Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: STAGE CRAFT

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to materials, tools, and standard theatre production techniques. Theory and practice of scenic building and painting techniques, creation of props, sound support requirements, and running crew during performance. No Lab hours required.

Long Title: THEATRE TECHNOLOGY: COSTUME CONSTRUCTION

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to the materials, tools, and standard techniques of costume/clothing construction. Lab hours required. Special Permission of Instructor is required for Seniors to register.

Long Title: INTRODUCTION OF ACTING

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This is a class in the basic terminology and craft of acting. It will encompass voice and movement training, as well as basic technical theatre terminology and vocabulary for the actor. The course work will progress from ensemble/group work and individual exercises/ monologues to scenes. Space in classes is limited. Registration does not guarantee a place in class. The class roster is formulated on the first day of class by the individual instructor.

Long Title: THEATRE TECHNOLOGY

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to lighting and sound equipment, tools, and board operation. Theory and practice of lighting and sound materials, hang and focus, programming both sound and lights boards as well as introduction to projection elements. No lab required.

Long Title: MAKEUP FOR THE STAGE

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This is a hands-on class that explores the principals of stage makeup materials and skills, methods and techniques that are used in an actor's transformation for the stage. This includes techniques for moderate and extreme aging, injuries and character roles and period styles. Class will use the application of analytical and research skills in the visual development of the character. Class size limited to 10.

Long Title: BIG PAINTING: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES FOR THEATRICAL PAINTING

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Big Painting: Materials and Techniques for Theatrical Painting will examine the materials and techniques usually associated with scenic and theatrical painting but as applied to the context of 21st century contemporary art practices. Students will learn how to make big paintings. This course has limited enrollment. The roster is formatted on the first day class by the instructor, who may allow additional registration for majors. It is necessary to attend the first class meeting to confirm your place on the class roster. Cross-list: ARTS 270.

Long Title: INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE DESIGN

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to the theory and practice of theatre design through exploration of the principles and elements of design as they apply to scenery, lighting, and costumes with an emphasis on text analysis and research. Students will complete and present a variety of projects.

Long Title: ACTING I

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to the fundamentals of acting through the exploration of actor training techniques based on the theories of Stanislavsky, Strasburg, Adler, Meisner, and Hagen, emphasizing the actor's primary tools: voice, body, emotional life, and imagination.

Long Title: ACTING II

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 301 or permission of instructor

Description: Text analysis for the actor with particular emphasis on a thorough investigation of given circumstances and dramatic action. Students will work on scenes from Ibsen to contemporary playwrights. Space in classes is limited. Registration does not guarantee a place in class. The class roster is formulated on the first day of class by the individual instructor.

Long Title: INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: A survey course of the art and theory of the theatre through an examination of dramatic literature from the Greeks through the modern era. The course will also explore the craft of the theatre as it is practiced today. Requires attending several theatre productions in local Houston venues. Cross-list: ENGL 390.

Long Title: COSTUME DESIGN

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Advanced examination of the principles of costume design through the analysis of character and relationships. Students will read and analyze a variety of plays in different periods and styles and then, based on text analysis and research, complete and present design projects using different rendering techniques. The role of the costume designer in collaboration with directors, actors, and other designers will also be explored.

Long Title: LIGHTING DESIGN

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 300 or permission of instructor

Description: Exploration of the role that lighting plays in a production and the lighting designer's place as an artist in the collaboration process. Emphasis on the practical application of the controllable properties of light as they apply to theatre. Students will be required to complete a variety of projects including light labs responding to music and culminating in a final lighting project.

Long Title: SCENIC DESIGN

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 300 or permission of instructor

Description: Advanced examination of the principles of scenic design including research, rendering, technical drawing, model construction, text analysis and the role of the scenic designer in collaboration with directors, actors, and other designers. Students will read and analyze a variety of plays in different periods and styles, and then, based on text analysis and research, complete and present design projects.

Long Title: HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS, AND CLOTHING FOR THEATRE DESIGNERS

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS, AND CLOTHING FOR THEATRE DESIGNERS ***** Survey of the major period styles of buildings, homes, furnishings, and clothing from ancient Egypt through the 20th century including a critical analysis of the interdependent nature of the evolution of design and the relationship to the cultures in which they were created. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: IMPROVISATION FOR STAGE AND SCREEN

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This is a course in the practical training of comedic, long-form, improvisation. Students will learn how to craft scenes spontaneously using tools like character dynamic, status, comedic pattern, beat structuring, and agreement. Classic forms of scenic improv will be taught and the course will also examine the role of improvisation in comedy films, video, and the creation of sketch comedy. Students will get to practice their skills by crafting videos in the class' culmination run of improv shows. Cross-list: FILM 308.

Long Title: MUSICAL THEATRE STUDIO

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Practical training and experience in musical theatre performance. This course will focus on the particular challenges that musical theatre presents as distinct from non-musical theatre. Performance techniques will emphasize the skills necessary for successful presentation of a musical number by an actor, as well as how to prepare an effective audition.

