analyses of hip hop’s history, culture, underground, and current trends, as well as the similarities between the movement today and before the movement was named “Hip-Hop.” Students will build stamina, strength, and expand their Hip-Hop vocabulary. The focus is on body awareness, musicality, and drills designed to help students master the movement, and most importantly, themselves, as they learn to understand, speak, walk, move, and create with the language of Hip-Hop culture. Through practice and repetition, and by working collaboratively with classmates, students will develop a greater capacity to learn intricate choreography, multiple combinations, and explore their own creative expression. Film and reading will create a framework from which to enter into the global culture of Hip-Hop and other dance styles influenced by it. This course may be repeated for credit.
Limited to 30 students. Fall semester and spring semester. Visiting Instructor Jean-Philippe.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022, Spring 2023A beginning studio course in the development of voice for speaking. Students develop range and tone through regular physical exercises in relaxation, breathing technique, placement, and presence. Individual attention focuses on helping each student develop the physical, mental, and emotional self-awareness needed for expressive vocal production. Practice is oriented toward acting for the stage, but students with a primary interest in public speaking, teaching, or improved interpersonal communication will find this course valuable. A modicum of reading and written reflection is required. Three class meetings per week. A half course.
Limited to 28 students. Six spaces reserved for first-year students. Fall semester. Professor Bashford.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022This is a course in Jazz dance technique with a primary focus on movement practice, while also exploring the socio-cultural aspects of the genre. Through directed improvisational and structured exercises, students will explore rhythmic complexity, musicality, and emotional and theatrical capacity, alongside physical isolations and technical versatility.
Fall semester. Visiting Instructor Baron.
Pending Faculty Approval
2022-23: Not offeredIn this course, students will be introduced to the basic elements of writing for the stage: voice, craft, and process. Students will gain an understanding of what makes playwriting different from other types of narrative storytelling and become familiar with such foundational aspects of craft such as conflict, character objectives, obstacles, and stakes. In parallel to learning the elements of playwriting, students will read plays written by important contemporary playwrights, such as by Lynn Nottage, Dominique Morrisseau, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Kristoffer Diaz, and Martyna Majok. Along with writing short scenes and plays, students will learn the basics of dramaturgical analysis and complete short writing assignments to deepen their understanding of the form. There will be one field trip to New York City to see a live performance.
Limited to 22 students. Fall semester. Professor Choudhury.
Pending Faculty Approval
2022-23: Not offered(Offered as MUSL 182H and THDA 182H) This course provides individual performance instruction in digital music production and recording including sound capture, mixing, mastering, and use of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) to create music. Students have weekly lessons with the instructor with an expectation of five hours per week of practice. The course is open to students of any level, beginning to advanced, and it may be repeated.
Admission with consent of the instructor. Fall and spring semesters.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022, Spring 2023This is a course in intermediate-level contemporary dance as a technique practice and as a topic of cultural study. Using the studio as a laboratory, we will embody increasingly complex and dynamic movement that investigates clarity, freedom, adaptability, and artistry and challenges stamina. Additionally, contemporary dance’s roots and influences will be recognized, explored, and discussed. These include the borrowing and fusing of movement vocabularies from jazz, modern, hip hop, and improvisational dance forms like Contact Improvisation. Weekly readings from such authors as Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Takiyah Nur Amin, and Ann Cooper Albright will serve to deepen our understanding of contemporary dance’s history, evolution, and value as a humanistic endeavor. Regular writing assignments will allow us to reflect on our movement histories and articulate personal goals and progress within the course. This course meets four times per week. Pre-requisite: two or more college-level courses in dance techniques, or equivalent experience. Because the study of dance technique requires ongoing practice, this course may be repeated for credit.
Limited to 20 students. Fall semester. Professor Riegel.
