Gustavus Adolphus College

Junior Year

Students who have declared a major in theatre and/or dance must participate in a review by the faculty of the department. This Junior Review, is to position the student for the senior project and provide the faculty of the department with information about the student's goals and expectations after graduation. Three important steps must be accomplished by majors in their junior year:

1. Junior Review
2. Begin planning senior project (don’t have to wait until senior year)
   • Reviews
   • List examples
   • Limits, expectations
3. Start collecting for portfolio
   • Pictures, movies, old programs, papers (see Portfolios section)

Guidelines for the Major Junior Review

The faculty conducts a series of individual reviews of students who, by the end of their sophomore year, have declared a theatre/dance major. A portfolio of materials, accumulated throughout a major’s career, will be a vital tool for the assessment of educational outcomes. The purpose of the first review, held in the fall of the major’s junior year, is to assess the student’s progress toward meeting the major requirements, to assist in balancing general curriculum requirements with the major and with any off-campus study, to support the student in developing performance or technical skills, and to review the portfolio as a work-in-progress. At a conference for each graduating senior, the faculty will reassess the student’s cumulative work in the department and help direct the remaining course of study in preparation for graduate school, professional theatre work, or a transition to another field, such as law, business or education. Here, the requirements for the portfolio are reviewed. Note that some of the materials in the portfolio will be required of all theatre/dance majors, while other materials will differ depending upon the student’s particular focus with the major(s).

Portfolios

A portfolio of materials, accumulated throughout a theatre/dance major’s career, will be a major tool for the assessment of educational outcomes. The portfolio will be reviewed as a work-in-progress at a conference with each junior theatre/dance major, and will be reviewed as a finished collection of work in a conference with each graduating senior theatre/dance major. Some of the materials in the portfolio will be required of all theatre/dance majors, while other materials will differ depending on the student’s particular focus within the major.

All portfolios should include:

• A resume of activities, roles, designs, directing projects, choreography, backstage work, stage management positions, and internships experienced through the department (and perhaps including theatre jobs outside the department)
• Photos or slides of performance or design work
• Programs from shows in which the student has been involved
• A short paper summarizing and comment on the student’s senior project – due at least a week before the portfolio is officially reviewed
• Writing samples, such as:
  • A research paper written for a World Theatre History or Dance Appreciation class
  • A theory paper written for Dramatic Theory class
  • A critique of a production written for Theatre/Dance Appreciation, World History or dance technique classes
  • A statement of the individual’s philosophy of theatre or dance (possibly in the form of a “manifesto” as written for Dramatic Theory class)
  • A “cognate” paper or project, created for a non-theatre/dance class that makes use of knowledge or techniques learned in the theatre/dance department

Students interested in specific areas, or planning on graduate study in a specific area may also wish to include:

• A promptbook of advanced directing work
• A character notebook or journal for at least one key role played in the department
• Renderings, ground plans, models or samples of design work
• Videotapes of key productions and original work

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