Theater Course Descriptions

PASJ - 108. Acting I: Foundations (4)

Course description pending.

PASJ - 130. Dance Studio: Craft (4)

Intensive study in the rudiments of the dancer's vocabulary and craft, with intensive instruction in movement in order to develop range of motion, strength, coordination, balance, centering, while learning to care for the body.

PASJ - 151. Acting for Non-Majors (4)

Non-majors learn the basics of acting as well as explore the collaborative and creative function of theatrical production. Improvisation and a community-based performance project round out the class exercises in creative work.

PASJ - 152. Survey of Technical Theatre (4)

An introduction to basic techniques and tools of technical theatre as applied in stage, television, and film production. Three-hour lab required.

PASJ - 155. Appreciation of Theater (4)

This course is designed to be an introduction to theater through a careful analysis of both structure and content--focusing on the making of theater as a collaborative art. Areas covered will include theater history, dramatic texts, acting and directing, scenography, stage lighting, costuming and theater criticism.

PASJ - 201. Voice for Performance (4)

Development of vocal mechanics for the performing arts through breathing, relaxation, and breath control exercises.

PASJ - 205. Theatre and Social Issues (4)

This course looks at theatre, the artists involved in artistic production and, beyond its function as entertainment, how theatre functions as an instrument of social commentary. Offered every Spring.

PASJ - 208. Acting II: Creating a Character (4)

The study of the methods for developing a character for performance. Includes improvisation and scene study.

PASJ - 230. Dance Studio: Exploration (4)

Examines the elements of creative movement, with attention to motivation and the use of dance for the expression of ideas and feelings.

PASJ - 231. Dance Studio: Composition (4)

The final Dance Studio, explores choreography, the techniques and tools of composition, space and design, rhythm and pulse, duration and time, energy and dynamics.

PASJ - 261. Workshop in Play Production (1-4)

Production of a play, selected to suit the talents of the registered students. Course may be repeated for credit. Offered every semester.

PASJ - 263. Dramatic Literature (4)

A survey of the great dramatic literature from the Greeks to the present.

PASJ - 265. Performance and Social History (4)

The course focuses on Theater and Dance as catalysts in the social processes that shape individual and community consciousness. It studies artists who create in the context of social responsibility and awaken social awareness. Limited to Performing Arts Majors/Minors.

PASJ - 301. Classical Dramatic Literature (4)

This course, as with The World of Theatre - Moliere to Mamet, considers theatre within a social and historical context. Each course is self-contained and either one may be taken without the other. The theatrical settings, the playwrights, performers and audiences are topics of investigation. The plays are studied as they were and are performed, rather than as literary works. Part I covers the theatre from its earliest beginnings through the closing of the English theatres in 1642.

PASJ - 302. Modern Dramatic Literature (4)

This course, as with The World of Theatre - Thespis to Shakespeare, considers theatre within a social and historical context. Each course is self-contained and either one may be taken without the other. The theatrical settings, the playwrights, performers and audiences are topics of investigation. The plays are studied as they were and are performed, rather than as literary works. Part II covers the period from 1642 to the present.

PASJ - 305. Theater and Culture (4)

The course provides an overview of the plays, theatrical productions, and theatrical traditions of cultures in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and underrepresented cultures in the United States, including African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic. Each semester one or two of these areas are selected for in-depth study.

PASJ - 308. Acting III: Styles (4)

Basic techniques of the actor applied to practical scene work.

PASJ - 310. Gender, Sexuality and Theater (4)

This course will focus on the wide range of texts in theater, performance, and film that examine queer identity. Definitions of LGBTIQQ identity will be examined through theeoretical texts as well as historical and cultural markers.

PASJ - 312. Asian American Performance (4)

This course is an introduction to Asian American Theatre and its direct relationship to Asian American political consciousness. Through play analysis and historical and theoretical discussions the class challenges the student to answer the question; "what is the importance of telling the Asian American story on stage?"

