Freshmen Core
All freshmen are admitted into a Freshmen Core Curriculum, either Performance or Design & Production.
The Freshmen Core is designed to provide an appropriate context for faculty evaluations of each student’s strengths, interests, and potential for success in the upper years of training. At the end of the freshmen year, each student declares a major. This decision is reviewed by members of the School of Theatre faculty before a student is officially enrolled in his or her major.
The Performance Core
The Performance Core provides a foundation for all future study in either the Acting or Theatre Arts majors. Through improvisation, scene study, ensemble work, and exercise, students begin the journey toward the free, integrated, and transformable expression of the voice, body, intellect, imagination, and emotion.
Performance Core classes include:
- Acting
- Movement
- Voice and Speech
- Alexander Technique
- Theatre Ensemble
- Stagecraft
- Introduction to Dramatic Literature
- Writing Seminar
View the detailed Performance Core curriculum in our Online Bulletin.
The Design & Production Core
The Design & Production Core provides a foundation for all future study in Design (Lighting, Scenic, Costume, or Sound), Production (Technical or Costume), Stage Management, and Theatre Arts D&P. By creating a base of artistic and technical skills, students begin to explore the breadth and depth of what it means to be a theatre artist in professional theatre today.
Design & Production Core classes include:
- Introduction to Dramatic Literature
- Introduction to Design
- Introduction to Theatre Practice
- Writing Seminar
- Drawing and Painting
- Drafting 1
- Freshmen Colloquium
- Production
- Theatre Ensemble
Choose Two:
- Scenery Construction
- Costume Construction
- Lighting Crafts
- Sound Systems Basics
- Introduction to Stage Management
Choose One:
- Drafting 2
- Auto CAD 1
- VectorWorks 1
- Figure Drawing
View the detailed Design & Production Core curriculum in our Online Bulletin.