Courses
This page displays the schedule of Bryn Mawr courses in this department for this academic year. It also displays descriptions of courses offered by the department during the last four academic years.
For information about courses offered by other Bryn Mawr departments and programs or about courses offered by Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges, please consult the Course Guides page.
For information about the Academic Calendar, including the dates of first and second quarter courses, please visit the College's master calendar.
Spring 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
2013-14 Catalog Data
ARTT
B142
Dance Composition I
Fall 2013
In this introduction to the art of making dances, an array of compositional tools and approaches is used to evolve and refine choreographic ideas. Basic concepts such as space, phrasing, timing, image, energy, density and partnering are introduced and explored alongside attention to the roles of inspiration and synthesis in the creative process. Improvisation is used to explore choreographic ideas and students learn to help and direct others in generating movement. Discussion of and feedback on weekly choreographic assignments and readings contributes to analyzing and refining choreography. Concurrent attendance in any level technique course is required.
Division III: Humanities
Critical Interpretation (CI)
Cross-listed as ARTD B142
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ARTT
B150
Introduction to Theater
Not offered 2013-14
An exploration of a wide range of dramatic works and history of theater through research, analysis and discussion to develop understanding and foundations for a theatrical production.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B230
Topics in American Drama
Spring 2014
Considers American plays of the 20th century, reading major playwrights of the canon alongside other dramatists who were less often read and produced. Will also study later 20th century dramatists whose plays both develop and resist the complex foundation established by canonical American playwrights and how American drama reflects and responds to cultural and political shifts. Considers how modern American identity has been constructed through dramatic performance, considering both written and performed versions of these plays.
Division III: Humanities
Critical Interpretation (CI)
Cross-listed as ENGL B230
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ARTT
B232
Technical Theater I: Fundamentals of Lighting Techniques and Technology
Spring 2014
The course is an introduction to how lights and lighting technologies are implemented in a theatrical context. Different from lighting design, this course is on the fundamental skills of instrument operation, installation, programming, and troubleshooting. Collaboration is the key to the successful implementation of these skills and students will work with designers to properly execute their concepts. Students will be required to attend outside performances and provide written analysis on how the techniques they've learned may have been used.
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ARTT
B233
Technical Theater II: Fundamentals of Scenic Carpentry
Spring 2014
The course is an introduction to the basic principles of scenic carpentry and set construction. It is meant to offer a hands-on approach to the craft as well as the underlying concepts behind how sets are built. Students will begin with a safety course in the use of hand and power tools, then learn how to translate design drawings into fully realized sets. Fundamental set elements such as flats, jacks, and cubes will be built, as well as individual projects. Students can expect to leave the class empowered by a project based learning experience that will translate into a practical skill set useful in both theater and the outside world. This is a quarter course.
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ARTT
B250
Twentieth-Century Theories of Acting
Fall 2013
An introduction to 20th-century theories of acting emphasizing the intellectual, aesthetic, and sociopolitical factors surrounding the emergence of each director's approach to the study of human behavior on stage. Various theoretical approaches to the task of developing a role are applied in workshop and scene study.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B251
Fundamentals of Acting
Fall 2013
An introduction to the fundamental elements of acting (scene analysis, characterization, improvisation, vocal and gestural presentation, and ensemble work) through the study of scenes from significant 20th-century dramatic literature.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B253
Performance Ensemble
Fall 2013
An intensive workshop in the methodologies and aesthetics of theater performance, this course is open to students with significant experience in performance. In collaboration with the director of theater, students will explore a range of performance techniques and styles in the context of rehearsing a performance project. Admission to the class is by audition or permission of the instructor. The class is offered for a half-unit of credit.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B254
Fundamentals of Theater Design
Not offered 2013-14
An introduction to the creative process of visual design for theater; exploring dramatic context and influence of cultural, social, and ideological forces on theater and examining practical applications of various technical elements such as scenery, costume, and lighting while emphasizing their aesthetic integration.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B255
Fundamentals of Costume Design
Fall 2013
Hands-on practical workshop on costume design for performing arts; analysis of text, characters, movement, situations; historical and stylistic research; cultivation of initial concept through materialization and plotting to execution of design.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B262
Playwriting I
Spring 2014
An introduction to playwriting through a combination of reading assignments, writing exercises, discussions about craft and ultimately the creation of a complete one-act play. Students will work to discover and develop their own unique voices as they learn the technical aspects of the craft of playwriting. Readings will include work by Edward Albee, Maria Irene Fornes, John Guare, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel and others. Short writing assignments will complement each reading assignment. The final assignment will be to write an original one-act play.
