<p>D wants to major in dramaturgy. She loves theater, wrote and directed a one-act musical, and has been the dramaturge for her HS productions. She does not act. </p>
<p>The problem is finding schools with dramaturgy programs. I suspect that many schools have what is essentially a dramaturgy track without calling it that. We have visited CMU, DePaul and Emerson.</p>
<p>Any suggestions and reviews/experiences would be greatly appreciated. D needs more options.</p>
<p>Check out Rollins College in Florida. My D is a performance major but speaks highly of the dramaturgy concentration.</p>
<p>Hi there! I applied to a few schools as a Dramaturgy major/emphasis. It is more common for it to be an emphasis rather than a full out major, which is just a sign of the times as more directors pick up dramaturgy as one of their own roles within a production. </p>
<p>Schools with a major in Dramaturgy include the University of Oklahoma, which I have personal experience with, and DePaul University which has a Dramturgy/Criticism major. I looked at DePaul but did not apply for several reasons. Dramaturgy is often combined with critical studies, so tell your child to look for Critical Studies or Theatre Criticism majors. Southern Methodist University has this track within their Theatre Studies major, which allows students to focus on Dramaturgy in the larger picture of Critical Studies.</p>
<p>Feel free to pm me or respond if you have more questions!</p>
<p>Webster has a new dramaturgy program that they are pushing hard!</p>
<p>Thanks - this is just the kind of information I was hoping for. I hadn’t come across either Rollins or Webster.</p>
<p>Aspiring, I appreciate the detail. She has found a very short list, and I have been trying to help by slogging through the websites of colleges with theater programs. We visited DePaul, and like you she is not planning to apply there. What other schools did you apply to?</p>
<p>What’s wrong with DePaul’s program? That’s two of you now that said you nixed it out and I wonder if it’s something to avoid.</p>
<p>I applied to University of Oklahoma as a Dramaturgy major and Southern Methodist University as a Theatre Studies major, as well as Chapman University for BA Theatre Studies (I was admitted to this program and the BFA Theatre Performance program), all of which would allow me to study dramaturgy in some way. Other than that, I applied as an acting major. I did apply to one school as an art history major in hopes that I could do dramaturgy in graduate school, as there are some outstanding graduate programs in this field.</p>
<p>Questioning – I decided against DePaul because I found their program to be too confining. DePaul is very much about focusing on your own field with little cross-disciplinary work within theatre. I felt the major lacked a lot of coursework in other theatrical areas, and it is my personal philosophy that to be good at theatre I will need to understand it in all areas rather than just my own. It just was not what I was looking for or felt I needed, especially when comparing it to other available programs.</p>
<p>Questioning, my D decided against DePaul for the same general reason as Aspiring – the program seemed too rigid. D is a musician, and during the information session she asked if it would be possible to take a couple music classes. The answer was along the lines of, “Ummm, maybe, I suppose it might be possible, but it could be complicated because music is in a separate school.” Not a great answer for a kid who likes musical theater. Also, the information session and tour made DePaul seem rather desperate. We’re a good school, really we are, believe us we’re good… Please apply, please please please apply… After the information session and tour D took DePaul off her list. She just didn’t get the sense that she’d be happy there.</p>
<p>I have a question that I hope will be seen as sincere and legit, not challenging, as I am genuinely curious: Why not apply to some excellent BA (liberal arts) programs where you can major in theater? Is there a need for a specialized dramaturgy degree? I ask because I know that some of my daughter’s classmates (BA in theater from a liberal arts college) have done this work, post-graduation, but maybe I’m missing something. Is this something you have considered (or not) and if it’s not an option, I would be interested in hearing more about the reasons for seeking a specialized program. Thanks!</p>
<p>I think it’s like any other major – her child is interested in studying and working in Dramaturgy and the best way to do so intensively over the next four years is to major specifically in that major.</p>
<p>Dramaturgy, too, is a unique field in that it is not quite technical, and not acting, and is much more than just theatre history. Some colleges even classify it as being part of the English Department. In this way, some BA Theatre degrees are ill equipped to teach dramaturgy, though this is of course not the case for all. While some graduates may find success in the field without a specific dramaturgy degree it is much like getting an acting degree; people do succeed in the workforce without a degree, but by training, we are hoping that we are getting the highest quality information and advanced training which will (hopefully) put us in better positions to get jobs, and will also give us tools which we can build upon throughout a long and successful career.</p>
<p>I think many schools have dramaturgy under “Theatre Studies.” This is where it is at JMU, where I teach. We have an active student dramaturg program in productions. Often send student dramaturgs to the KCACTF festival in our region… in fact, year before last a student dramaturg from JMU won the national KCACTF award for dramaturgy.</p>
<p>Most of the professional dramaturgs I know went to MFA programs, and many are reading writing fluent in at least one language in addition to English. My understanding is that it is unlikely to earn a full time, non-intern position at a regional theatre as a dramaturg without a graduate degree, but things may have changed. </p>
<p>In addition to the few undergraduate dramaturgy programs your D is looking at, I too would suggest exploring BA Theatre Studies programs to see if they offer the ability to focus studies and production work in this area.</p>
<p>^This is more in line with what I was thinking–thanks for that info, KatMT.</p>
<p>Times3, your question is a reasonable one that got great responses. That was where I was leading when I asked about schools that have a dramaturgy track without calling it that.</p>
<p>Aspiring, thanks for the clear “why dramaturgy” answer. </p>
<p>KatMT, I’ll be adding JMU to D’s list of schools to look into. </p>
<p>JMU is a good example of the challenge of looking for dramaturgy programs. When I looked at the web site, under Theater and Dance the only mentions of dramaturgy is that admission requires a portfolio review and that there is a dramaturgy track requiring three courses.</p>
<p>The practical side of me sees dramaturgy as a theater/english/history/foreign language major. If D doesn’t end up in dramaturgy, the skills she gains in research, analysis, writing, and theater production will lead to success in many fields.</p>
<p>My D is Freshman Dramaturgy major at the University of Oklahoma-(BFA-Dramatugy class of 2018). She applied to OU, CMU, Emerson, DePaul for Dramaturgy and got admitted to each of their programs. Each of these programs only 3-5 students per year. She also applied to Univ of Texas at Austin, Hofstra, U of Arizona (Dramaturgy program on hold 2014-2015), St. Johns (NY), Univ of Houston, Tulane, Brandeis, Drexel, Southern Methodist University, Univ of Kansas. She admitted to all except: Brandeis, and Tulane. Did not complete SMU audition packet. We visited/audition/interviewed with DePaul and OU. Mom visited Emerson. She did a skype interview with CMU. She had strong grades—GPA 3.9 SAT 1920 Overall 10 AP classes. We never dreamed she would get into CMU but she did and they offered her a very strong talent and academic scholarship. However, we live in Texas and she was not ready to move that far away from home. It saddened her to not go to CMU but she knew she was not ready. Her brother was already at OU for Lighting Design (class of 2017) and loved the theatre program there. She knows she will need a MFA in Dramaturgy and will probably again apply to CMU, DePaul, and Emerson. She is loving OU and the Dramaturgy professor there, Dr. Koger. She is already working on a project that she initiated.</p>
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!!!
Aggie