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Identity
The Department of Theatre & Dance is a community of students, scholars, artists and artisans who regard the collaborative and creative process as the core of education. We engage with that process at all levels of our work as we pursue excellence and understanding. From the root of process stems practice, and that practice bears the fruit of experience. The Department of Theatre & Dance guides that fruition, offering students an expanse of opportunities to encounter the art forms of theatre and dance, their making and meaning.
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Four-fold Mission
ÌýÌýTo provide excellent education and training, through classes and productions, at the graduate and undergraduate levels, to students seriously interested in careers in theatre, dance, and related areas.
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ÌýÌýTo provide classes in theatre and dance that will enrich the educational experience of students majoring in other fields.
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ÌýÌýTo offer performances that are aesthetically and intellectually stimulating to the campus community, the 51´«Ã½ area, and the state.
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ÌýÌýTo contribute, through research and productions, to the health and development of the arts of theatre and dance locally, regionally, and beyond.
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Values
Ways of Knowing
Through the collaborative and creative process, we find ways of knowing ourselves and the world around us using cognitive diversity. We not only train skills in the performing arts, we teach ways of discovery and creation in the tradition of a liberal arts education.Ìý We cultivate what education theorist Howard Gardner calls “multiple intelligences.â€
Connection to Profession
Our faculty members are working artists and scholars in the field. They bring this experience to the classroom and educate students in the current standards and practices of the industry.
Diversity of Tradition
We honor the global diversity of theories, practices and performance conventions that have come before us and manifest this value in our scholarship and production.