2022-23: Not offeredThis course will include studio sessions in contemporary modern/jazz dance technique at the intermediate level and rehearsal sessions to create original choreography; the completed piece(s) will be presented in concert at the end of the semester. The emphasis in the course will be to increase expressive range, technical skills and performance versatility of the dancer through the practice, creation and performance of technique and choreography. In addition, the course will include required readings, the viewing of dance videos and live performances to give an increased understanding of the historical and contemporary context for the work.
Limited to 12 students. Omitted 2021-2022. Assistant Professor Riegel.
2022-23: Not offeredThe study and practice of contemporary movement vocabularies, including regional dance forms, contact improvisation and various modern dance techniques. Objectives include the intellectual and physical introduction to this discipline as well as increased body awareness, alignment, flexibility, coordination, strength, musical phrasing and the expressive potential of movement. The course material is presented at the intermediate/advanced level. A half course. Because the specific genres and techniques will vary from semester to semester, the course may be repeated for credit.
Requisite: Ballet 1/2 or Ballet 2/3. Omitted 2021-2022.
2022-23: Not offeredThis course will include studio sessions in contemporary modern dance technique at the intermediate level and rehearsal sessions to create original choreography; the new work will be presented at the end of the semester. The emphasis in the course will be to increase expressive range, technical skills and the performance versatility of the performer through the practice, creation and performance of choreography. The course will include readings and video viewings to offer a broader understanding of performance and choreography.
Limited to 18 students. Auditions will be conducted during the first class meeting. Fall semester. Jungeun Kim.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022This course will include studio sessions in contemporary dance technique at the intermediate/advanced level, and rehearsal sessions to create original choreography; the new work will be presented in public performance(s). The emphasis in the course will be to increase expressive range, technical skills and the performance versatility of the performer through the practice, creation and performance of choreography. The course will include readings and video viewings to offer a broader understanding of performance and choreography.
Requisite: prior college-level courses in dance technique or equivalent experience. Auditions will be conducted during the first class meeting. Limited to 18 students. Fall semester. Professor Riegel.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023(Offered as THDA 270 and ENGL 222) This course explores key aspects of writing for the theater in a workshop style, from a transcultural perspective. Through writing exercises, analysis of scenes, feedback sessions, and the rewriting of materials produced, participants will experience the creative process and start developing their own voice as playwrights.
Recommended: THDA 113 or equivalent, or a prior college-level course in creative writing. Open to first-year students with consent of the instructor. Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Visiting Artist Carneiro.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022
In this second course in the craft of speaking, students learn to shape and speak text to powerful effect. Students build on prior work to extend vocal range and capacity while learning component principles of spoken expression. Articulation, inflection, methods of contrast and interpretation, tone, verbal imaging and aural structures of poetry and rhetoric are practiced in a studio setting. Emphasis is placed on personal engagement and presence to others while speaking. Assignments in text scoring and memorization support class work. The course culminates in presentations of prepared texts. Two class meetings per week.
Requisite: THDA 125H. Professor Bashford.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023When we experience a performance, we synthesize a rich array of sensations and information at once, and through time. Yet, artists employ a variety of different means to create their work, building it bit by bit. This course explores various elements that practioners use in the making of theater and dance, with an emphasis on the role perception plays in audience experience of meaning and feeling. Elements of performance will include basic “building blocks” of audience perception (temporal, spatial, visual, aural), leading to consideration of more complex tools and conventions, such as ritual, language, movement, music, design, and performing techniques. This class will study larger formal conventions used in the structure of whole performances as they reflect artists' possible intentions.
Students will develop analytical skills in the interpretation of multi-layered performance works, and in doing so, extend their own artistic possibilities and appreciation as audience members. In particular, we will investigate how artists build performances to challenge audiences and their society. Activities include reading and viewing, discussion, targeted writing assignments, and creative exercises to develop experiential understanding.
We will encounter influential theorists and artists (performers, playwrights, directors, choreographers, designers, etc.), including women, queer artists, and artists of color. Authors and artists under consideration for this course include Aristotle, Stanislavsky, Grotowski, Beckett, Pinter, Churchill, Brook, Kushner, Bausch, Cunningham, Ailey, Bogart, Bill T. Jones, Lehman, Jawole Zollar, and Anna Deavere Smith, among others. Guest Theater and Dance faculty will join class discussions as related to their areas of expertise. Two class meetings per week, with additional collaborative time outside of class required for some creative exercises.
