Mar 29, 2024  
2018-2019 University Catalog 
    
2018-2019 University Catalog [Archived Catalogue]

BFA in Directing, Playwriting + Production


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Amy Dugas Brown, Program Director
ambrown@uarts.edu
215.717.6572

C O N T E N T S

Description

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing, Playwriting + Production (DPP) provides education and training in theater making and leadership across three disciplines.

The Directing, Playwriting + Production (DPP) curriculum trains the generative theater artist who wants to write, direct, produce, and/or stage manage theater. The DPP Program builds future theater leaders who have rigor, imagination, and a deep and diverse skill set. All coursework develops the student’s ability to lead through collaboration in order to reach their artistic goals with vibrancy and immediacy.

Coursework begins with a strong base of script analysis, stagecraft, style exploration, theater history, and dramaturgy. All students take the first level of each core discipline: directing, playwriting, and stage management. From there, each will deepen in one, and often two, of the disciplines. Courses in producing, design, performance, and new play development further round out their skill set. Each student takes six credits of professional internships, as well as Business of Theater, I Am My Own Company, and Theater Management, which allows them to bridge meaningfully into the professional landscape post graduation. All students take six credits of Senior Project, which results in a festival that further develops their artistic and productorial skills and is attended by professional theater artists so that students may showcase their work. Artistic innovation, leading through collaboration and entrepreneurship are at the core of this curriculum.

Program Objectives

In addition to the Learning Outcomes of the Brind School of Theater Arts , Directing, Playwriting + Production graduates will be able to:

  • Effectively analyze scripts and source material, apply research, and make specific choices about world building that serve both the needs of the script and the artist’s imaginative impulse.
  • Lead a collaboration, specifically communicating and effectively realizing their artistic goals and aesthetic.
  • Work deeply and adroitly in at least one of the three component disciplines (directing, playwriting, and/or management) in the service of initiating an artistic project, building it from the ground up and seeing it through to completion.
  • Assess different theater producing models, both nonprofit and commercial, as well as theater company structures and organizational functions.

Academic Plan

Academic plans provide a semester by semester suggested course sequence. Plans can be customized through discussions with academic advisors.

Program Requirements (120 credits)

Major Requirements (69 credits)


Critical Studies (33 credits)


First Year Writing (6 credits)


Students will complete a writing placement exam to determine their composition sequence. Students who do not complete the exam may be placed based on standardized tests scores (if available) or high school GPA. Some students may be required to complete additional developmental coursework.

Students will complete one of the following sequences:

Developmental


ESL


Critical Approaches to the Arts and Culture (9 credits)


  • Select 3 courses from subject CRIT

Scientific Inquiry Foundation Track (3 credits)


  • Select 1 course from subject SIFT

Critical Studies Electives (15 credits)


  • Select courses from subjects:
    • AHST (Art History), HIST (History)
    • FRCH (French), ITAL (Italian), LITT (Literature)
    • PHIL (Philosophy), RELI (Religion)
    • MATH (Math), SCIE (Science)
    • ANTH (Anthropology), PHIL (Philosophy), PSYC (Psychology), SOCI (Sociology)
    • STCU (Cultural Studies), STDA (Dance Studies), STGS (Gender & Sexuality Studies),
      STMU (Music Studies), STPF (Performance Studies)   
  • Select courses from  : Art History or Critical Studies Elective.

Electives (9 credits)


  • Complete 9 credits of free electives. This requirement is satisfied by any undergraduate course that isn’t required by the program.

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