Introductory Economics

Introduction to economic issues and the tools that economists use to study those issues: supply and demand, decision making by consumers and firms, market failures, economic output and growth, fiscal and monetary policy in relation to unemployment and inflation, and international economics. Topics include both the study of markets and the need for public policy/government action to address market failures.

Marlowe, Jonson, Middleton

A seminar on three major early modern dramatists--Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Thomas Middleton--focusing on the range of genres, characters, conflicts, and aspirations explored in their plays. These playwrights, along with their contemporary Shakespeare, shaped the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century theatre into a site for performing authority and conquest, national and individual identity, trickery and carnival, desire and sexuality, and complex unfoldings of revenge.

Playwriting

This course offers practice in the fundamentals of dramatic structure and technique. Weekly reading assignments will examine the unique nature of writing for the theatre, nuts and bolts of format, tools of the craft, and the playwright's process from formulating a dramatic idea to rewriting. Weekly writing assignments will include scene work, adaptation, and journaling. The course will culminate in a significant writing project. Each class meeting will incorporate reading student work aloud with feedback from the instructor and the class.

Shakespeare

A study of some of Shakespeare's plays emphasizing the poetic and dramatic aspects of his art, with attention to the historical context and close, careful reading of the language. Eight or nine plays.

Practicum: Scenic Run Crew

This course is for students interested in working on Scenic Run Crew. No previous experience is required for this position; training will be provided as part of the practicum. Students will need to be present at all technical rehearsals and performances and will need to help with the strike of the set for the final performances.

Practicum: Lighting and Sound

This course is for students interested in the production crew positions listed below. No previous experience is necessary for any of these positions; training will be provided as part of the practicum. The student will need to be present for all technical rehearsals and performances and a training session scheduled before the start of tech. Light Board Operator: Program and run the light control board under the guidance of the Lighting Designer and Stage Manager.

Practicum: Costumes

The practicum covers crew for hair and makeup or wardrobe on a production. The student fulfilling a run crew must be present for all technical rehearsals and performances plus a training session scheduled before the start of tech. No previous experience is necessary for any of these positions; training will be provided as part of the practicum.

Histories of Performance II

A historical survey of dramatic texts and world performance traditions from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, with attention given to: the influence of print culture on early modern theatrical movements; the rise of nationalism and the creation of dramatic genres; and the effects of industry and technology on experimental modernist forms. Understanding performance as both artistic practice and social institution, this course emphasizes the role performance has played in changing audiences and as a cultural and political force.

Stage to Screen

A study of ten to twelve plays and their film adaptations. Plays are drawn from a range of periods and genres, and films are chosen to show the scope of adaptive approaches from filmed play to radical re-imagining. The course will include readings on the theory and history of theatre-to-film adaptations. Playwrights will likely include Oscar Wilde, Susan Glaspell, Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, Edward Albee, David Mamet, and August Wilson.

Costume History

Research-driven weekly discussions on the history of Western clothing as it intersects with social, political and technological changes, and drawing sessions using the Mount Holyoke Antique Clothing Collection. Course covers clothing circa 1100-2016.
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