The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Technical Theatre provides preparation for successful careers in performing arts, entertainment and cultural industries.

Admission

Portfolio review in person or via SlideRoom and interview. Please consult Dramatic Arts website for current admission details.

B.F.A. in Design and Technical Theatre Supplementary Scholastic Standards Policy

To be considered in good standing, B.F.A. in Design and Technical Theatre students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.7 for all graded coursework as it appears on their university transcript. Design and Technical Theatre majors must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 based on all courses required within the major.

At the end of each semester all students are required to fully participate in the “Semester Review Exhibition Gallery” which affords faculty the opportunity to meaningfully assess each student’s progression and offer a recurring time to evaluate status. Through this, each student will be evaluated twice a year. Students with a grade point deficiency or who are found by their major advisor and/or faculty to have failed to maintain adequate progress and/or development will be placed on departmental scholastic probation.

Students on departmental scholastic probation are not eligible to be considered for leadership opportunities in departmental productions, nor are they eligible for funded field studies or conferences, or other special opportunities without an extenuating exception approved by the faculty.

During the subsequent semester, the student will have the opportunity to improve their standing. In the event that the student’s standing does not rise to the minimum level, they will be subject to dismissal from the B.F.A. in Design and Technical Theatre.

Semester Review Exhibition Policy

All Design and Technical Theatre students are required to participate in the “Semester Review Exhibition Gallery” when held each term. Participation is defined as meaningfully supporting the load in, presentation, and strike of the exhibition as assessed by the faculty.

The Semester Review Exhibition is a pedagogical cornerstone of our program with the following goals:

• Create an opportunity for students to practice the essential skills of public speaking/interviewing/presenting, which is prevalent especially in our “freelance” focused industry.
• Create real world connections and job prospects, network within the industry and with collaborators beyond any individual’s discipline, and scaffold career support beyond four years.
• Create an opportunity for students to practice the essential skill of self-assessment and self-evaluation in order to become participants in their own education.
• Assess individual progress and preparedness as students move through our program and in doing so equitably evaluate what the next steps are for each student’s path in the program.

Requirements

Bachelor of Fine Arts Requirements

All students in the department are required to take at least one course within the major that contributes to the advancing of diverse perspectives. Courses that count toward this requirement include:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 1501	Introduction to World Puppetry	3
DRAM 2136W	Asian Theatre and Performance	3
DRAM 3130	Women in Theatre: Gender Identity and Expression on the Stage	3
DRAM 3131	African-American Theatre	3
DRAM 3132	African-American Women Playwrights, 1900 to the present	3
DRAM 3133	Latina/o Theatre	3
DRAM 3139	Theatre and Human Rights	3

When applicable, courses taken to fulfill this requirement may also be counted toward the department history and literature-based course requirement.

To fulfill their departmental writing in the major requirement, students in all three B.F.A. programs must complete one of the following courses:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 2136W	Asian Theatre and Performance	3
DRAM 4135W	Advanced Topics in Theatre and Performance	3
DRAM 4711W	The Director in the Theatre	3

All upper-level courses in Design and Technology, Puppet Arts, and Theatre Studies build upon the basic information literacy competencies introduced in:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
ENGL 1007	Seminar and Studio in Writing and Multimodal Composition	4
ENGL 1010	Seminar in Academic Writing	4
ENGL 1011	Seminar in Writing through Literature	4

Students are expected to develop an understanding of how information is created, disseminated, and organized in the performing arts, and develop abilities in accessing, evaluating, synthesizing and incorporating information into written, oral, or media presentations.

All B.F.A. students in Dramatic Arts (Acting, Design and Technical, and Puppet Arts majors) must complete the following courses:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 2130	Histories of Drama and Performance I	3
DRAM 2131	Histories of Drama and Performance II	3
Select six credits selected from the following literature and history-based courses:		6
DRAM 2136/2136W	Asian Theatre and Performance
DRAM 3130	Women in Theatre: Gender Identity and Expression on the Stage
DRAM 3131	African-American Theatre
DRAM 3132	African-American Women Playwrights, 1900 to the present
DRAM 3133	Latina/o Theatre
DRAM 3138	Trends in Contemporary Theatre
DRAM 3139	Theatre and Human Rights
DRAM 3611	Trends in the Contemporary Puppet Theatre
DRAM 4135/4135W	Advanced Topics in Theatre and Performance
DRAM 4711W	The Director in the Theatre

Additional course requirements for the B.F.A. major programs include:

Design and Technical Majors

Design and Technical majors must also complete:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 1201	Drafting for the Theatre	3
DRAM 1202	Computer Drafting for the Theatre	3
DRAM 1207	Design Fundamentals	3
DRAM 1209	Drawing and Painting Techniques for the Theatre	3
DRAM 1216	Theatre Production: Lighting And Sound	3
DRAM 1217	Theatre Production: Costumes And Makeup	3
DRAM 1218	Theatre Production: Stagecraft	3
DRAM 2141	Script Analysis	3
DRAM 3199	Independent Study	12
DRAM 3201	Scene Construction	3
DRAM 3220	Sound for the Theatre	3
DRAM 3301	Scene Design	3
DRAM 3401	Costume History	3
DRAM 3501	Lighting for the Theatre	3
Select nine credits from the following:		9
DRAM 3103	Stage Management for the Theatre
DRAM 3202	Rigging
DRAM 3219	Sound Technology and Production Audio
DRAM 3302	Scene Design
DRAM 3320	Scenic Painting Techniques
DRAM 3402	Costume Design
DRAM 3420	Wearable Electronics and Interactive Objects
DRAM 3502	Lighting for the Theatre
DRAM 3602	Paper Sculpture
DRAM 3603	Rod Puppetry
DRAM 3604	Puppetry in Television

Note: Each Bachelor of Fine Arts Student in the Design and Technical area, and any other student taking any of the digital design courses, must own a personal portable computer that meets or exceeds posted departmental performance standards. Students should expect to purchase an up-to-date version of Adobe’s Creative Cloud for Education and install it on their personal computer for most of their time in residence, either for design classes that require it or for production assignments as assistants and designers.

University General Education Requirements

Every student must meet a set of core requirements to earn a baccalaureate degree, in addition to those required by the student's major course of study and other requirements set by the student's school or college. For more information about these requirements, please see General Education Requirements.

School of Fine Arts Degree Requirements

Students must meet a set of requirements established by the college in addition to the University's General Education requirements. For more information, see the School of Fine Arts section of this catalog.