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The Acting Program At...

The Department of Performing Arts (DPA), a unit of the College of Architecture and the Arts, offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music or Theatre and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre. DPA's mission emphasizes the interconnectedness of the arts; cross-disciplinary study and artistic exploration are encouraged and supported.

UIC Performing Arts faculty and teaching staff hold national and international credentials as artists, teachers, and/or scholars.

The Theatre curriculum emphasizes a balance between practice and theory from originating impulse or idea to realization in performance. The areas of Acting, Voice, Movement, Physical Theatre Techniques, Directing, Playwriting, and Design within the context of their artistic, social, political, and historical environments form the nucleus of the curriculum.

Emphasis is placed on the integration of traditional performance forms and theories, and by focus on interdisciplinary relationships evident in contemporary performance practices.

Students participate in the UIC performance programs including a Main Season of produced performances, Expanded Arts Theatre ensemble, and student generated projects.

Performance facilities include a flexible "black box" theatre, a dance studio and other experimental performance spaces.

Curricula

The theatre curriculum offers a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Both combine the study of acting, directing and design with the study of dramatic texts in their theatrical and cultural contexts. The B.A. offers two tracks, performance and directing/design. The B.F.A. is performance track only.

Since theatre is studied and experienced as a present-tense event, majors must actively participate in the production program. A total of 120 semester hours is required for graduation.