General Comments about the Major Curriculum
The requirements for obtaining a major in Theatre or Dance have the general purpose of insuring exposure and experience in the principal areas of the discipline – history, literature, direction, design, and performance. The department does not encompass the entire range of related topics. For example, specific areas – such as playwriting, criticism, dramaturgy, vocal production, dance technique, anatomy / biology, and others – may be experienced through Special Topics courses, an Independent Study, course offerings through another department, or professional internships. Consultation with your advisor will facilitate the pursuit of such interests. Students should note the prerequisites for many of the course offerings.
Guidelines for Independent Study
The following constitute, in the broadest fashion, the criteria by which members of the Theatre/Dance Department faculty evaluate proposals for independent study:
- The initiative must, of course, come originally from the student. While an idea may be generated by something that is said or happens in interaction with an instructor, the responsibility for doing the necessary preliminary research and formulation a proposal lies completely with the student.
- In so far as possible, the proposal must be complete; i.e., it must include a rather specific purpose, a proposed methodology, a tentative outline of the study, and a working bibliography. Open-end proposals are discouraged unless there is a demonstrated advantage to such an approach. The college catalog statement applies fully here.
- At the same time, the department welcomes creative proposals such as the writing and/or producing of a play, which is, by its nature, oriented more towards actual performance than towards library or behavioral research. Such proposals, however, must be carefully framed, and will come, it is assumed, only from the students well acquainted with the theatre and dance department.
- It is expected that part of any adequate proposal will be some suggestions as to the criteria by which the study will be evaluated. The assumption is that a study must be evaluated if it is to receive academic credit.
- The departmental faculty expects to maintain a tutorial supervision over all independent study projects. While such supervision may not be, in every sense, continuous, the faculty is not favorably inclined toward the “two-meeting method” – one meeting to approve the project, a second to receive it. A student is expected to schedule several conferences both to report and to evaluate progress. Such supervision is expected to be closer with less experienced students than with more experienced ones (“experience” in this case generally means a blend of tenure and demonstrated capability).
- It is expected that students will have had some contact with the dance and theatre departmental curriculum before submitting a proposal to a department member. This is not to exclude a priori all who have not, but it preserves for the department two important factors, (a) the ability to serve its own majors first of all, and (b) some guarantee that the proposal is appropriate to its concerns.
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