A laboratory course based on the preparation and performance of department productions. Students in the first semester of enrollment are assigned to a production run crew. In subsequent semesters of enrollment students elect to fulfill course requirements from a wide array of production-related responsibilities. May be taken four times for credit, with a maximum of two credits per semester. There will be one general meeting in the Fall (September 10) and in the Spring, in the Green Room, Theatre Building.

This course will survey the history of theatre, drama and performance from the 18th century to the present. The main focus will be on the theatres of Europe and the United States and their relationship to their respective cultures. Non-western issues in regards to African, Australian, and South American theatres will also be discussed. Lectures and discussions will be complemented by video screenings of recent productions of some of the plays under consideration.

An introduction to the study of voice, exploring the connections between thought, feeling, and vocalization through exercises that strengthen and enhance an actor's (or speaker's) understanding and command of vocal expression. Enrollment limited to 15.

Introduction to physical, vocal and interpretative aspects of performance, with emphasis on creativity, concentration and depth of expression. Enrollment limited to 14. A more focused approach to acting for those students with some acting experience and for those who intend to major in Theatre, encompassing foundational skills, developing a personal warm-up, and work on script analysis, character building, scoring the role and creating ensemble. We work on developing truthful responses to imaginary circumstances, and exploring the worlds of the text. Enrollment limited to 14.

The course is designed to explore the nature of design, in theatre and the visual arts. Students will study the elements of set, costume, lighting and sound design while looking at the work of some of the most influential designers, past and present. Especially designed for those with a limited background in theatre, it will involve discussions about assigned plays and projects, as appropriate to the topic. It is open to all students but particularly recommended for first-year students and sophomores. Enrollment limited to 16.

For qualified juniors and seniors. Admission by permission of the instructor and director of the program. No more than 4 special studies credits may be taken in any academic year and no more than 8 special studies credits total may be applied toward the major.

This course takes the foundational premise of SWG that culture constructs subjects and asks how do queer or non-normative subjectivities come into existence? By studying a selection of literary memoirs by women and men in the last half century in the U.S., we will explore the relationships between queer subjectivities, politicized identities, communities, historical moments, and social movements. The course depends on a second more radical premise that we do not have a life until we narrate it. How does life-writing as an expressive act create livable lives?

This seminar will examine domestic and international trade and trafficking of women and girls, including sex trafficking, bride trafficking, trafficking of women for domestic and other labor, child prostitution, sex work, and pornography. We will explore societal conditions that shape this market, including economics, globalization, war, and technology. We will examine the social movements growing up around the trafficking of women, particularly divisions among activists working on the issue, and study recent laws and funding initiatives to address trafficking of women and girls.

How do we know what it means to identify as lesbian, gay, queer, bisexual, or transgender? Why do these terms mean different things to different people and in different contexts? How does claiming or refusing to claim a sexual identity affect community formation or social change? This seminar will explore constructions of queer collective identities, communities, and social protest. We will pay explicit attention to how queer identities, communities, and movements are racialized, shaped by class, gendered, and contextual.

Grounding our work in the current scholarship in lesbian history, this course will explore lesbian communities, cultures, and activism. While becoming familiar with the existing narratives about lesbian lives, students will be introduced to the method of oral history as a key documentation strategy in the production of lesbian history. Our texts will include secondary literature on late 20th century lesbian culture and politics, oral history theory and methodology, and primary sources from the Sophia Smith Collection (SSC).