I. ASCRC General Education Form (revised 1/27/11)
Use to propose new general education courses (except writing courses), to change existing
gen ed courses and to remove designations for existing gen ed courses.
Note: One-time-only general education designation may be requested for experimental courses
(X91-previously X95), granted only for the semester taught. A NEW request must be
submitted for the course to receive subsequent general education status.
Group
III. Language
VII: Social Sciences
(submit
III Exception: Symbolic Systems * VIII: Ethics & Human Values
separate forms
IV: Expressive Arts
IX: American & European
X
if requesting
V: Literary & Artistic Studies
X: Indigenous & Global
more than one
VI: Historical & Cultural Studies
XI: Natural Sciences
general
w/ lab  w/out lab 
education
group
*Courses proposed for this designation must be standing requirements of
designation)
majors that qualify for exceptions to the modern and classical language
requirement
Dept/Program School of Theatre & Dance
Course #
U THTR 331Y
Course Title
Theatre History II
Prerequisite
Credits
U THTR 330H: Theatre History I
3
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Dr. Jillian Campana
x5846
Jillian.campana@umontana.edu
Program Chair Jere Hodgin
x2877
Dean
Dr. Stephen Kalm
x4970
III. Type of request
New
One-time Only
Renew
Reason for Gen Ed inclusion, change or deletion
Date
Requestor
Phone / Email
Change
Remove
X
We respectfully request that THTR 331
be designated Group IX: American and
European Perspectives rather than
Group VI: Historical and Cultural
Studies.
Description of change
Change designation from H to Y.
IV. Description and purpose of new general education course: General Education courses
must be introductory and foundational within the offering department or within the General
Education Group. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course
content to students’ future lives: See Preamble:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/archives/minutes/gened/GE_preamble.aspx
This course is a chronological continuation of the foundational work begun in THTR 330H: Theatre
History I. It provides general education students with an interest in theatre a survey of American and
European perspectives filtered through the art of theatre. Students will engage with historical literature,
primary sources, and the evolution of practice (technical, performative, literary) of theatre in America and
Europe throughout the nineteenth century to the present.
V. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
Courses focus on either area and can be
Theatre is often said to serve as a mirror of the
comparative in content or approach. The
culture in which it exists. Students will be looking
courses are broad in theme, geography, or
into that mirror in an attempt to determine how
chronology. They are foundational and prepare truthfully a culture re-presents itself in its drama,
students for further study by raising core
its practices, and its cultural environment.
questions of an academic discipline.
Students will be asked to ascertain what liberties
may have been taken and to determine the social
value and significance of this art form in the
development of said culture. Students will explore
various kinds of evidence theatre historians and
historiographers use to construct theatre history;
they will discuss ways in which that evidence has
been and can be interpreted. Through readings,
lectures, class discussions, videos,
performances, group presentations, writing and
research, students will become familiar with
theatre practices, practitioners, and texts from a
variety of cultures and points of view. By
consistently addressing the relevance of their
individual and group research, students will
approach the study of theatre as a vital to a
cultural understanding of both the United States
and Europe.
VI. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning
goals. See: http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
Upon completion of this perspective, a student
This course is concerned with both theoretical
will be able to demonstrate informed and
and critical assumptions made after the fact, and
reasoned understanding of American and/or
with practical aspects of an era’s theatre for its
European historical and contemporary behavior, own sake. As students conduct their own
ideas, institutions, and culture.
research and prepare for assignments, they are
expected use all the resources at their disposal
to create a clear picture of the values and belief
systems evident in the culture creating the
literature, nurturing the artistic community, and
establishing performance traditions that define
theatre in America and Europe during the era
under investigation.
Upon completion of this perspective, a student
As students look at plays from the last two
will be able to analyze and evaluate what is
hundred years in American and European
distinctive and significant about the American
history, they will begin to experience them as
and/or European experience and legacy.
vehicles for culture as well as the practical
exercise of the art in production. They will see
how cultural events and history define and
influence theatre as an institution. They will also
begin to understand how theatre can act as a
mirror or a hammer in illustrating human societal
evolution. In all cases they learn to seek a better
understanding of how human beings, with
specific tasks (and artistic skills), brought these
texts (in the largest sense of the word) to their
audiences.