Open to first-year students. Professor Bashford. Omitted 2021-22.
2022-23: Not offeredThe African American Theater spans over 200 years, from the earliest performances of the African Grove Theater to the Classical Theater of Harlem’s Afro-futuristic Twelfth Night in Marcus Garvey Park. This course will investigate and interrogate the history of American theater by examining Black creatives and their works as not merely contributors but pioneers of American theater. These studies will be addressed in tandem with the dominant culture's historical narrative of Black theater arts and the Black experience by posing these questions: Why isn't Black American theater history considered American theater history? How is Shakespeare relevant to the Black experience? How was theater used to counter and protest the Black stereotypes and the many injustices that plagued the Black body? How receptive is white American theater to the accountability of the #WeSeeYouWAT movement? Why is there an absence of a Black audience in the theater today? Key moments will include the revolutionary founding of the African Grove Theater in 1821, the act of resistance of The Black Patti Troubadours in the face of minstrelsy, and the first all-Black Broadway cast of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake’s hit, Shuffle Along. The course will also explore significant plays, reviews, books, articles, genres, theater companies, productions, and artists, including William Wells Brown, August Wilson, James Baldwin, Charles Fuller, Nathan Jackson, Douglass Turner Ward, Dominique Morrisseau, Keith Josef Adkins, Pearl Cleage, Carlyle Brown, Tarell Alvin McCraney, George C. Wolfe, Anna Deavere Smith, Chadwick Boseman, Nathan Alan Davis, William Shakespeare, Errol Hill, and Marvin McAllister.
Limited to 22 students. Spring semester. Professor Sears.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023Theater making is a collaborative process, in which all participants contribute to the creation of the theatrical event. A good collaboration in theater brings together the personal voice of each and every collaborator and requires participants to listen and give room to all other voices during the creative process. This course encourages diversity of interests among the students: writing, researching, acting, designing and directing. It will offer various tools and approaches towards collaboration in theater, as being practiced by contemporary groups like The Wooster Group, Tectonic Theater Project, Kneehigh Theater and Anne Bogart.
The course will have a few “steps” in collaboration: we will start with simple and short pieces, in pairs or small groups. Halfway through the semester we will start devising a theater piece that everyone will work on. We will begin to see written drafts and rough drawings and models, and work our way through rehearsals towards a realized production. We will present the piece in front of an audience at the end of the semester.
Class will meet twice a week for two hours. In addition, 4-6 hours per week of rehearsals and/or reading and research are expected outside of class times. Previous experience in theater is welcomed but is not required. First-year students are encouraged to enroll, as well as students with past experience.
Limited to 20 students. Five seats reserved for first-year students. Omitted 2023-2024.
2022-23: Not offeredThis is an intermediate course in acting that focuses on applying and integrating technique, dramaturgical research, and ensemble playing skills to realized interpretations of scenes, with an emphasis on achieving dynamicly theatrical results. Students will undertake a progression of increasingly challenging scene studies while building skills in physical and speaking expressive capabilities to explore the musicality and power of acting for the stage. In addition to character portrayal, the focus of studio and rehearsal work will be on the evocation of dramatic metaphor through the development of shared interpretation and ensemble play. Material for study will include both older poetic texts and those that explore issues of contemporary cultural relevance. Requisite: THDA 113, or consent of the instructor.
