Bachelor of Theatre at West Virginia University

General Education

1. Competencies. Specific competency expectations are determined by the institution. Normally, students graduating with liberal arts degrees have:

• The ability to think, speak, and write clearly and effectively, and to communicate with precision, cogency, and rhetorical force.
• An informed acquaintance with the mathematical and experimental methods of the physical and biological sciences, and the historical and quantitative techniques needed for investigating the workings and developments of modern society.
• An ability to address culture and history from a variety of perspectives.
• Understanding of, and experience in thinking about, moral and ethical problems.
• The ability to respect, understand, and evaluate work in a variety of disciplines.
• The capacity to explain and defend views effectively and rationally.
• Understanding of and experience in one or more art forms other than theatre.       

2. Operational Guidelines. These competencies are usually developed through studies in English composition and literature; foreign languages; history, social studies, and philosophy; visual and performing arts; natural science; technology; and mathematics. Precollegiate study, regular testing and counseling, and flexibility in course requirements are elements in achieving these competencies.

Theatre Studies

1. Competencies. Students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees must have:

• The ability to develop and defend informed judgments about theatre.
• An acquaintance with a wide selection of theatre repertory including the principal eras, genres, and cultural sources.
• An understanding of playwriting and production processes, aesthetic properties of style, and the way these shape and are shaped by artistic and cultural forces.
• The ability to think conceptually and critically about text, performance, and production.

2. Operational Guidelines. Objectives of this type are ordinarily emphasized in courses such as acting, speech, play analysis, design technology, history and literature of the theatre, and through regular practical and intimate contact with living theatre.

Performance and Theatre Electives

1. Competencies. Students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees must have:

• Ability in areas of performance and production or playwriting appropriate to individual needs and interests, consistent with the goals and objectives of the specific liberal arts degree program being followed.
• An understanding of procedures and approaches for realizing a variety of theatrical styles.
• Intermediate to advanced competence in one or more theatre specializations in creation, performance, scholarship, or teaching.

2. Operational Guidelines:

• The work in this area includes acting, design/technology, other aspects of participation in theatre productions, and studies in scholarly or pedagogical aspects of theatre.
• In addition to electives in general education, further studies in theatre, including performance, should be possible through a selection of additional courses.
• Institutions have various policies concerning the granting of credit for performance and production in liberal arts curricula, including the relegation of performance to extracurricular activity. Such policies are taken into account when curricular proportions are considered.