PASJ - 315. Biblical and Spiritual Drama (4)

From the Bible to the English mystery plays and contemporary versions of the Passion, this course will examine both critically and in performance the theological implications of the great stories of the Bible and other spiritual works. Students will be asked to do small performances in class as well as write reflectively and analytically about their reading and viewing assignments. Cross Listed With: THEOL - 330

PASJ - 316. African American Arts and Culture (4)

This course will examine various depictions of Black identities found in diverse genres of art including but not limited to antebellum slave narratives, museum exhibitions, blues and jazz musical recordings, theater, visual art, film and hip-hop music and culture.

PASJ - 321. Performing Arts and Community Exchange (4)

This course is designed for students who are interested in merging social activism, dance/theater and teaching. Students will learn how to use movement and theater as tools for social change in settings such as senior centers, schools and prisons. In studio sessions, students will identify, approach and construct classes for community sites. Selected films and readings will provide a context for duscussion and assist in the development of individual student's research and teaching methods. The class will include lab sessions at designated off-campus sites where students will lead and participate in teaching workshops. Limited to 15 students. Cross Listed With: DANCE - 331

PASJ - 322. Contemporary African American Literature and Film (4)

In this course students will be introduced to contemporary African American literature in both its written and film versions. The course focuses on novels and plays written during the second half of the 20th century and their corresponding films. These texts explore a number of important moments in African American History including slavery, emancipation, segregation, the Black Power Movement, and contemporary African American life.

PASJ - 325. The Harlem Renaissance and Negritude Movements (4)

This course explores the literature of the "New Negro Movement" as an international phenomenon that influenced connected blacks throughout the African Diaspora. During the term we will read selections of theater, fiction, poetry, essays and journalism of the Harlem Renaissance and Negritude movements, comparing and contrasting the works and ideas from blacks residing in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States.

PASJ - 353. Play and Script Writing (4)

Process of writing a play or script for stage or media from germinal idea, through production.

PASJ - 354. Principles of Directing (4)

This course focuses on the conceptual as well as the practical phases of directing a play beginning with the question: what moved the playwright to tell this story? and continuing with all technical aspects from holding auditions to opening night.

PASJ - 356. Scenic and Production Design (4)

A detailed study and practice of the methods used in designing costumes, settings, and properties. Cross Listed With: BAVA - 356

PASJ - 358. Hip Hop Theater (4)

Hip-Hop articulates an "esthetic of resistance," becoming a vital youth-driven artistic forum for social action and change. Combined with theater, it addresses issues of youth empowerment, solidarity and peacebuilding. This course bridges history, theory and practice of this socially engaged form, into a coherent methodology and performance style.

PASJ - 361. Stage Lighting Design (3)

Prerequisite: THETR - 152. A study of the aesthetics, principles, and practices of lighting for the stage and media, including design and execution of at least one production in dance, drama, television, or film.

PASJ - 362. Laboratory in Theatre Practice (1)

Practical exercise in production techniques through participation in departmental or College Players productions. Offered every semester.

PASJ - 363. Laboratory in Acting Techniques (1)

Practical experience in acting in departmental or College Players productions. Offered every semester.

PASJ - 372. Production/Performance Practicum (4)

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Applied study of organization, management, and composition of theatrical production through creation of a production and performance of a particular play or mediated performance. May be repeated for credit.

PASJ - 389. Arts Outreach (4)

Arts Outreach intends to provide a passionate and compassionate interaction between artist and community. Students will have one foot in the "studio" and one foot in the "street" and will become part of a collaborative process in creating community-based art projects or events.

PASJ - 396. Tutorial or Professional Internship (2-4)

A faculty-supervised study in Theatre Arts. Written permission of the instructor and dean is required.

PASJ - 397. Media Workshop (4)

On-campus experience in the mass media. Development of professional responsibility. May be repeated for up to six units of credit. Open to non-majors. Offered only on Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory grade basis. Offered every semester.

PASJ - 399. Directed Study (1-4)

Prerequisite: Written permission of the instructor and dean. Offered every semester.

PASJ - 401. Professionalization Seminar (1)

Course description pending.

PASJ - 480. Company I (4)

Course description pending.

PASJ - 485. Company II (4)

Course description pending.

PASJ - 489. Senior Project (1-4)

A faculty-supervised theatrical project incorporating research and development. Consent of instructor is required.