<p>Is it absolutely impossible to have a DOUBLE-MAJOR, with one of them being a BFA?</p>
<p>I've been in a predicament ever since I took an American Sign Language (ASL) class last year and loved every minute of it! Since then, along with my lifelong passion of musical theatre I have a growing passion for the Deaf community and ASL, and I desperately want to continue my learning in it. HOWEVER, not only are both a BFA and Deaf studies rare by themselves, there really rare for a school to have both, but I know some do.</p>
<p>However, the TIME and COMMITMENT of a BFA -- would it be at all possible to concentrate in another area of learning as well?</p>
<p>If you have any alternate suggestions I would also love to hear those. I reaaallly don't want to have to choose one but if that's what I've got to do, well, that's what I've got to do!</p>
<p>I can definitely help you, since I work in both worlds - as an MT coach and sometime-performer ("sometime" now, used to be a lot more :) ) and a soon-to-be Speech-Language Pathologist - not quite the same as working solely with the deaf, but we do a lot of work cochlear implant patients and other persons who are deaf. </p>
<p>Two things you should check out: Deaf West Theatre (google, they have a website) and the book Deaf Side Story, about a production of West Side Story done by a cast of both deaf and hearing actors. </p>
<p>You may be able to do both majors at certain schools - PM me if you'd like to talk!</p>
<p>Otterbein offers MT BFA and has ASL 1, 2, 3 - and with a community college nearby has additional training. You might e-mail or pm doctorjohn and ask if it is possible.</p>
<p>At FSU we have MT and Communication Disorders (which includes several majors related to working with hearing impaired individuals.) Due to the number of credits required for each major, an extra year would probably be needed to complete everything.
Another venue for your area of interest is schools for hearing impaired students. I have a former student who works in the theatre department at one and she loves it!</p>
<p>As an MT/English Major at Michigan, I can tell you it's definitely possible. But hard. At Michigan it is generally a 5 year track to graduate with two degrees, especially when one of them is as specialized as a BFA in Musical Theatre. This is what I am doing. However, if you come in with plenty credits, and devote each summer to taking an intense load of summer classes, as well as taking a full course load each semester, you can do it in four years. There are some people who are able to successfully do this -- I just suggest that you be honest with yourself as to which path is best for you. Michigan is a great place to double major in MT and an outside field, and there are specific advisors whose job it is to oversee persons pursuing dual degrees. Hope this helps!</p>