College of Arts & Sciences

The curriculum of the Theatre Department (which includes its production program) is designed to aid students to reason and write effectively, to acquire intellectual skills necessary to confront a changing world, to acquire proficiency in a core of theatre knowledge and practice, and to understand the self-discipline necessary to pursue a life in art.
Theatre is a performing art. It is also a major area of study through which one may gain a liberal arts education. The Department of Theatre assumed these two views of the theatre to be mutually supportive. Design, direction, acting, writing, technology, history, theory, criticism, and dramatic literature are considered interdependent studies. However, a degree of specialization is expected of all students.

Careers

A major in theatre prepares students for specialized graduate study in dramatic art or conservatory training in performance or production. Thus they acquire a wide range of knowledge and skills transferable to a variety of career paths. In addition, theatre majors are prepared to pursue any career path requiring a broad liberal education.
Our graduates are currently acting and directing in television, film, and on stage in New York, and in regional theatres. Graduates in design and technical areas have found employment in the New York theatre, in regional theatres, with touring theatrical and concert productions and with equipment manufacturers and distributors. Other graduates have gone into architecture, teaching, journalism, communications, the law, and business.

Casting Policy Statement

The Department of Theatre, University at Albany/State University of New York:
# Has pledged itself to the goal of achieving cultural diversity in its casting.
# Encourages all University at Albany students to audition for and participate in its productions.
# Strives to provide educational opportunities for the growth, development, and training of students, and casts its productions in part to fulfill this goal.
# Encourages its faculty and staff to employ the freedom implicit in educational theatre to make bold and experimental artistic choices in the conceptions, casting, and design of their work.
# Recognizes the director as the person responsible for making casting decisions for each production and encourages integration between the production process and coursework.
# Promotes the ideal that earning and retaining a role is a privilege, not a right.
# Relies on the good faith and common sense of its faculty, staff, and students to interpret these policies in the proper spirit.

Degree Requirements for the Major in Theatre

A student may elect either a 36-credit general program or a 54-credit departmental program in which emphasis in a particular area of theatre is required.
A student wishing to concentrate in dramatic theory, history, and literature should enroll in the general program and plan a minor to accommodate such interests.
All theatre majors take the following 36-credit core sequence of courses: A Thr 135, 201 (2 credits), 202 (2 credits), 210Z, 221, 222, 235, 240, 250, 322 or 322Z, plus three of the following: A Thr 324/A Eng 344 or A Thr 325/A Eng 345, A Thr 430, A Thr 455, or A Thr 456. General Program B.A.:
36 credits (at least 12 credits must be at the 300 level or above). Students in the general program are required to take the 36-credit core.
Departmental Program B.A.:
54 credits (at least 18 credits must be at the 300 level or above). Students in the departmental program are required to take the 36-credit core plus courses as follows, and they do not need to declare a separate minor.
18 credit Concentration in Theatre Production:
One or two of the following: A Thr 260 or 270 or 280, 340 or 242 or 244;
Two or three of the following: A Thr 341, 360, 370, 380;
Three of the following: A Thr 350, 365, 375, 385, 440, 465, 470, 501.

Honors Program

The honors program in theatre is designed to give exceptional undergraduates the opportunity to take advanced classwork in the field of theatre studies, and to work more closely with faculty on independent projects that might be otherwise possible.

Requirements for admission to Honors Program

A Thr 210, 221, 222 and 322 completed or in progress; no fewer than 12 credits toward the major completed; a 3.5 GPA in all theatre courses, overall 3.25 GPA. Submission of application/project proposal to honors committee.

Requirements for completion of Honors Program

Overall GPA of 3.25. All requirements for core theatre major with GPA of 3.5 (the student may be expelled from the Honors Program if the GPA drops below the required level, or in the case of excessive or unjustified incompletes in any course(s), pending the judgment of the Honors Committee); 500 or 600 level honors seminar (3 cr); honors seminar or independent study in which substantial research is done in preparation for the Honors project (3 cr); Honors project (3cr).