Marilyn Rivchin

Theater majors Alejandro Ruiz '12 and James Miller '12, center, work with film major Young-Jo Kim '12 (in white shirt) and other film students on a set built for Kim's film "Unforgiving" in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. The department's new major in performing and media arts will make such collaborations more common.

The Department of Theatre, Film and Dance has announced a new major in performing and media arts, reflecting the collaborative spirit of the department's three areas and the changing nature of the field, said Amy Villarejo, department chair and film professor.

"This new major was generated from our curriculum committee and unanimously endorsed at a meeting of our faculty," Villarejo said. "It allows us to meet student needs and interests and respond to the ever-changing landscape of performing and media arts."

The new major will be offered beginning in the fall of 2012. It will combine training and study in theater, film, dance, performance and media arts. It will also allow more flexibility for students who want to major in the department or combine it into a double major, by removing some of the barriers and structure of the current three majors.

Based on feedback from alumni and others in the field, Villarejo said the new major will enhance students' ability to secure employment or future academic pursuits, as it reflects a more interdisciplinary approach to the performing and media arts.

Students with currently declared majors will be able to complete their degrees with the old majors or have the option of switching to the new major. There are no plans to change the names or requirements for minors.

Although the major is changing, the mainstays of the department's curriculum will remain the same, Villarejo said.

"Theater, film and dance are sequences that remain in the curriculum," Villarejo said. "A student who wished to pursue a major that looks very much like the current major in theater, film or dance could do so in the new major.

"The beauty of the new major is the flexibility it will give students to explore performance and media across the traditional theater, film and dance boundaries in ways that were not possible under the three separate majors model," she said.

Performing and media arts majors will begin their studies with an introductory course in acting, design, film or dance; then take a two-semester course in the history of live performance or the history of media. Following those general courses, students will take three courses allowing them to focus on theater/performance or cinema/media. They will take another three courses sampling other areas of the department, three laboratory courses and a senior studio course, where they will collaborate with faculty on a research and performance project to be presented to the public.

"This is an opportunity for our students to experience all aspects of our department," said Alison Van Dyke, senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies. "While our current courses will continue, we will also be able to add new courses more in line with this new flexible model."

The department is currently conducting a search for two faculty members -- one in dramatic writing/screenwriting and another in media/film production -- and for a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in the area of global, transnational and/or minority performance and media studies with a focus on dance.

Kathy Hovis is director of marketing for the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.