galwaymum

Allie's mom-
There is very little room for electives in the Dramaturgy program, either. My S is hoping to end up with a minor in Spanish and that may be doable. Foreign language study is required. I'm copying a little synopsis from CMU's
site. You can follow the links for more info. Good luck!

The Dramaturgy Program

Dramaturgy is to dramatic literature what metallurgy is to raw ore: a process that demands the highest intellectual ability and artistic passion to render a static thing into something beautiful, useful, and alive. The Dramaturgy Program at CMU provides a rigorous, highly structured academic and artistic training sequence, emphasizing research methods, aesthetic and critical theories, historical knowledge both broad and deep, and an increasingly challenging practical component that culminates in a professional-level experience with a full-scale theatre production. This program cultivates a hunger for interdisciplinarity and an appreciation of the need for multicultural exchange in the arts universe. There is some flexibility, as well, for the student dramaturg to pursue a particular curiosity about some branch of knowledge or arts practice, within the theatre or within any of the excellent academic disciplines that CMU or her sister universities have to offer.

The academic curriculum, involving study in History, Literary and Culture Studies, and major theoretical work, is integrated with production (Lab) work on a sequential basis. After completing the basic dramaturgy training in the first year, Sophomore students will be paired with Junior directors in Directing III, to study a director’s approach to staging a particular text. The students will act as production dramaturgs for the Junior director scene projects. In Year Three, Junior-level dramaturgs will be paired with Senior and graduate directors to work on student-directed season shows. Finally, Senior-level dramaturgs will be assigned to work on a fully-mounted production with a faculty, graduate, or guest professional director, or will be given internships to work in a dramaturgical capacity with professional theatres in the US or abroad. The Option encourages one semester of study abroad.

Questions about the dramaturgy program? Please contact:
Michael Chemers
e-mail: chemers@andrew.cmu.edu

NotMamaRose

boulderdad, I actually got to see/hear your D sing in the demo performances that were staged at CMU Precollege's Family Weekend last weekend! She did a great job! (And yes, we've had a few of those late-night text messages ourselves. )

JAGER

Hi everyone. My d was at CMU this summer, and is very interested in the dramaturgy program. Does anyone have any idea how the BFA in dramaturgy is different from a BA in drama or theatre? I'm just wondering what the benefits/downsides might be to pursuing this degree. Thanks!

kittymom

I believe the BFA in dramaturgy is much more about the practical theater experience, with crew assignments on actual productions, while the BA in Theater Studies is more of a academic track. If she is up to the challenge and loves the idea of working in the theater world, then this is the best option.