Julia VanTrees Cowitt ’21
Julia VanTrees Cowitt ’21 is a multidisciplinary artist: a writer, actor, director, vocalist, designer, puppeteer, and theatre educator.
She is currently pursuing her MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College. In her free time, she loves to read, crochet, and hang out at her community theater, Arc Stages. Originally from Los Angeles, Julia currently resides in Pleasantville, NY.
Julie’s Purchase Experience In Her Own Words
Before declaring my major, I barely knew anything about anthropology. When I got to Purchase after transferring from Westchester Community College, I had no clue what major to pick. After scouring the course offerings, I found that the classes that sounded the most fascinating were anthro classes. So, Anthropology it was!
Like many, I have a lot of hobbies and interests and was reluctant to pick just one major. I also didn’t have any specific career goals. Luckily for me, anthropology is such a broad field with a holistic approach. You can study pretty much anything, and it prepares you for pretty much anything.
My minor in Playwriting fit in with Anthropology perfectly. While I was developing my voice as a playwright, I was also enrolled in the Anthropology class, “Myth, Ritual, and Performance.” With that class, I gained a more analytical perspective of performance as a human experience.
Later, my anthropological perspective was useful in my Documentary Theater class. Although theater was an important part of my studies, I got to branch out even more. My senior project had little to do with playwriting or theater. Instead, it was an autoethnography of my book club and our affinity for a vampire book series. I had so much fun working on it.
During undergrad, I learned that my biggest passion was theatrical writing. After graduating in 2021, I began applying for master’s programs in theater.
I definitely think that my anthropology background set me apart from other applicants. In the fall of (2022, I started my MFA in Theater at Sarah Lawrence College. That being said, I feel prepared for anything.