Theatre Minor
The Theatre Minor at Shippensburg University enables you to gain a general knowledge of acting and theatre history as well as performance and/or production experience.
Students who choose to participate in theatre at Shippensburg University will gain lifelong enrichment experiences in the arts and learn how the performing arts can complement their major. The collaborative nature of theatrical work provides you with important life skills applicable to all careers. The dynamics of working within a group, the importance of commitment and dedication to a task, and the discipline and rewards of hard work are lessons the theatre teaches in a very practical way.
Our theatre minors are a diverse group of individuals. Some stay with the applied arts and work in professional theatre, while some move into their local, community theatre. Theatre training provides employment in technical theatre. Several of our alums work in educational theatre or as educators in professional, theatre organizations. Some have found that theatre training enables them to transition well into management and administrative positions.
Shippensburg University currently has one extracurricular theatre club that is entirely student directed, Shippensburg University Acting Group (SUAG), which runs several productions over the academic year. The Children’s Theatre is an academic theatre experience that runs every semester and works with our elementary school students at the lab school on campus. A theatre practicum production runs every four semesters and is the culminating project for students who have gone through the performance track of classes in our theatre minor. The minor also enables students to pursue employment and internship experiences that relate to theatre, both on and off campus.
Course Work for a Theatre Minor
The Minor in Theatre enables students to gain a general knowledge of performance and production. Courses provide a grounding in various types and periods of drama, performance skills (acting, scene study), and technical skills (basic drawing, directing, color, and 2D design). The Minor in Theatre is an 18 credit minor. Students proceed through the 15 required and 3 elective credits to complete the minor.
The training available within a theatre curriculum enriches careers in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, Elementary/Middle Level Education, Communication, and English. Students interested in Business, Marketing, or Management may consider the Theatre Minor as an entree to the field of Arts Management.
THAR 121 - Introduction to the Theatre Credits: 3 must be taken as a pre-requisite prior to or within the first two semesters of declaring a Theatre Minor and does not count toward the required 18 credits. THAR 121 also fulfills the university General Education, Creative and Expression Literature (L) rubric requirement.