Period Styles of Theatre. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and one 200-level Humanities GER course. Pre or Corequisites: ENGL 102 . Every play is an artistic opportunity to immerse in the details of a specific time and place, expanding one's understanding of who we were as a society, who we are today, and where we might go. Through the study of historical design styles, students will delve into the ways architecture, fashion, and cultural aesthetics reflect, as well as influence, the values, politics, and social conditions of different eras. This course will use readings, discussions, and small research projects in order to develop a framework for using “primary” research to uncover the meaning we attach to visual details that help an audience place a theater production within a specific cultural framework. While gathering this knowledge is a lifelong pursuit, this course covers the more prominent milestones in history to help develop the students’ discerning eye, and is useful to anyone who is interested in how the cultures and events of the past influence the very design and function of our world today.