Theatre Arts (BA)
The program in Theatre Arts is designed to provide students with a well-rounded theatre training experience, providing students with a diverse range of skills that will prepare them for professional careers in theatre or related fields, as well as entrance into graduate study. The departmental curriculum is rooted in the liberal arts tradition and exposes students to all aspects of work in theatre including scholarship, performance, and technical/design capacities.
Student participation in the staging of plays, musicals, and dance performances for the public is a required part of the theatre major’s training. This hands-on production experience provides ample opportunity for practical application of coursework. The combination of coursework and intensive practical experience ensures the development of the broad range of practical skills necessary for success in the field including a variety of technical trade skills, collaboration, creative problem solving, communicative clarity, organizational prowess, ethics, and time management skills. Departmental faculty facilitates students in planning and achieving career goals. To this end, students are encouraged to seek summer employment in theatrical endeavors according to their interests, to participate in professional organizations, to attend conferences and workshops (such as the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in which the department participates yearly), to work on Discovery projects, and to take on lead assignments in the mounting of departmental productions.