Undergraduate Programs

Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs introduce students to the collaborative arts of performance and production within their historical and cultural contexts, and offer both rigor and creative challenge. Studio and production work are central to all concentrations and are integrated into the larger context of a liberal arts education. The department also offers coursework in music to support its Musical Theatre program and to enrich the liberal arts curriculum of the College.

The Department of Performing Arts challenges students to develop a deep understanding of self, along with a sense of ethical responsibility to the immediate community and society at large. Through productions, internships and other activities, they are encouraged to work in the community while exploring and developing their own roles as artists and educators.

The curriculum gives students both an applied and experimental understanding of the theater and enables them to develop basic skills in the performance, design, technical, and production aspects of the art. It emphasizes how culture affects the creative process and how, in turn, the creative process contributes to the evolution of culture. It explores the conventional standards by which theater is judged and examines the aesthetics of the major historical periods of drama. The goal is to empower students to recognize their potential, develop their own interests, and enter the traditional fields of performance and production of both the professional and the educational theatre.

Bachelor of Arts programs in  Theatre Studies and in Theatre Education are for students who are committed to studying the performing arts but who also seek to broaden their educations by pursuing additional areas of study available in other academic departments. This option is not available to students in the BFA program.

Bachelor of Fine Arts programs are given with concentrations in Acting, Musical Theatre, Production/Stage Management and Theater Design/Technology. BFA programs are for students who are focused on developing specific skills in specific ways and willing to make a single-minded commitment to very structured and intensive training in acting or musical theatre performance, production management, or design. Students considering the BFA programs must audition or interview for admission, and retain their places through periodic evaluations and reviews by faculty members.