Program Description

Drama studies is a liberal arts program for the artist/scholar. Our students study what theatre and performance has been, explore what it is now, and think about what it might be. They acquire knowledge of world drama and performance and often choose to experiment with their own creativity as performers, directors, and playwrights.

The drama studies major combines a liberal arts education in dramatic literature, theatre history, and performance theory with experience of theatre as an art form. The primary goal is to develop each student’s ability to articulate, both artistically and intellectually, the relationships between theatre, performance, and society. Although drama studies is not a professional training program, workshops and limited production opportunities are offered in acting, playwriting, and directing. Three areas of focus within the broad range of courses help prepare students for careers in theatre and related fields or for graduate study in theatre, performance studies, and related disciplines.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

• Introduction to Drama and Performance Studies
• Introduction to Shakespeare
• History of the Theatre
• History of the Modern Theatre
• Theories of Drama and Performance
• Production and Direction Workshop
• At least three advanced electives, chosen from three areas of critical issues in production and performance and in consultation with the faculty advisor
• Junior Seminar in Drama Studies
• Senior Project in Drama Studies (students write an academic essay or a play or screenplay, or produce and direct a play, or some combination of the above)

Representative Elective Courses

Acting Scene Study
Medieval and Renaissance English Drama
Black American Drama
Documentary Theatre: Performing Real Life
Theory and Drama
Performing the Self in Society
Gay and Lesbian Theatre
Playwriting I & II
Women and Drama
Shakespeare and Film
Contemporary Theatre: Experiment and Performance Art
Contemporary French Theatre
American Theatre in Our Time
Performance Ethnography
Performance of Narrative
Adapting Literature for Performance
Non-Western Theatre History and Practice
European Drama in Our Time
Poetry in Performance
Pioneers of Modern Drama
Criticism/Reviewing Workshop
Advanced Shakespeare Workshop

Representative Alumni

• Laura Adams ’87, co-owner, Hospitality Resources, Mountain Lakes, NJ
• Michelle Banks ’90, founder and artistic director, Onyx Theatre; lead role in the independent feature film Compensation
• Kevin Doyle ’02, playwright and artistic director, Sponsored by Nobody; teaches at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University
• Arielle Greenberg ’93, M.F.A., Syracuse University; professor of English poetry, English Department, Columbia College, Chicago
• Debra Heller ’84, chiropractor
• Brenna Maria Hill ’04, graduate student in dramaturgy, Columbia University
• Corey Morgano ’93, teacher/director of the Safety Net Program, Ramapo Central Schools/ Suffern High School, NY
• Scott Nevins ’01, producer/host of the award-winning talk show “Scott Nevins *Presents*” and “The Scott Nevins Variety Hour”
• David Poole ’04, artistic director, Theatre-Arts Connection

For more information, visit the Drama Studies site in Academic Programs.

Updated May 27, 2008