Courses for First Year Students

General Recommendations

All courses offered by the Barnard Theatre Department are open to all Barnard, Columbia, and General Studies undergraduates.

First-Year Students are encouraged to consider the following:

• THTR UN3151 Western Theatre Traditions: Modern
  Mondays/Wednesdays 10:10am to 11:25am
  All majors are required to take this course at some point to fulfill the History requirement.  Fulfills one (of two) Theatre History requirements for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors.
• THTR UN3155 Traditional Indian Performance
  Wednesdays 12:10pm to 2:00pm
  Course may fulfill either the Global Theatre requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both.

Acting Courses

For First-Year Students looking for an introductory acting class, please consider taking the Acting I:

• THTR UN3004 Acting I

Acting I is required first acting course for all students; we will likely have at least one section reserved for only first-year students.

Students who have taken Acting I, or another acting class at Barnard, or another college-level acting class (transfer students) should consider the Acting II sections.

Auditions

All information for signing up for classes, and for auditioning for shows, is HERE.  

Auditioners will audition for stage productions (above) and acting classes at once. Everyone needs a 1-minute monologue. If you are auditioning for Acting the Song (spring) or Acting the Musical Scene (fall) or Advanced Acting: Sondheim (spring or fall when offered), you need to sing a cappella 1 minute, roughly 16 bars. You will be able to get your note from a piano.

(No students will be admitted to acting classes without an audition during the audition period. If you do not audition, you will not be placed in an acting class.)

For full details on the auditions process, please see our Auditions page.

Backstage Crews

Students interested in working on backstage crews should contact Greg Winkler (our Technical Director) or Mike Banta (our Production Manager). Please note that the production offices are often closed during the summer and resume operations in late August.

Advising

For assistance in planning which courses to take in the Theatre/Drama & Theatre Arts major, we recommend that you make an appointment with one of our academic advisers. All full-time faculty members in the Department of Theatre serve as advisers:

• Lecturer Gisela Cardenas
• Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Sandra Goldmark
• Assistant Professor Paige Johnson
• Lecturer Shayoni Mitra
• Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Alice Reagan
• Assistant Professor Hana Worthen
• Professor and Chair, W. B. Worthen

These faculty also advise first- and second-year students as well. To make an appointment, simply email the professor directly and request an appointment.

General Rule: Attend the First Day of Class

Simply enrolling in a Theatre course is not enough to secure a place on the roster. The general rule for all Theatre Department courses (besides acting courses, which have a separate process outlined above) is that students should attend the first class meeting. If the course is over-enrolled, the instructor will determine a method for deciding which students get priority, and only those students present on the first day will be considered.

Questions?

Feel free to email theatre@barnard.edu with your questions and concerns. (Please note that the Department is closed during the summer months and will resume operations in late August.)