Division III: Humanities
Cross-listed as ARTW B262
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ARTT
B265
Acting Across Culture
Not offered 2013-14
This course examines how we access Shakespeare across culture and across language, as performers and audience members. We will explore the role of creator/performer using traditional and non-traditional means (text work and scansion, investigation of objective and actions, and first-folio technique). With a focus on language and both multilingual and non-verbal communication, students will prepare for a fall break intensive of student-led workshops and a performance. Prerequisites: Fundamentals of Acting or its equivalent.
Division III: Humanities
Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC)
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ARTT
B310
Performing the City: Theorizing Bodies in Space
Not offered 2013-14
Building on the premise that space is a concern in performance, choreography, architecture and urban planning, this course will interrogate relationships between (performing) bodies and (city) spaces. Using perspectives from dance and performance studies, urban studies and cultural geography, it will introduce space, spatiality and the city as material and theoretical concepts and investigate how moving and performing bodies and city spaces intersect in political, social and cultural contexts. Lectures, discussion of assigned readings, attendance at live performance and 2-3 fieldtrips are included. Prerequisites: One Dance lecture/seminar course or one course in relevant discipline e.g. cities, anthropology, sociology or permission of the instructor.
Division III: Humanities
Critical Interpretation (CI)
Cross-listed as ARTD B310
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ARTT
B332
The Actor Creates: Performance Studio in Generating Original
Fall 2013
This course explores the actor as creator, inviting the performer to become a generative artist with agency to invent her own work. Building on skills introduced in Fundamentals of Acting, we will introduce new methodologies of training to construct a framework in which students can approach making original solo and group work. Students will use processes employing visual art, found dialogue, music, autobiography, and more. Emphasizing guided, individual, and group collaboration, we will examine the role of the actor/creator through exercises and readings that relate the actor's creative process to an understanding of self and the artist's role in communities. Prerequisite: ARTT B251 (Fundamentals of Acting)
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ARTT
B351
Acting II
Not offered 2013-14
A continuation of the methods of inquiry in Fundamentals of Acting, this course is structured as a series of project-based learning explorations in acting. Students will supplement their study, rehearsal, and performance work by exploring principals of directing, dramaturgy, and design as applied to class projects as well as with advanced training in movement and voice. Readings will be drawn from the acting texts of Stanislavski, Michael Chekhov and others, with reflections and critiques recorded in a journal. Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B353
Advanced Performance Ensemble
Fall 2013
An advanced, intensive workshop in theater performance. Students explore a range of performance techniques in the context of rehearsing a performance project, and participate in weekly seminars in which the aesthetic and theatrical principles of the play and production will be developed and challenged. The course may be repeated. Prerequisites: ARTT B253 or permission of the instructor.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B354
Shakespeare on the Stage
Not offered 2013-14
An exploration of Shakespeare's texts from the point of view of the performer. A historical survey of the various approaches to producing Shakespeare from Elizabethan to contemporary times, with intensive scenework culminating in on-campus performances.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B356
Endgames: Theater of Samuel Beckett
Not offered 2013-14
An exploration of Beckett's theater work conducted through both reading and practical exercises in performance techniques. Points of special interest include the monologue form of the early novels and its translation into theater, Beckett's influences (particularly silent film) and collaborations, and the relationship between the texts of the major dramatic works and the development of both modern and postmodern performance techniques.
Division III: Humanities
Cross-listed as ENGL B356
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ARTT
B359
Directing for the Stage
Not offered 2013-14
A semiotic approach to the basic concepts and methods of stage direction. Topics explored through readings, discussion and creative exercises include directorial concept, script analysis and research, stage composition and movement, and casting and actor coaching. Students rehearse and present three major scenes.
Division III: Humanities
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ARTT
B403
Supervised Work
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ARTT
B403
Supervised Work
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