Program Description

Drama studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts major for the artist/scholar who is creative and intellectually curious. Students have the opportunity to take classes in acting, directing, playwriting, stagecraft, and performance art while receiving a solid grounding in theatre history and dramatic literature and exposure to performance studies and critical theory. They can audition for productions, write and stage their own work, and take classes in technical theatre and stage management. Internships, community service learning, and study abroad are also encouraged. All seniors complete a capstone project, which may include a dramaturgical essay, creating a solo or group performance, writing a play, or directing a production. The drama studies faculty works closely with students to explore ideas as they seek to realize their visions.

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 major in drama studies combines a liberal arts education with experience of theatre as an art form. A 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, workshop classes and some production opportunities are available each semester. 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

• Michelle A. Banks ’90, actor, director, producer, and teacher; founder and artistic director, Onyx Theatre Company; lead role in the award-winning feature film Compensation
• Kevin Doyle ’02, MA in theatre history and criticism, City University of New York; playwright/director and filmmaker/videographer; founding member and artistic director, Sponsored by Nobody; 2008 MacDowell Fellowship recipient
• Arielle Greenberg ’93, MFA, Syracuse University; assistant professor of English poetry, English Department, Columbia College, Chicago; her books include My Kafka Century, Youth Subcultures: Exploring Underground America, and Women Poets on Mentorship: Efforts and Affections (co-editor)
• Corey Morgano ’93, teacher and director of the Safety Net Program, Ramapo Central Schools/Suffern High School, NY
• Scott Nevins ’01, award-winning TV personality and comedian; producer/host of the hit talk shows “Scott Nevins *Presents*” and “The Scott Nevins Variety Hour”; 2007 MAC Award nomination for his debut solo comedy show “Celebutante: Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am?”
• David I.L. Poole ’04, technical director and professor of theatre, Savannah State University

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

Updated May 7, 2009