Glossary

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Theatre & Performance Studies - THSTA14043

Stream Summary

Faculty: ARTSC - Faculty of Arts&Social Science

School: School of the Arts and Media

Contact: School of the Arts and Media

Program: 4043 - Social Work (Honours) / Arts

Award(s):

Bachelor of Arts (Major)

View stream information for previous years

Stream Outline

The major stream in Theatre and Performance Studies (TPS) covers the theoretical and historical study of a wide range of human performance in the arts with a focus on contemporary forms of theatre and dance in Europe and Australasia. It is distinguished by an emphasis on engaging with disparate modes of performance – theatrical and cultural, European and Asian, contemporary and historical, text and non-text based, low and high culture – through a combination of both concept-driven and experiential learning.

While the primary objects of study in the major stream are theatre and dance, they are regarded in terms of their production of meanings, subjects, and social relations. Practical work is therefore undertaken in the BA program not to train students as professional practitioners, but in order that they may develop an informed critical language for the discussion and analysis of theatre and dance as areas of performance and reach a fuller appreciation of the production process and construction of meaning in the respective media.

The subject-specific aims of the BA major stream in TPS are:

to foster the ability to describe, interpret and evaluate performance as events producing social meanings, subjects and relations;
to develop the ability to theorise diverse performance from a range of critical perspectives;
to generate analytical and embodied understanding of historical and contemporary performance making processes and skills:
to develop competence in reading and realising the performance possibilities implied by a script, score and other textual or documentary source;
to develop skills in group-based learning and ethical engagement with collaborators and receivers;
to foster an understanding of the cultural and historical specificity of theatre and performance as well as an appreciation of the global nature of performance knowledges and practices;
to encourage reflection on the nature and functions of live art in the contemporary world

Stream Structure

A student who wishes to gain a major stream in Theatre and Performance Studies must complete 54 units of credit including 12 uoc at Level 1, at least 18 uoc at Level 2 including the core course ARTS2121 Critical Perspectives on Theatre and Performance, and at least 18 uoc at Level 3 including the capstone course.

BA/BEd Students: In order to meet the criteria set by the NSW Institute of Teachers, BA/BEd students undertaking the Theatre and Performance Studies major must follow the stream rules specific to their program here.

Level 1

ARTS1120 Intro to Theatre & Performance (6 UOC)
ARTS1121 Reading Performance (6 UOC)

Level 2

Students must complete the core course:

ARTS2121 Critical Perspectives (6 UOC)

AND at least two of the following courses:

ARTS2120 Writing for Performance (6 UOC)
ARTS2122 Performance Production 1 (6 UOC)
ARTS2123 Performing Popular Culture (6 UOC)
ARTS2124 Staging Australia (6 UOC)
ARTS2125 Acting and Performing (6 UOC)

The following course is highly recommended as a Free Elective or Prescribed Faculty Elective for Theatre and Performance students wishing to gain additional production skills: