WELCOME TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE MASTERS PROGRAM

I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.
--Oscar Wilde

The Department of Theatre is located in Nordhoff Hall on the southwest corner of the California State University, Northridge campus in suburban Los Angeles. There are three theatres where upwards of seven productions are mounted each semester. The department has 12 full time faculty, 7 professional staff, and approximately 12 to 15 part time faculty who serve over 200 undergraduate and graduate theatre majors. BackStage Magazine ranked CSUN as one of the top nine university programs in the nation that were "the most effective and offer a unique approach to the college-professional connection," noting the department is "ideally situated for finding internships in the Industry."

OVERVIEW / DEGREES OFFERED

The Master of Arts in Theatre is designed to develop the student’s aesthetic and intellectual understanding in the areas of Theatre History, Literature, Criticism, and Theatrical Production. The Department provides, within the liberal arts context, for the exceptional students pre-professional training for careers in Theatre Performance, Production, Education, and in other appropriate allied industries. Theatre CSUN functions as the department’s formal production organization producing approximately eight to ten full length dramas, musicals, and operas annually. The Department of Theatre, fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre, also holds membership in the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, the California Educational Theatre Association, and the Southern California Educational Theatre Association.

 

REQUIREMENTS

Required for admission to Classified Graduate status in the program:

1. Baccalaureate degree and a minimum of 24 units of upper division theatre courses, normally distributed as follows:

• Acting (3 units)
• Directing (3 units)
• Theatre Design/Technology (6 units)
• Theatre History/Literature/Criticism (12 units)

2. University requirements for Classified Graduate status.

3. Successful completion of departmental qualifying procedures.
Note: Students should consult with the department concerning GRE requirements.

 

Required for graduation as Masters Candidate

A minimum of 30 units of approved courses, distributed as follows:

1. TH 600 Seminar in Research Methods and Bibliography in theatre (3 units)

2. Select two courses from the following: (6 units)

• TH 620 Seminar in Theatre History (3units)
• TH 621 Seminar in Theatrical Literature (3 units)
• TH625 Seminar in Popular Theatre and Entertainment (3 units)

3. Select two courses from the following; (6 units)

• TH 630 Seminar in Theatre Aesthetics (3 units)
• TH 640 Seminar in Acting and Directing (3 units)
• TH 670 Seminar in Child Drama (3 units)

4. Select 12 units from the following; (12 units)

• TH 695A-Z Theories in Drama and Theatre (3-3-3 units)
• TH699 Independent Study (1-3, 1-3)
• 600-level courses not selected for credit under sections 2 and 3 above (3, 3).
• Approved 400- and 500-level courses not taken for undergraduate credit
  or for admission to Classified Graduate status (3, 3, 3, 3).
  (With the prior written approval of the student's permanent graduate advisor,
  up to six units of courses in section 4 may be taken in related fields.)

5. TH 698 Thesis or Graduate Project (3).