Senate Document Number 2804S

Date of Senate Approval 03/25/04

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 18:     Individual Course Changes Within The Drama Department

1. Delete on page 90: title and course description for DRAM 103, Voice Production Lab (1).

Add: 103 Voice Production I (1)

Fundamentals of voice production and delivery, with emphasis on the improvement of vocal skills. Fall and Spring.

Impact: No impact in resource.

Rationale: Altering course description and title to more accurately reflect course content. The reality of the course is that it is more class work than a laboratory.

2. Delete on page 90: title and course description for DRAM 104 Stage Speech Laboratory

Add: 104 Voice Production II (1)

Continuation of DRAM 103. Freeing the natural voice; study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; exploring stage and formal speech techniques; as well as the manipulation of the voice through studies in vocal characterization and dialects. Prerequisite: DRAM 103. Fall and Spring.

Rationale: Altering course description and title to more accurately reflect course content.

3. Delete on page 90: title and course description for DRAM 105 Theatre Workshop:

Add: 105 Theatre Practicum (1)

Intensive laboratory experience in one area of theatre production. Subject arranged individually. May be repeated for a total of 8 hours credit. Does not count toward Drama major. Permission of instructor required. Grading S/U. Fall and Spring.

Impact: Changes will have no effect on major, minor, or university requirements, nor require additional resources or staffing. It will have no impact on another department.

Rationale: The change to the Pass/Fail grading system reflects the fact that there really are no shades of evaluation in a practicum course: either you did your job, or you didn't. In addition, this change will help address grade inflation within the department.

4. Delete on page 90: title and course description for DRAM 111 Introduction to Acting I

Add: 111 Acting I (3)

Fundamentals of acting technique and theory with emphasis on relaxation; concentration of attention; imagination; physicalization of character; ensemble; scene study; and monologues through exercises and improvisation. Fall.

Impact: These changes will not require any additional faculty or resources. It does not add any extra credits to the current course load of our students.

Rationale: Altering course description and title to more accurately reflect course content. Not requiring that DRAM 103 be taken simultaneously allows greater flexibility for the student and faculty.

5. Delete on page 90: title and course description for DRAM 112 Introduction to Acting II

Add: 212 Acting II (3)

A scene study class that includes introduction to character analysis; approaches to the acting of realistic and some nonrealistic drama; and techniques of emotional, physical, and psychological scene preparations. Prerequisite: DRAM 111. Spring.

Impact: These changes will not require additional faculty or resources, but in fact gives more flexibility in scheduling for faculty since the course will be required by fewer students in the department.

Rationale: The change in the course numbering and title simply assigns the course its second level status, also suggesting that the course be taken in the student's second year of study. The change in the course description simply updates the current content of the course and makes the course more specific to the concentration in Acting and Directing.

6. Delete on page 90: title for DRAM 124 Stage Make-Up Laboratory (2)

Add: 124 Stage Make-Up (2)

Impact: No impact as it is more editorial than academic.

Rationale: This is more than a laboratory environment, it is a classroom experience. The change also would make a more accurate representation of how faculty hours are counted for this class.

7. Delete on page 91: title and course description for DRAM 214 Intermediate Acting (3)

Add: 314 Intermediate Acting (3)

An intermediate level acting class where students receive individualized instruction on acting techniques through the study of monologues for presentation and audition purposes. Prerequisites: DRAM 103, 111, and 212. Odd years Fall.

Impact: These changes will not require any additional faculty or resources, but provides a more flexible schedule for our own faculty and any visiting faculty members. It does not add any extra credits to the current course load of our students.

Rationale: The change in the course number simply implies a higher level of study and the suggestion that this course should be taken in the 2^nd or 3^rd year of study. The changes in the course description are to match the necessary course content at this level in the Concentration to Acting and Directing course of study. This is the first time that drama students have the opportunity to study solo performance.

8. Delete on page 91: title and course description for DRAM 315 Advanced Acting (3)

Add: 415 Topics in Advanced Acting Techniques (3)

An advanced acting class studying a variety of acting techniques. This course can be repeated up to three times as content varies. Prerequisites: DRAM 103, 111, and 212. See Dept. Chair.

Impact: These changes will not require any additional faculty or resources.

Rationale: The changes in title and course number more clearly match the level of study and recommended year of study in the third and fourth years. The flexibility in subject matter and ability to repeat the course allows our students to study more specific topics in acting as practices in the art form change, while still offering classic areas of study in period styles.

9. Delete on page 92: title and course description for DRAM 348 Shakespeare in Performance

Add: 358 Topics in Dramatic Literature, Theory, or History (3)

Close examination of selected playwrights, eras, genres, styles, theories, or themes in theatre. This course can be repeated up to three times as content varies. Prerequisite: DRAM 144. See Dept. Chair.

Impact:
Replacing DRAM 348 with DRAM 358 will add more flexibility to the major sequence, allowing students an additional choice in the area of dramatic literature, theory, and history. It does not add more hours to the major.

This course has no effect on other departments, nor does it affect future staffing needs for the Drama Department. As a varying topics class, it might be taught by different instructors in the department with a special interest they would like to explore.

Rationale:
There are many areas of dramatic literature, theory, and history that would benefit from a closer examination than allowed in the survey courses currently offered in the Drama Department. The flexibility of subject matter such a course provides would allow greater exploration of diverse drama traditions, ideas, and movements. For example, a semester might be spent on Asian theatre traditions, or African-American playwrights, or theories of political theatre. Or, prior to a classic play being produced in the Theatre UNCA season, a semester might be spent examining the history and plays of that period as a way of preparing drama majors for the production. In addition, there are students who are preparing to go on to graduate school in theatre history or dramatic literature who would benefit from having more opportunities to investigate a variety of subjects they wouldn't normally get at the undergraduate level. The overall idea is to allow greater variety within the major, without adding additional credit hours.

10. Delete on page 92: title and course description for DRAM 461 Principles of Directing

Add 362 Principles of Directing I (3)

Analysis and interpretation of the script, blocking and composition, coaching, coordination of the production. Prerequisites: DRAM 111, 121, 122, 144, and 244. Fall.

Impact: This change will allow more non-Acting/Directing track students to take Directing, since advanced prerequisites will be eliminated. This may increase enrollment, and allow other students to experience the directing process. This will have minimal impact on major, minor, or university requirements. No other departments are affected, and no additional resources will be required.

Rationale: Directing a play requires acquaintance with the acting process and the design process, as well as the ability to analyze a play. These skills are covered in the remaining prerequisites. The addition of DRAM 144 Playscript Analysis for Performance, a course which did not exist when the 461 prerequisites were written, provides crucial skills in play analysis that form the basis for all director's work. These changes will allow students to take directing earlier in their coursework, and therefore allow them to do their own Forum productions as undergraduate research projects. To reinforce this, we would like to change the course's number to 362, so that it is seen as a course available earlier in the coursework, and also to indicate that the next course in the sequence, DRAM 462, requires an increase in sophistication and level of expectations.

11. Add: On page 91, between DRAM 216 (bottom of page 91) and DRAM 230:

220 Stage Management (2)

Fundamentals of stage and theatre management; emphasis on organization, collaboration and the supervisory role of the stage manager. Odd years Fall.

Impact: This course has been offered three times as a special topics. It will become a permanent course for Drama Technology and Design majors and minors and will not impact any other departments.

Rationale: This course fills a need in Drama's technical courses. Since the inception of the course in 1996, there has been a marked improvement in the laboratory performance of the student stage managers and the quality of the laboratory experience. Stage Management has become a graduate level focus and a professional position that is often sought. This course can help fill that need.