Limited to 20 students. Fall semester. Visiting Professor Sears.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023How do the arts play a role in society? How does performing produce a community’s collective experience that involves forms of social engagement? How does an artist consider social practice through the lens of performance? This course focuses on exploring a socially engaged art practice that creates collaborative and participatory processes with specific communities and their social and civic issues. In this course we will put theory into practice from engagement with various theoretical developments in relation to social practice in art to movement practices into creative projects. Class work will center on student-led projects and the classes’ role as a collaborative team. The course will consist of in-class movement practices, readings, viewings, discussions, site visits, community engagement and performance creation. We will study scholars, practitioners and artists whose creative research and works engage in social practice, socially engaged art and community-based work. Examples include Pablo Helguera, Claire Bishop, Paul Chan, Shaun Leonardo, Miwon Kwon and among others. Limited to 22 students. The course is open to everyone. No previous background is presumed but a willingness to collaborate and experiment with generosity are essential.
Limited to 22 students. Spring semester. Visiting Professor Kim.
2022-23: Not offeredThis introductory studio class focuses on multiple ways of tracking, viewing, and capturing bodies in motion and explores choreographic ideas and practice alongside digital media. The course examines various artists’ practices and their creative research to expand the methodologies of art making and experimentation through in-class practices and hands-on projects. Examples include Okwui Okpokwasili, Liz Magic Laser, Joan Jonas, Bill Viola, Pipilotti Rist, Bruce Nauman, and Kimsooja. The course will emphasize working with the camera as an extension of the body to explore radically different points of view. We will experiment with framing, composition, and camera movement to bring a heightened awareness of kinesthetic involvement, animation and emotional immediacy to the bodies on screen and behind the camera. This course will focus on experimentation and exploration rather than technical skill building. Based on student interests, final projects can range from choreographies for the camera, fictional narratives, and experimental film to multimedia live video performance and installation. Limited to 22 students. The course is open to everyone; previous experience in performance/video composition can be beneficial but is not required.
Fall semester. Visiting Professor Kim.
2022-23: Not offeredThis course is designed for students in dance, theater, film/video, art, music and creative writing who want to explore the challenges and potentials in creating site-specific performances and events outside of traditional "frames" or venues (e.g., the theater, the gallery, the concert hall, the lecture hall, the page). In the first part of the semester we will experiment with different techniques for working together and for developing responses to different spaces. We will conduct a series of performance practices and studies in numerous sites around the campus and utilize different mediums according to student interest and experience. A special emphasis will be placed on considering issues of access when we make choices about where and how to perform and create work. How can we encourage inclusive events that foster interaction and response with communities both near and far? What are possible relationships between art and community? How can we integrate important social and cultural issues into our art making? How might we collaborate with and make work for sites we are distanced from? What are crucial limitations to consider in creating site specific events, and how do we allow these limitations to inspire? The semester will culminate in a series of public final projects reflecting on the students’ processes through in-class showings, readings, viewings, discussions, and critical feedback sessions. Recommended requisite: previous college course experience in improvisation and/or composition in dance, theater, performance, film/video, music/sound, installation, creative writing, and/or design. Limited to 12 students. Spring semester. Professor Kim.
Recommended requisite: Previous experience in improvisation and/or composition in dance, theater, performance, film/video, music/sound, installation, creative writing, and/or design is required. Limited to 8 students. Offered Spring 2023. Professor Woodson.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023This studio course is designed as an interactive laboratory for students interested in imaginative experimentation to discover and access multiple ways to generate material in different media (dance, theater, visual /digital art, text and/or sound). The course emphasizes a practice of rigorous play and a dedicated interest in process and invention. Also, the course will be informed by a view that anything and everything is possible material for creative and spontaneous response and production. Working individually and in collaborative groups, students will construct original material in various media and delve into multiple ways to craft interesting exchanges and dialogues between different modes of expression. A range of structures and inspirations will be given by the instructor but students will also develop their own "playlists" for inspiring creative experimentation and production. We will have a series of informal studio showings in different media throughout the semester. A final portfolio of creative material generated over the course of the semester will be required. This studio seminar requires instructor permission; interested students need to contact the instructor before registering.
Limited to 15 students. Spring Semester. Professor Woodson. The course will also incorporate instruction from guest artists.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023An introduction to the analytical methods and skills necessary for the creation of costumes for theater and dance with emphasis on the integration of costume with other visual elements. This course will study western costume history and will include lab work in costume construction.