Long Title: THE SPOKEN TEXT

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 301 or permission of instructor

Description: An exploration of language through voice, movement and text as one of the actor's primary means of communication and expression. The student will analyze, rehearse, and perform scenes from the work of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Recommended prerequisite(s): ENGL 321.

Long Title: DIRECTING I

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 301 or permission of instructor

Description: An introductory course exploring the tools and craft of the stage director. Students will learn how to analyze dramatic text and will gain a fundamental knowledge of the director's basic skills, including composition, picture, movement, rhythm, and pantomimic dramatization. Recommended prerequisite(s): THEA 303 or 300.

Long Title: THEATRE IN WESTERN CULTURE: A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Through reading and watching a selection of major plays and exploring other primary historical and critical sources, students in this course will study the development of the western dramatic tradition from ancient roots to modern day. Students will explore how the theatrical experience reflects and effects the society in which it exists and will consider how theater holds a mirror up to cultural power, taboos, and changes.

Long Title: GENDER, SEXUALITY AND THE ADAPTATION OF TRANSATIONAL LITERATURE TO PERFORMANCE

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course examines the embodiment of gender and sexuality through the oral interpretation of transnational literature. Students will learn how to analyze and adapt to performance novels and short stories from various global and historical contexts that exemplify the genre of the "coming of age" narrative. Cross-list: SWGS 320.

Long Title: DIRECTING SHAKESPEARE

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 301

Description: Staging Shakespeare's plays for modern audiences: learning to speak the lines "trippingly off the tongue", analyzing textual clues, and researching the period to find correlations to contemporary society in the process of active rehearsal. Students will work with THEA 310 to stage a final scene. Recommended prerequisite(s): THEA 310.

Long Title: VOICE AND SPEECH FOR THEATRE

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Development of an expressive speaking voice through awareness and overcoming physical and vocal habits and limitations, including alignment, relaxation, breath support, resonance, tone and projection. Recommended prerequisite(s): THEA 301.

Long Title: MOVEMENT FOR STAGE AND STAGE COMBAT

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to body dynamics and stage combat through partner exercises, physical stretching and conditioning, ensemble movement, full body awareness, focus, action and counter-action, precision, and economy of effort. Recommended prerequisite(s): THEA 301.

Long Title: ACTING FOR FILM

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): THEA 102 OR THEA 301 or permission of instructor

Description: This course provides an introduction to the art of acting on camera. It emphasizes specific techniques of speech, movement, character development, and the creation of relationships as they relate to the recorded medium (film, television, commercials, industrial films). The elements of study include proper voice placement, appropriate acting styles, and subtlety in performance. Student performances will be videotaped for study.

Long Title: SPECIAL PROBLEMS/TECHNICAL PRODUCTION

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Independent Study

Credit Hours: 1 TO 6

Description: Independent study. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: THEATRE PRODUCTION

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Studio

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 1 TO 6

Description: Practical application of skills acquired in previous THEA courses in a realized Theatre Program production as a company member. Admission to class requires either an audition, interview, or portfolio review with the director and/or production manager. Possible roles include: actor, assistant director, stage manager, assistant stage manager, designer, and technical support in scenery, costumes, lighting, or sound. Prerequisites: permission of instructor. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: CRITICAL STUDIES OF MULTIMEDIA ARTS

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Critical Studies for Multimedia Arts is a course designed to familiarize art and non-art majors with key theories and core concepts in modern and contemporary multimedia art. Students will examine a broad spectrum of specific topics in contemporary artwork related conceptually to: space/time; bodies and performance; "sculptural" studies in an expanded field and video & film space. This is a multi-dimensional class consisting of guest lectures, artist-speakers, and field trips to local museums, galleries and alternative art spaces. This course will include discussions on readings, writings and special projects. This promises to be a fun and thought-provoking class and is designed to enhance studio practice and encourage interest in the visual arts. Cross-list: ARTS 332, FILM 332, FOTO 332.

Long Title: THEATRE INTERNSHIP

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Internship/Practicum

Credit Hours: 1 TO 6

Description: This course is a field-based, supervised, professional learning experience designed to enhance classroom learning. Students will be responsible for identifying and securing internship positions and must obtain permission from the department chairman and have a department faculty sponsor. All interns are required to keep an internship journal recording duties and activities; the journal will be used as the basis of a five-page paper summarizing the internship experience. Documentation of the work produced during the internship is required, portfolio, CD, DVD, etc. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: SPECIAL PROBLEMS: HISTORY AND LITERATURE

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Independent Study

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Independent study. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: SPECIAL PROBLEMS: DIRECTING AND DESIGN

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Independent Study

Credit Hours: 1 TO 3

Description: Independent study. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.

Long Title: SPECIAL PROBLEMS: ADVANCED TOPICS

Department: *Visual and Dramatic Arts*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Independent Study

Credit Hours: 1 TO 6

Description: Independent study. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.