I. OVERVIEW:
The BA in Performing Arts is designed for creative individuals who want to build an interdisciplinary major that integrates music or theater with other academic fields, all organized around a guiding theme. The interdisciplinary custom-designed major opens opportunities to integrate music and theater that go beyond what a single-focused performance degree can offer.
Here are just a few examples of custom-designed majors organized around a unifying theme:
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Example Music Studies Themes:
Students might explore Music, Geography, and Environmental Planning: Acoustic Landscapes, examining how geography and urban planning shape our experience of sound-such as GIS mapping of acoustic environments. Alternatively, they could pair Music and Art History & Visual Culture to study how visual media influences musical expression and performance aesthetics. Others might delve into Music, AI, and Business Administration: Music Tech Entrepreneurship, investigating the commercialization of AI-based music solutions. Another path could be Music and Public Policy: Music Advocacy & Policy, where students examine the impact of legislation, funding, and cultural policy on the arts. Others may pursue Music, History, and Anthropology: Music & Cultural Movements, looking at how musical evolution reflects social and political change. Those drawn to creative writing might develop Music and Creative Writing: The Literary Musician, integrating advanced writing workshops with music composition or performance. Finally, students intrigued by activism could select Music and Political Science: Protest Music & Social Change, exploring how musical activism shapes public discourse and policy.
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Example Theater Studies Themes:
Students might bring Theater and Environmental Studies together under the theme of Eco-Theater & Sustainability, exploring how environmental concerns influence performance practices. Others could focus on Historical Theater and Theatre as Public History connecting Theater and History as collaborative disciplines to bring past events to life through performative experience. Others might blend Theater and Anthropology to create a theme of Cultural Performance, emphasizing ethnographic methods and cross-cultural storytelling. A focus on Interactive Performance Technology could combine Theater with Computer Science, harnessing digital media, coding, and immersive experiences. For those interested in activism, Political Theater & Social Change explores how performative expression can shape public discourse and policy with courses in Art, Music History, and Public Policy. A combined major of Theatre and English would include a focus on Dramatic Literature, British Drama, and Shakespeare. Finally, students may choose to develop advanced Directing Studies, including courses in Costume and Theatrical Make-Up Design or Commedia dell-arte with Fight Choreography, and Advanced Directing, offering further avenues for creative specialization.
II. REQUIREMENTS:
A. Foundation Courses in the Initial Discipline (18 Credits)
B. Exploration Courses outside of MUS/MUH courses (6 Credits)
Working with their advisor, students select two courses in fields beyond their initial discipline to serve as pivotal stepping stones for their custom-designed major. By exploring subjects such as creative writing, journalism, environmental studies, or psychology, these classes help students develop a cohesive interdisciplinary theme that integrates Music or Theater with their broader academic interests.
Exploration of Courses outside of THE courses (6 credits)
Working with their advisor, students explore their own interests beyond their major and select courses to explore other fields in a custom-designed study. Potential classes in English, art, creative writing, history, and sustainability strengthen the primary major in Theatre.
C. Proposing and Pursuing the Customized Program (15 Credits)
Working with their advisor, students submit a proposal during their sophomore or junior year. This proposal names an interdisciplinary theme (e.g., Music and the Environment, Theater and Cultural Studies) that shapes course choices and provides a path to graduation. Students may simultaneously fulfill a minor (e.g., Business, to create an Arts Administration career path) and can also include internships or study abroad if relevant. If a course becomes unavailable or a better option emerges, students may update their plan in consultation with their advisor. Lastly, with advisor permission students have the option of exceeding the 15-credit minimum if additional courses would strengthen the interdisciplinary theme.
The program culminates in a presentation or performance at Symposium or Arts Week, where students share their individualized, interdisciplinary work with the broader campus community (0 credits).
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