VII. Justification: Normally, general education courses will not carry pre-requisites, will carry
at least 3 credits, and will be numbered at the 100-200 level. If the course has more than one
pre-requisite, carries fewer than three credits, or is upper division (numbered above the 200
level), provide rationale for exception(s).
This course is best suited for students who already possess a foundational understanding of theatre
practice and the prerequisite historical/cultural inquiry but are new to the specific study of American and
European cultural perspectives in the context of theatre history. Thus we have given it a 300-level
designation.
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.  The syllabus
should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus
preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
THTR 331Y.01 THEATRE HISTORY II
SPRING 2013 LA 11
TUES 9.40-11.00 & THURS 9.40-11.00
Dr. Bernadette Sweeney
Office: MCGILL 212C
email: bernadette.sweeney@mso.umt.edu
Office Hours: MONDAY 4-5 pm, WEDNESDAY 4-5 pm, FRIDAY 12-1 pm and by
appointment
Course Description:
Students will study each play, the context of each play and its period, selected scenes
through performance, participate in class discussion, write 2 papers for formal assessment,
present a production proposal and/or scene with reflection for formal
assessment, OR mid-term and end term short exams
Course Outcomes:
On completion of this course students will:
Have a broad knowledge of theatre history, style, context and audiences.
Have a knowledge of chosen play texts through close reading
Have a critically informed understanding of chosen play texts through reading and analysis of critical
material
Have an understanding of how each play performs its time, its politics and the conditions of
contemporaneous production
Have engaged with this work through script analysis, scene study, research and analysis
Have articulated their engagement with the work through formal research and writing, through informal
review and other writing, and through written reflection on their own experience of the work as
performers, dramaturgs, researchers and/or audience members
Will have collaborated with each other to present scenes and/or production proposals
Required Texts:
Norton Anthology of Drama
Materials on Reserve, Hand Outs and Moodle
Work for Assessment:
20%--attendance and in-class writing and contribution, participation, effort,
attitude, and respect,
25%-- PAPER 1, 4 pages in length.
35%-- PAPER 2, 6 pages in length
20%-option A: end of semester group presentation and 2 page reflection
OR
Option B: mid-term and end term short exams
STUDENTS CHOOSE EITHER TO WORK ON A GROUP PRESENTATION AND
REFLECTION PAPER OR IN-CLASS MID TERM AND END OF TERM EXAMS.
THIS CHOICE IS MADE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER. STUDENTS MAY NOT
SWITCH OPTIONS ONCE THE SEMESTER IS UNDER WAY.
All papers must be printed with course details etc. on the first page, all pages numbered,
and include a bibliography or works cited. This must include a range of internet and
printed sources, at least 4 of each, which are beyond those offered by the class [articles on
moodle etc.]. Plagiarism will be taken very seriously, and may result in course failure.
Essays will be graded on:
 Relevance to the topic
 Evidence of original research
 Originality and creativity,
 Thorough response to the material
 Levels of analysis and critique
 Writing: syntax, structure of argument, coherency,
 Formatting, style and presentation, management of the task [submitted on time
and in full etc]
Students may work in groups to give presentations –
 these will require time spent rehearsing/researching together outside of class
time. Presentation can include a production proposal for your chosen text, or a
selected scene performed for the class, or a group research presentation
 Full staging is not required, but a presented scene should effectively communicate
a chosen element of the play to your audience, characters’ dynamic, use of space,
attention to language etc.
 There must be evidence of individual roles taken within the group
 There must be evidence of research undertaken further to that covered in class
 Reflection is in the form of a 2 page paper documenting student approach to
chosen text, rehearsal, staging and the experience of performance before class
members.
Mid-term and end-term exams
 These will be written papers on topics listed on the exam sheet – these exams will
require prose essays, and are not in a quiz or multiple-choice format.
Ground Rules:
I do not accept late papers unless the student contacts me with a reasonable
excuse before the beginning of the class on the day the paper is due. More than 3
unexcused absences will result in your grade falling by a full letter.
