Theater

Welcome to the Theater webpage. On this page you'll find the mission of the department, departmental student learning goals, a curricular map and assessment schedule, and progress made from the most recent Program Review Action Plan (2012-2013). If you have questions about the assessment findings or questions about the department, please contact Mark Hennigs, Theater Department Chair, at [email protected].

MISSION

As a group of dynamic artists and educators, the Theater Department ignites creative, theatrical experiences for all participants (students, audiences and artists).

• The department is committed to scholarly and artistic creativity, to the integration of theory and experience, to the dynamics of theatrical process and to positive human values. 

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS

Goal 1: Work safely and effectively with the tools and equipment basic to theater production

a. Operate basic tools used in carpentry and theater construction.

b. Operate theater sound design equipment.

c. Operate basic theater lighting equipment.

Goal 2: Drama Form

a. To develop the student's ability to satisfactorily distinguish between different dramatic genres such as Comedy, Tragedy, Farce, etc. both in the written form and in performance.

b. Develop the student's ability to satisfactorily understand the criteria often used by theorists when they categorize dramatic literature by form and genre.

c. Introduce the student to research materials available in the study of dramatic literature and performance.

d. Provide some basic instruction in formal writing through reading assignments, criticism of selected materials and the submission of a variety of writing assignments.

Goal 3: Improve student's ability to read a play as the blueprint for a realized live theater production

a. Read plays and understand the story (plot).

b. Summarize a play's main idea.

c. Support their conclusions with clear, specific examples from the text.

d. Research materials available in the study of dramatic literature and performance.

e. Articulate a play's relevance to the historical development of modern dramatic.

Goal 4: Improve the student's ability to envision a realized, integrated and unified, live theater production of a play by building on specific ideas found within playwright's blueprint.

a. Discover and clearly articulate a play's relevance to a contemporary audience in today's world.

b. Understand the inherent limitations (or boundaries) theater artists must face when transferring the written work to live performance.

c. Recognize symbols contained within the play, which in production, contribute to the impact of the performance on the audience.

d. Support their conclusions with clear, specific examples from sources.

e. Research materials on past productions of the play's script.

f. Write a satisfactory (above the grade of "C") production concept paper from one or more of the following perspectives:

CURRICULAR MAP and ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE