Major Requirements

FORMS FOR ALL MAJORS

• Theatre Major Audit Sheet  Check that you have taken courses that fulfill all areas of the major.

• Theatre Major Declaration Form Must be submitted by 1 April of the second (sophomore) year of study. Transfer students with junior standing must submit immediately.

• Barnard Major Declaration Form via Slate  Must be submitted by 1 April of second (sophomore) year of study; may be submitted earlier. Transfer students with junior standing must submit immediately.   

• Senior Thesis Application  Application for senior thesis fields (acting, design, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, solo performance, research) is due in January of the junior year (after 5th semester; 3 semesters remaining); students must be declared majors, and have taken formal coursework in the department in the potential field(s) of the senior thesis.

The Barnard College Theatre major, which offers the Columbia College major in Drama and Theatre Arts, takes an integrative approach to theatre and performance studies, engaging the complex interaction between creation and critique.  The major program at once develops a keen sense of the practices of acting, directing, design, playwriting and stage production and management, while introducing students to the dynamic range of world performance traditions.

In the program, students engage theatre and performance through a wide range of courses:  in acting, directing, design, and in the intellectual and critical traditions of theatre studies.  The major program then encourages specialization in more advanced courses.  The major culminates in an ambitious senior project, an intellectual inquiry based in performance or scholarship, which can take the form of a written thesis based on original research, or on original creative work in acting, directing, design, or playwriting.

New Majors

Students are drawn to the Barnard Theatre/Columbia Drama and Theatre Arts major at various points in their careers at Barnard and Columbia: some students enter knowing that they will major in Theatre, some discover it later. While it is quite possible to begin fulfilling major requirements as a junior, you will have the most flexibility in the major (especially if you're planning study abroad) and be able to take greatest advantage of the opportunity to specialize in your chosen thesis area if you plan ahead.

Students considering majoring in Theatre should consider taking three or four of the required classes in theatre and performance histories in the first two years of study: Western Theatre Traditions: Classic to Romantic, and Western Theatre Traditions: Modern, and either Theatre Traditions in a Global Context, Traditional Indian Theatre, or Modern Asian Performance. If you are considering the major, you should also take at least one class in acting, design, directing, playwriting or stage production and management (preferably in the area you might choose as your areas of specialization). Students thinking about a research focus might consider an additional dramatic literature class early in their studies; students thinking about an acting or design focus, for example, might consider additional classes in those areas in the second or third year of study.

Barnard students may declare the major during the first or second year; Columbia majors declare the major the spring semester of the second year. All students must discuss the major with the Chair of the Theatre Department, who signs off on the major-declaration form; these forms can be picked up outside the Theatre Department office. The major requirements are spelled out below, and the process for choosing a thesis area as well. All Theagtre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors do a thesis as a capstone to their work in the degree. If you would like more information about the major, please feel free to contact any full-time faculty member (see Faculty pages). All majors and potential majors should introduce themselves to Coretta Grant, the Theatre Administrator, in 507 Milbank Hall. She will add you to the departmental listserv, and help you to keep up to date in important information about your study in the department.

Major Requirements

Twelve courses and one senior thesis (in Performance or in Research) are required as follows:

Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies

Three courses in world theatre and performance histories: THTR UN 3150 and 3151, and one of the following: 3149, 3154, 3155, 3156.

One course in drama, theatre, and performance theories: THTR UN 3165, THTR UN 3166, THTR UN 3140, THTR UN 3160 OR ENTA UN 3701.

One course in Shakespeare

Two courses in dramatic literature, theatre studies, and/or performance studies, taken in the Theatre Department or in another department with advisor's approval. One course must be a seminar.  Other courses must be approved by Theatre department chair.

THTR UN 3150 and THTR UN 3151 must be taken at Barnard; transfer or study-abroad credit not accepted.

Theatre practice

1 course each in 3 of the following 4 areas:

Design: THTR UN 3401, 3402, 3403, 3404, 3405 and 3203 may be counted if not counted toward Directing.

Acting: THTR UN 3004, 3005, 3007

Directing: THTR UN 3200, 3201; 3203 may be counted if not counted toward Design.

Playwriting: THTR UN 3300, 3301.

Concentration: all majors must take an additional 2 courses in the field of the senior thesis: acting, directing, design, dramaturgy, playwriting, or research. See below.

Senior Thesis

THTR UN 3997 Senior Thesis: Performance (acting, design, directing, dramaturgy or playwriting)

Prior to completing the Senior Thesis: Performance, majors must take an additional two courses in the field of the thesis (acting, design, directing, playwriting). For theses in Dramaturgy, students take two courses in drama, theatre, or performance research; these courses may be drawn from courses in dramatic literature, theatre studies, and global performance traditions offered in the Theatre department, or from dramatic literature courses offered in other departments with adviser's approval. Dramaturgy concentrators may substitute one course in playwriting for one of these two courses. For theses in Playwriting, students take two courses in dramatic literature, theatre studies, performance studies AND an additional two courses in playwriting. Playwriting students who have taken Playwriting as one of the three “Theatre Practice” areas, may take one of the playwriting courses offered in the English department (BC3113 or 3114) as one of the two additional playwriting courses required for the thesis. Students taking a Solo Performance thesis are required to have taken the Solo Performance course prior to the thesis semester (spring), among the three required courses in acting.  For theses in Directing, students must take Directing I and Directing II prior to the senior year, and take Advanced Directing in the fall of the senior year. 

THTR UN 3998 Senior Thesis: Research 

Prior to completing the Senior Thesis: Research, majors must take an additional two courses in drama, theatre, or performance research; these courses may be drawn from courses in dramatic literature, theatre studies, and global performance traditions offered in the Theatre department, or from dramatic literature courses offered in other departments with adviser's approval. These courses should be discussed with the student's major advisor, as well as with the sponsor of the thesis.

Production Crew

Theatre majors planning on completing a Senior Thesis in Performance (acting, design, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, solo performance) are required to complete a pre-production crew assignment and a backstage crew assignment prior to their final semester; to be in the strongest position for the thesis, ideally these assignments are completed during the junior year.  Please see the section on Production Crew for more information.

Studio Courses

Please note that Barnard College puts a limit on studio courses for all Barnard students. Theatre majors may take 24 studio points in Theatre and an additional six in another discipline for a total of 30 studio points. Courses in the Acting series (3000-3099), courses in the Design series (3400-3499), and course numbers for the cast of Department productions (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026) are counted toward the studio limit. Barnard students may count more than 24 points only if the additional points are in excess of the points needed to graduate (122). A student with 27 studio credits needs a total of 127 credits. Columbia College and GS majors do not have a studio limit. 

Graduate Courses

Only under special circumstances, and with the permission of the instructor, can undergraduates take graduate classes.

Policy on No Exemption from General Education Requirements through Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate Credits

Students entering Barnard College in fall 2016 and thereafter will receive points of credit for Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit, but these credits will not exempt students from Barnard General Education Requirements (GERs). Further information may be found on the Registrar's website.