Theater

The English department, in conjunction with the University’s International Theatre Program, offers a special major intended to provide institutional support and recognition to students who want to invest a significant part of their undergraduate careers in theatre and theatre related courses, and to furnish such students with credentials reflecting their work in theatre.

For further information, contact the director of undergraduate studies or the artistic director of the theatre program.

Major Requirements

A minimum of ten courses (amounting to at least 40 credit hours) in English and theater are required.

In cases where some courses are unavailable, students should consult with the director of undergraduate studies for possible substitutions.

One Survey Course

Students must take one of the following:

  • ENGL 112: Classical and Scriptural Backgrounds
  • ENGL 113: British Literature I
  • ENGL 114: British Literature II
  • ENGL 115: American Literature
Sixteen Credit Hours in Theater Production

Sixteen credit hours must be in theater production, either onstage or backstage.

Each student must work on at least four productions, serving in stage management or as an assistant director for at least one. Students can choose from the following (Spring course numbers in parentheses):

  • ENGL 184 (185): Intro to Theater
  • ENGL 292 (293)/ 294 (295): Plays in Performance: Name of Play
  • ENGL 296 (297): Stage Management: Semester + Year
Eight Credit Hours in Theater Method/Performance

Eight hours of credit must be in theater method and/or performance courses, choosing from the following (Spring course numbers in parentheses):

  • ENGL 123: Playwriting
  • ENGL 124: Intro to Stage Lighting
  • ENGL 154 (155): Intro to Design for the Stage - 2 credits
  • ENGL 156: From Scratch: Creating Devised Theater
  • ENGL 164: Improvisation: Semester + Year
  • ENGL 165: Acting Comdey
  • ENGL 170 (171): Technical Theater
  • ENGL 172 (173): Intro to Sound for the Stage
  • ENGL 174 (175): Acting Techniques
  • ENGL 176: Movement for the Actor
  • ENGL 177: The Actor's Voice
  • ENGL 178 (179): Design for the Stage: Discipline (i.e. Scenery, Costumes, Lighting, Sound)
  • ENGL 180: Directing: Semester + Year
  • ENGL 181: Building Community through Urban Theater Making
  • ENGL 182: Staging Revolution: Creating Theatre for Social Change
  • ENGL 252: Theater in England
  • ENGL 270: Advanced Technical Theatre
  • ENGL 271: Advanced Production: Discipline (i.e. Scenery, Costumes, Lighting, Sound)
  • ENGL 272: Advanced Acting: Semester + Year
  • ENGL 273: Performing as Patients: Using Acting Techniques to Help Train Behavioral Health Professionals
  • ENGL 278: Advanced Playwriting: Semester + Year
  • ENGL 279: Consent & Performance
  • ENGL 290: Acting for Camera
  • ENGL 291: Musical Theater Performance
  • ENGL 360: Special Projects: Theater
  • Other classes offered occasionally may also fill this requirment
Twelve Credit Hours in Literature

Three courses in dramatic literature, at least one of which must cover literature written before 1800. Students desiring to take a course outside the list of dramatic literature courses [see list below] should consult with the program director to receive approval in advance of registering for the course.

Dramatic Literature Courses:

  • ENGL 203: Medieval Drama
  • ENGL 208 Renaissance Drama
  • ENGL 210 Shakespeare
  • ENGL 217 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama
  • ENGL 235 Modern Drama (20th century Drama)
  • ENGL 228 African American Drama

 

Other Courses

Students taking ENGL 398: Internship in Theater, ENGL 391: Independent Study, ENGL 380: Advanced Seminar, or ENGL 396: Honors Seminar with a dramatic literature/theatrical focus might also have those classes count toward the theater concentration.

Study abroad options in London and Bath that focus on dramatic or theatrical work may also count toward this concentration.

Other courses in the English department relating to drama and/or theater may, from time to time, be valid additions to this list. See the director of undergraduate studies for details.