Vision, Mission, and Values Statement
Vision
Our vision is for a world where the artist is transformative, essential and engaged.
Mission
The Department of Theatre Arts & Dance offers students a home where they can develop their potential and find their voices as artists through rigorous coursework, collaborative making and production of live performance.
Each of the Department’s four concentrations – Acting, Dance, Technical Theatre, and Theatre Studies – offers a broad base of study, drawing from diverse techniques and styles to provide a launchpad for students considering continuing fine arts graduate studies, a performing arts career, arts education, or other fields that value creative leadership, ingenuity, and collaborative problem-solving.
Core Values
Student-centered: We believe in creating experiences that serve our students’ needs in the classroom and beyond with skill-based learning, a supported Production Season, and opportunities to engage with guest artists and professionals in the field.
Rigor: We believe that robust training in performance and theatrical artistry can inspire us to the highest standards of professionalism and personal achievement.
Full Engagement: We believe in making work that has value beyond the dance and theatre world and that directly engages our campus and local community.
Theatre Arts & Dance Program Learning Outcomes
Dance, Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.)
Program Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand and practice concepts of dance technique, embodied research, creative expression and cultural awareness.
2. Develop and practice equitable and collaborative learning and leadership skills.
3. Analyze and write critically on dance history, pedagogy, creative process and live performance.
4. Demonstrate agency in creative voice as a dancer, performer, artist and world citizen.
5. Integrate and apply complex concepts of dance theory and embodied knowledge in performance, creative process and teaching methods.
Bachelor of Theatre Arts with concentrations in Acting, Technical Theatre or Theatre Studies
Program Learning Outcomes:
1. Critically analyze dramatic texts and live theatre performance from multiple perspectives
2. Incorporate non-Eurocentric and diverse American theatre traditions in the creation of performance for a diverse audience
3. Develop a clear artistic voice and take artistic risks
4. Develop communication and collaboration skills to become a vital member of a creative and production team
5. Understand performance as a form of everyday social interaction
