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 Senior Will Stevens, directing Blue Heart. Spring 2023.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Theatre major, a student will have developed a broad understanding of theatre history, theory, and practice; the ability to think and produce creative work as a collaborative artist; and demonstrate the ability to complete a significant independent research project (sometimes with a creative component) and to present that work in writing and in discussion. Majors will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a broad understanding of theatre history, theory, and practice and think and work as a collaborative artist:
   • Perform a close reading of a play
   • Analyze a play in its historical and cultural context
   • Engage in a deep dramaturgical analysis of a play
   • Envision their own production of a play and articulate that vision
   • Work in a collaborative process to contribute to making a stage production
2. Complete a significant independent project that serves to critically explore a topic:
   • Choose and define a central question from the major field
   • Develop a methodology or framework, whether through production or library-based research, for testing the question
   • Develop and produce a bibliography
   • Conduct independent work with the support of an advisor
   • Respond appropriately to feedback
   • Contribute to the larger field, whether through synthesis, innovation or creation
   • In the case of production work, be able to lead the creative process in their area of focus 
3. Communicate work done
   • Write a clear and coherent document that is substantially longer than a traditional term paper or project and formatted in a style appropriate to the approach
   • Orally present, discuss and defend work done

The primary assessment tool for learning in the major at ¹û½´ÊÓƵ and the level of student achievement in the major area is the senior thesis; the junior qualifying examination, which assesses a student's readiness for thesis, provides a second assessment tool. For more information on the senior thesis and the junior qualifying examination, see Degree Requirements.