Chair: Patricio Lerzundi (Carman Hall, Room 259)
Department Faculty: Professors: William M. Hoffman, Patricio Lerzundi, Miguel Perez, Robert Whittaker; Associate Professors: Richard Blot, Marjorie Rosen; Assistant Professors: Nicholas Boston, Claudia W. Case, Amy Larimer, Thomas O'Hanlon, Susan Watson-Turner; Lecturers: Anne Bard, James Carney, Philip Ruiz; Distinguished Lecturer: Marilyn Sokol
The Department of Journalism, Communication, and Theatre offers a graduate program leading to the degree of Master of Arts in Theatre. Registration in all courses requires Departmental permission. Upon admission to the program, students must see the Graduate Coordinator, who will assign an area adviser to guide the student's course of study.
Admission Requirements*
*Note: Students are not being accepted into this program in the period 2009-2011.
Degree Requirements
Each candidate must complete an approved program of study of at least 30 credits, which shall include SPE 700 (Introduction to Research Methods). Up to nine hours of related courses in other departments may be counted toward the 30 credits, with permission of the Graduate Coordinator.
In addition to the course requirements, the candidate must (1) present an acceptable thesis in the student's area of specialization and/or (2) complete and satisfactorily pass an oral and/or written comprehensive examination. The student's choice requires approval by a faculty committee in the area of specialization. A student who does not write a thesis may not take THE 799 (Thesis Seminar). Instead, the student must earn 3 credits in another course, to achieve a total of 33 credits.
THE 670: Advanced Oral Interpretation. 3 hours, 3 credits. Oral interpretation of poetry, prose, and dramatic literature in the English language.
THE 671: Seminar in Oral Interpretation. 3 hours, 3 credits. Research in the theory and practice of oral interpretation. PREREQ: THE 670 or Graduate Adviser's permission.
THE 676: Creative Dramatics and Theatre for Children. 3 hours, 3 credits. Theory and practice of producing plays for and with children, including the techniques of creative play and story improvisation.
THE 720: Theory of Theatre Aesthetics. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Required of all students specializing in Theatre.) Examination of major historical and contemporary theories concerning the origins of theatre, its social and aesthetic functions, and its relationship to other art forms.
THE 725: Independent Study. 3 hours, 3 credits. Directed study under the supervision of a member of the faculty. PREREQ: Graduate Adviser's permission.
THE 730: Theatre Criticism I. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Required of all students specializing in theatre.) Study of chief critical methods. Analysis of major critics from Aristotle to the present, and evaluation of the impact of these critics on theatre trends.
THE 731: Theatre Criticism II. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Required of all students specializing in Theatre.) Continuation of Theatre Criticism I, with emphasis on contemporary critical trends.
THE 733: Tragedy in Theatre. 3 hours, 3 credits. Problems in staging for contemporary audiences; Greek, Elizabethan, and neoclassic tragedy.
THE 734: Comedy in Theatre. 3 hours, 3 credits. Analysis of major comedic devices employed in the theatre with relation to historical-contemporary comic genres.
THE 740: Studies in Theatre. 3 hours, 3 credits. (May be reelected for credit as often as the topic changes.) Intensive study of a particular period, playwright, or style of drama.
THE 761: Nonverbal Theatre. 3 hours, 3 credits. Theory and practice of traditional and contemporary theatre forms that emphasize pantomime, dance, ritual, music, and song.
THE 763: Styles of Acting. 3 hours, 3 credits. Theory and technique of historical and presentational acting styles. PREREQ: Graduate Adviser's permission.
THE 765: Directing. 3 hours, 3 credits. Major theories of directing, and problems of relationship between director and actor.
THE 796: Special Problems. 3 hours, 3 credits. (May be reelected for credit up to maximum of 6 credits.) Directed study under supervision of a member of the faculty. PREREQ: Graduate Adviser's permission.
THE 799: Thesis Seminar. 3 credits. Individual research supervision.
COM 502: Speech in the Language Arts Program in the Elementary and Junior High Schools. 3 hours, 3 credits. The employment of choral speaking, dramatics, radio and TV, group discussion, and other forms of oral communication.
COM 600: Philosophical Foundations of Speech Education. 3 hours, 3 credits. Exploration of the philosophical foundations of speech education and of the background of scientific and artistic thought in various areas of speech and its impact on present-day speech education.
COM 601: Studies in the Teaching of Speech in the High Schools. 3 hours, 3 credits. Teaching and learning problems in contemporary high school speech communication curricula. PRE- or COREQ: Student teaching or teaching experience.
COM 744: Mass Communications and Society. 3 hours, 3 credits. Mass media of communication. Analysis of the effects of broadcasting on the individual and society. The philosophy of aesthetics and the psychology of mass communication.
COM 760: Form and Style in Communication. 3 hours, 3 credits. Consideration of form and style in communication.
COM 761: British Public Address. 3 hours, 3 credits. Analysis of British public address, with emphasis on the orators of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
COM 763: American Public Address. 3 hours, 3 credits. Analysis of representative American oratory, from colonial times to the present.
COM 765: Seminar in Public and Group Communication. 3 hours, 3 credits. Special topics and issues in public and group communication.
COM 766: Persuasion Theory. 3 hours, 3 credits. Survey of descriptive and experimental research in persuasion.
COM 767: Communication Theory. 3 hours, 3 credits. Major concepts, theories, and models of the communication process.
COM 768: Small Group Communication. 3 hours, 3 credits. Theories, models, and research findings in communication in small-group interaction.
COM 769: Communication Acquisition. 3 hours, 3 credits. Speech and language learning in the child; major theories and research findings on communication acquisition by the child.
COM 770: Seminar in Communication Theory and Research. 3 hours, 3 credits. Special topics and issues in contemporary research and theory construction in communication.
COM 771: History and Development of Rhetorical Theory. 3 hours, 3 credits. Contributions made to rhetorical theory by classical and medieval rhetoricians.
COM 772: Contemporary Rhetorical Theory. 3 hours, 3 credits. Contributions made to rhetorical theory by British and American rhetoricians.
COM 775: Speech Criticism. 3 hours, 3 credits. The bases of rhetorical criticism; application to selected speeches.
COM 790: Radio and Television in Society. 3 hours, 3 credits. Analysis of the effects of broadcasting on the individual and society. The nature of the media and their relationship with government and other social institutions.