Requisite: THDA 112 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 8 students. Omitted 2023-24.
2022-23: Not offered
The materials, techniques and concepts which underlie the design and creation of the theatrical environment.
In Fall 2020, students will collaborate with THDA 261: Lighting Design to explore the interactions between the two forms.
This course will be conducted in a hybrid format, with both in-person and on-line components as needed, supported by appropriate technology. Options for online-only participation will be available for those students unable to participate in person.
Requisite: THDA 112 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 8 students, with priority given to majors. Non-majors need consent from instructor. Omitted 2023/24.
2022-23: Not offered
In this course, students will expand their study of the basic elements of writing for the stage: voice, craft, and process. The class schedule will be structured around writing and sharing ten-minute plays and short one-acts. Students will generate material by engaging in writing prompts and improv exercises, and practice writing from the unconscious. Creative process and discovery will be valued over product. Reading assignments will include material on dramaturgical analysis and plays written by contemporary playwrights, such as Tanya Saracho, Madhuri Shekar, James Anthony Tyler, Chisa Hutchinson, and Carla Ching. There will be one field trip to New York City to a see a live performance.
Recommended prerequisite: students are strongly encouraged to take either THDA 170: Intro to Playwriting and Playwrights, or THDA 113: Action and Character prior to taking this course; students who have done so will be given priority.
Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Professor Choudhury.
2022-23: Not offeredThis is an advanced-level course in contemporary dance technique with a primary focus on movement practice. Using the studio as a laboratory, we will embody increasingly complex and dynamic movement that investigates clarity, freedom, adaptability, and artistry and challenges stamina. Additionally, contemporary dance’s roots and influences will be acknowledged and applied through movement exploration. These include the borrowing and fusing of movement vocabularies from jazz, modern, hip hop, and improvisational dance forms like contact improvisation. Readings and occasional writing assignments will allow us to deepen our understanding of our movement histories and articulate personal progress within the course. This course meets twice a week.
Requisite: two or more college-level courses in dance techniques, or equivalent experience. This course may be repeated for credit. Limited to 22 students. Fall semester. Professor Riegel.
Pending Faculty Approval
2022-23: Not offeredThis is a studio course in collaboration leading to completed theatrical creations. Students produce a portfolio of short projects, using published text or through rehearsal devising. Readings, writing, and class discussion are devoted to the shared practices of acting and directing, and to individual problems and approaches. Topics include the articulation of artistic vision, advanced textual analysis, and the use of space, sound and light. Studio exercises are employed to support relevant techniques. In addition, applicable organizational and research methods will be employed. When possible, students may collaborate with others enrolled in a related course in design. Two class meetings per week. Students should expect to schedule a significant amount of rehearsal time outside of class meetings for the successful completion of projects.
Requisite: One 100-level THDA course, and an appropriate intermediate, 200-level course in THDA, or equivalent college-level experience with consent of the instructor. Fall semester. Professor Bashford.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022(Offered as THDA 353 and FAMS 345) This is an advanced course in making performance in dance, theater, video and/or hybrid forms. Each student will create, rehearse and produce an original performance piece in his/her/their preferred medium. Due to Covid 19 restrictions, these pieces will be shared on digital platforms as ongoing works in progress (with students in the class) and as final projects with a wider audience at the end of the semester. Different strategies, tools and philosophies will be given and explored with an emphasis on taking creative advantage of found spaces and available resources. Improvisational and interactive structures and approaches among and within media will be investigated.
Two ninety-minute class sessions per week and rehearsal/production sessions as required.
Requisite: An intermediate departmental course in performance-making and consent of the instructor. Limited to 8 students. Spring semester. Professor Woodson.
