The School of Theater + Film is committed to providing liberal arts based professional training that imaginatively balances theory and practice. Through classroom study, studio/laboratory preparation, field studies, and stage productions, students are challenged to pursue a commitment to individual excellence and collaboration, discover a passion for their discipline, and develop a firm grounding in the core components of live and mediated performance. Students seeking professional careers, preparing for advanced degree programs, training to be educators, or pursuing interdisciplinary studies in the arts participate in contemporary production and critical studies practices encompassing new, modern, and classic works interpreted to confront and illuminate the diverse concerns of contemporary life.
Production is an essential and integral part of the department’s educational mission. Students are provided with a variety of opportunities to gain experience and develop creative and collaboration skills both before and behind the scenes. In the selection of dramatic narrative and other works, the department seeks to reflect vital contemporary issues, personal and public, in varied and challenging forms, new and classic, thereby creating a forum for cultural and social concerns. The program actively pursues the development of new works and practice, collaborations with urban arts and educational institutions, and the expansion of cultural exchange.
The School of Theater + Film is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
The university’s urban location enables the School of Theater + Film to provide students with the richest diversity of teaching staff in the studio and the maximum of diverse educational experiences without. The resident faculty are active members of the region’s arts and creative community, as professional practitioners as well as educators. Their work is represented at every major theater company in the area, as well as through other arts organizations including smaller theaters, film units, dance companies, production companies, the media, and educational institutions. They frequently engage their students as assistants on creative projects, and they facilitate student placements as interns and regular employees with a variety of organizations. The associate faculty are of the highest caliber, both as practicing artists and as teachers of their craft.
Graduates of the program have gained admission to both university graduate programs and professional training programs, they have entered the profession directly, they have become teachers and university professors, and they have pursued a range of related professions in the arts, commerce, law, social services and the public sector.
Dance Certificate
The Dance Certificate provides a general core curriculum in dance without the specialization requirements of a baccalaureate. The certificate prepares individuals for teaching positions in private studios or in educational institutions, if in the latter instance, the individual has a teaching certificate in another field.
Requirements
A candidate for the certificate is required to satisfy all University requirements for a baccalaureate degree with an academic major in one of the related fields of study offered at PSU. Students interested in simultaneously pursuing K-12 Teacher Preparation should consult the PSU Bulletin for details. The Dance Certificate may be pursued as a postbaccalaureate program. In addition to the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in a selected major, students must complete the following courses or their equivalents:
Complete the following courses:
| D 196 | Dance Laboratory: Ballet I, II, III | 2 |
| D 396 | Dance Laboratory: Ballet I, II, III | 2 |
| Mus 101 | Basic Materials of Music | 4 |
| TA 102 | Introduction to Acting | 4 |
| D 350 | Dance Improvisation | 4 |
| D 351 | Dance Composition | 4 |
| D 352 | Dance Choreography | 4 |
Subtotal: 24
Complete two sections of each of the following:
| D 193 | Dance Laboratory: Modern I, II, III | 2 |
| D 393 | Dance Laboratory: Modern I, II, III | 2 |
Subtotal: 8
Complete two of the following:
| D 195 | Dance Laboratory: Topics I, II, III | 2 |
| D 197 | Dance Laboratory: Jazz I, II, III | 2 |
| D 397 | Dance Laboratory: Jazz I, II, III | 2 |
Subtotal: 4
Complete one of the following:
Subtotal: 4
Complete two of the following:
| D 362U | Contemporary Dance 1920 to Present | 4 |
| D 366U | Dance in Film: Early Years through the 1940s | 4 |
| D 367U | Dance in Film: 1940s to Present | 4 |
Subtotal: 8
Total Credit Hours: 48
Courses taken under the undifferentiated grading option (pass/no pass) will not be accepted toward fulfilling department major requirements. All courses used to satisfy the certificate requirements must be graded C or above.
At least 12 credits of upper-division Theater Arts courses must be taken in residence at Portland State University.