CMU has just added Dramaturgy major that combines acting, music, theatre and prod.

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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<p>Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama Announces Dramaturgy Option That Combines Acting, Music Theatre, Design and Production </p>

<p>PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama will add a production dramaturgy option to its bachelor of fine arts offerings in acting, music theatre, design and production this spring. </p>

<p>Dramaturgy unites scholarship with hands-on production work in order to enhance the theatremaking experience for a theatre company. A dramaturg is an expert on the aesthetics and historical context of a script in production and assists in making the author of the script's intentions apparent to an audience from any time period. </p>

<p>"Dramaturgy is to dramatic literature what metallurgy is to raw iron. Dramaturgs enhance the living theatre by being experts on the history, aesthetic theory, intellectual contexts and interpretive possibilities of a script in production," said Michael Chemers, an assistant professor of dramatic literature in the School of Drama. "At the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, dramaturgy students join a top-ranked, internationally respected theatre training program, and will participate in one of the highest-quality professional theatre experiences available to undergraduates," he said. </p>

<p>"In creating this new professional discipline in our school, we are formalizing the excellent contextual work in dramaturgy already supporting many of our productions. Our approach to this training will emphasize practical participation in the realization of plays in performance," said Elizabeth Bradley, head of the School of Drama. </p>

<p>The dramaturgy option at Carnegie Mellon will involve academic and artistic training, with emphasis on research methods, aesthetic and critical theories, historical knowledge and professional experience with productions. The dramaturgy option will be an interdisciplinary mix of the academic and theatre-related studies offered at Carnegie Mellon. </p>

<p>Besides fulfilling Carnegie Mellon and the College of Fine Arts requirements, dramaturgy students will complete between 90 and 110 units of coursework related to dramaturgical study and production. These units will be mostly divided between the English and History departments. </p>

<p>While Carnegie Mellon only recently recognized dramaturgy as an official focus within the School of Drama, classes for students interested in the field have been offered for several years. Nationally, only five percent of the theater programs surveyed by the Teaching Theatre History/Historiography Research group at the American Society for Theatre Research offer more than four terms of theatre history classes. With the new program, Carnegie Mellon will be offering six terms, placing its program in the top tier for the number of course units required for graduation. </p>

<p>The School of Drama is one of the nation's most distinguished degree-granting theatre programs and is one of five schools within Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts. The College of Fine Arts is a community of nationally and internationally recognized artists and professionals organized into Architecture, Art, Design, Drama and Music, and their associated centers and programs</p>

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<p>I don't see this listed on the CMU website--How soon do you think more information will be available? This sounds like a great program--the kind of thing I'm looking for!!</p>

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<p>Check out the front page listing of news events at the CMU site.</p>

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<p>bringing up a long-lost post:</p>

<p>For whom do dramaturgs work (besides the "big" theatre centers ...and what is the occupational outlook like (placement and pay) ? Are there creative occupations which use this expertise besides the large theatre centers?</p>

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<p>Dramaturgy's main skill sets are research and critical thinking, which can be useful in a number of fields. Dramaturgs are often essential when deciding a company's season calendar and are therefore of use in theatres of any size. They can find a home in the "big theatre centers" but also in academic positions.</p>

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<p>Dramaturgs not only work for the "big" theatre centres. Theatres of all shapes and sizes contract dramaturgs - not only in the area of research, which CMU's article mentions, but also in new play development (in a role that is somewhere between that of a guide and a critic). Dramaturgy is really more a term that refers to a field of work, rather than necessary that one particular job title (although, as mentioned before, jobs for dramaturgs do exist in somewhat-plenty). And, to mention another facet, a background in dramaturgy is demanded by a number of other positions in theatre companies, including arts administration and artistic development. </p>

<p>A background in dramaturgy would also make you an attractive candidate for employment by arts funds and so on, who often have a laundry list of roles that would require a dramaturgical background.</p>

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Hello everyone!
I’m currently a senior in high school, and I just got asked to complete a skype interview with CMU. It’s an incredible school, and I really would like to get accepted. Do you think you could give me some insight on what the interview will entail? I would greatly appreciate any help. Thank you!!!
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