Please feel free to ask and answer questions inside and outside class. I will have at least one
conference with each student during the semester. If you have any questions about how you are doing,
what you want to write about, or any of the material, contact me by e-mail, or arrange to see me during
my office hours.
Syllabus: (always subject to change)1
WEEK 1
Tues
Introduction
WEEK 1
Thurs
Doubt by John Patrick Shanley
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 2
Tues
Doubt by John Patrick Shanley
WEEK 2
Thurs
Riders to the Sea by J. M. Synge
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 3
Tues
Riders to the Sea / Naturalism and Realism
WEEK 3
Thurs
Naturalism and Realism
[Kate Morris]
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 4
Tues
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
WEEK 4
Thurs
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 5
Tues
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov [Kate Morris]
WEEK 5
Thurs
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 6
Tues
Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello [Rebecca
Schaffer]
WEEK 6
Thurs
Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
[PAPER 1 DUE]
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 7
Tues
Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
[Leah Joki]
WEEK 7
Thurs
Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
[and midterm exam]
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 8
Tues
The Maids by Jean Genet
WEEK 8
Thurs
The Maids by Jean Genet
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 9
Tues
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
WEEK 9
Thurs
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 10
Tues
Krapp’s Last Tape and Play by Samuel Beckett
WEEK 10
Thurs
Krapp’s Last Tape and Play by Samuel Beckett
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 11
Tues
Mud by Maria Irene Fornes
WEEK 11
Thurs
Mud by Maria Irene Fornes
___________________________________________________________________
Please refer to the Spring 2013 schedule for relevant dates with regard to adding, dropping,
and withdrawing. Please make contact with a colleague or two to find out what has been
assigned if you miss class.
1
WEEK 12
WEEK 12
Tues
Thurs
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
[Leah Joki]
[PAPER 2 DUE]
___________________________________________________________________
WEEK 13
Tues
A Number by Caryl Churchill
[Rebecca Schaffer]
WEEK 13
Thurs
A Number by Caryl Churchill
__________________________________________________________________
_
WEEK 14
Tues
SCENE WORK
WEEK 14
Thurs
SCENE WORK
______________________________________________________
Exam week Tues
Exam/REFLECTION PAPER DUE
UDWPA—Upper-Division Writing Proficiency Assessment. Every student, without exception, must
successfully complete this exam following completion of WRIT 101 (or its equivalent), after having
attained 45 University credits (any combination of UM and transfer credits), and after having taken a
lower-division writing course. THTR 330H: Theatre History I, is just such an LDW course. Students are
strongly encouraged to visit the below-listed website and research/register for/prepare for/take the
UDWPA during this semester. http://umt.edu/udwpa/
Academic Misconduct and the Student Conduct Code
All students must practice academic honesty. Academic misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by
the course instructor and/or disciplinary sanction by the University. All students need to be familiar
with the Student Conduct Code. The Code is available for review online at
http://life.umt.edu/vpsa/student_conduct.php.
All Theatre & Dance students must have an in-depth knowledge of the practices and procedures outlined
in the School of Theatre & Dance Student Handbook. The Handbook is available online at
http://www.umt.edu/theatredance/about/handbook.
There is inherent risk involved in many Theatre & Dance classes as they are very physical in nature.
Please proceed through class, shop time, or rehearsal with caution. Always be mindful of your personal
safety and the safety of others. Students participating in class/shop/rehearsal/performance do so at
their own risk.
Due to safety considerations, at no point during a student’s time spent in class or serving on a
production (in any capacity) should non-enrolled persons be guests of that student without my
consent. Presence of such unauthorized persons in a class, shop, or any backstage/off-stage area will
negatively affect a student’s grade.
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The University of Montana assures equal access to instruction through collaboration between students
with disabilities, instructors, and Disability Services for Students (DSS). If you think you may have a
disability adversely affecting your academic performance, and you have not already registered with
DSS, please contact DSS in Lommasson 154. I will work with you and DSS to provide an appropriate
accommodation.
Please note: Approved general education changes will take effect next fall.
General education instructors will be expected to provide sample assessment items and
corresponding responses to the Assessment Advisory Committee.