Theatre

• Mission Statement

  The Theatre Program at Weber State University is committed to building an innovative and dynamic educational space that celebrates diversity; cultivating a culture of belonging and respect; and fostering creative artists and critical thinkers. With a curriculum catered to each individual, students develop professional skills that prepare them for careers in the ever-changing world of live performance.

• Student Learning Outcomes
  • Certificates (Not Applicable)

     

  • Associate Degrees

    Students completing the Associate of Arts or Sciences in Technical Theatre will be able to demonstrate the following outcomes:

    • 1. Have writing skills and ability to use research tools (library, internet, etc).
    • 2. Be able to present critical thinking through verbal and written presentations regarding the theatre. Specific areas of expertise will include major works, major figures, theory, and history.
    • 3. Have a practical, working knowledge of how to produce a play on stage, including all related performance, script, design, and technical considerations.
    • 4. Be able to critically evaluate what they and others have created.
    • 5. Develop necessary skills to be proficicient in at least one area of theatre (performance, teaching, technical/design-costume, technical/design-scenery, technical/design-lighting, technical/design-sound, directing, theatre management, or playwriting), with the ability to identify, analyze, and resolve specific problems pertaining to that area.
    • 6. Understand the historical context of theatre, drama, and performance including plays, major figures, costumes, scenic innovations, and theoretical approaches, and how these relate to contemporary society and culture.
    • 7. Have experience with individual and collaborative processes needed to produce and understand theatre.
  • Bachelor Degrees

    Students completing Bachelor of Arts degrees in Musical Theatre, Theatre Arts, and Theatre Arts Teaching will demonstrate the below outcomes. Students will:

    1. Demonstrate reading, writing, and research skills as related to theater.
    2. Recognize the historical context of theatre, drama, and performance including plays, major figures, design innovation, and theoretical approaches, and how these relate to contemporary society culture.
    3. Employ critical thinking through verbal and written presentations regarding the theatre.
    4. Model a practical, working knowledge of how to produce a play on stage, including all related performance, script, design, and technical considerations.
    5. Develop necessary skills to be proficient in at least one area of theatre (design, directing, dramaturgy, management, performance, playwriting, teaching, or technology), with the ability to identify, analyze, and resolve specific problems pertaining to that area.
    6. Engage in individual and collaborative processes needed to produce and understand theatre.
    7. Critically evaluate what they and others have created.

• Curriculum Grid

• Program and Contact Information

  Communicating through performance is one of the fundamental human activities. As small children we learn through play, pretending to be someone or something we are not. We make up elaborate games of make believe in order to make sense of the world.
  
  The art form of Theatre has always been asked to teach and to please. Our students take the natural impulse to pretend and refine that into skills. These skills include practical things like movement, voice, character building, theatrical design and construction, writing and analyzing scripts. But they also include higher level thinking skills like executive function, developing discipline and self-control, and metacognition, an awareness of what one is good at and what skills one needs to improve.    
  
  Theatre students must complete a sequence of formal course work that includes University general education, core theatre courses, and focus or specialty courses. Formal course work is complemented by a sequence of experiential learning opportunities in the theatre. Students and faculty develop individualized programs of course work and practical experience, including a junior seminar, annual juries, portfolio preparation, various practica, and opportunities for individual theatre projects.
   

  Study of theatre provides students with useful tools to contribute to and make positive changes in society. Theatre students learn about diverse historical eras, communities and technologies. Theatre challenges students to be creative and to translate that creativity into applied processes to think precisely, speak confidently in public, work productively with others, visualize abstract concepts and represent those concepts concretely. Theatre skills are useful in a variety of professions including, but not limited to, business, government, law, journalism, and public relations.

  
  Contact Information:
  Andrew Barratt Lewis
  Weber State University
  1905 University Circle
  Ogden, UT 84408-1905
  Browning Center, rm 359
  (801) 626-6661

• Assessment Plan
  • Data is gathered from Juries three times throughout a students time in the program (the first semester for new students as a benchmark, once during approximately the junior year, and once during the senior year). Juries consists of students presenting a body of work that is consistent with their area of concentration and receiving feedback from faculty and staff. Individual scores are imputed by each faculty/staff member and averages are used to check the overall growth of students throughout their time in the program.
  • Artifacts are collected from general education courses and select Theatre courses and are uploaded to a shared Google drive.
• Assessment Report Submissions

  2023-24
  2021-22
  2019-20 - Conducted Program Review
  2017
  2016
  2015

• Program Review

  2019-20

  2014-15
   

This information is part of the cyclical program review process. Details such as mission statements, learning outcomes, etc., are updated as part of the biennial assessment reporting process, an integral component of program review.