2022-23: Not offeredIn this studio course, we will explore different skills and approaches towards creating solo performance. We will examine examples of historical and contemporary solo performances in theater, dance, video, music, radio plays, street, stand up and in political/social arenas to inform and ask what makes these effective (or not). We will use what we learn from these examples to inspire our own solo material. We will also develop additional techniques (through improvisational trial and error) that enliven and engage our different voices, stories, imaginations and emotions. An emphasis will be placed on exploring and crafting dynamic relationships within and between different media and modes of expression in order to create confident and compelling solo presentations for live and virtual arenas. We will consider the solo as both a personal vehicle of expression and as a means of giving voice to experiences of others. In the process of making compositional choices, we will consider the personal and social implications of these choices. The semester will culminate in public performances of final solos.
Requisite: Previous experience in performance and/or video--whether in the arts or public presentations in other disciplines/contexts. Open to juniors and seniors. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 10 students. Spring semester. Professor Woodson.
2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023An advanced course in the arts of theatrical design. Primary focus is on the communication of design ideas and concepts with other theater artists. Also considered is the process by which developing theatrical ideas and images are realized. Students will undertake specific projects in scenic, costume and/or lighting design and execute them in the context of the Department’s production program or in other approved circumstances. Examples of possible assignments include designing workshop productions, and assisting faculty and staff designers with major responsibilities in full-scale production. In all cases, detailed analysis of the text and responsible collaboration will provide the basis of the working method.
Requisite: THDA 260, 261, 263 or consent of the instructor. Omitted 2021-22. Professor Dougan.
2022-23: Not offeredThis course is a continuation of THDA 360, an advanced course in the arts of theatrical design. Primary focus is on the communication of design ideas and concepts with other theater artists. Also considered is the process by which developing theatrical ideas and images are realized. Students will undertake specific projects in scenic, costume and/or lighting design and execute them in the context of the department’s production program or in other approved circumstances. Students in this course will design for a full-scale production. In all cases, detailed analysis of the text and responsible collaboration will provide the basis of the working method.
Requisite: THDA 360 or consent of the instructor. Omitted 2023/24.
2022-23: Not offered(Offered as THDA 370 and ENGL 322) A workshop for writers who want to complete a full-length play or series of shorter plays. Emphasis will be on bringing a script to a level at which it is ready for the stage. The majority of class time will be devoted to reading and commenting on developing works-in-progress. In addition, we will also hone playwriting skills through class exercises, and study exemplary plays by established writers as a means of exploring a range of dramatic vocabularies.
Requisite: THDA 270, 272, or the equivalent. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2023/24.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022A course in integrating previously studied skills, while developing collaborative and leadership roles in the making of Theater and Dance works, within the Department’s producing structure. With permission, enrolled student will accept a specific assignment within a departmental production team. A half course.
Admission with consent of the Chair. Not open to first-year students. Fall and spring semesters. Professor Woodson.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022, Spring 2023(Offered as ENGL 420 and THDA 420) (Before 1800) Interpretations of William Shakespeare’s plays often align with and reinforce hegemonic conceptions of whiteness. Yet for over two centuries that alignment has been contested by theatre artists from the Black diaspora, from Native or Indigenous nations, and from the diverse communities of latinidad. This course centers what one First Nations playwright calls BIPOC “takeovers” of Shakespeare’s work. We will ask how these creative adaptations and translations engage histories of racial, cultural, and linguistic violence and loss, and how they weave new stories and experiences of resistance and healing. Topics to be explored include the utility of colonial texts for decolonial futures; the relation of land, language, and literature; the transformation of Euro-American theatre through non-Western artistic practice and ceremony; and the recent development of anti-racist initiatives that challenge and reinvent the study, staging, and teaching of Shakespeare’s plays. Scholars and creatives leading these past and future projects will join us in conversation, which will guide independent research and shape each student’s culminating work.
Limited to 18 students. Omitted 2023-24. Professor Bosman
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022Independent reading course.
Admission with consent of the instructor. Fall and spring semesters. The Department.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022, Spring 2023For Honors candidates in Theater and Dance.
Open only to senior Theater and Dance majors. Fall semester. The Department.
2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022