THEA
701, Sect. U015: Introduction to Graduate Studies in
Theatre
Spring
2009; MWF, 9:00 AM-9:50; CFA 180
Dr.
Objectives:
To develop awareness of USD graduate policies and procedures; to develop
awareness and effective use of standard research methods and materials and of
standard styles of scholarly presentation; to develop awareness and skill in
production-supportive research; to practice skills in oral reporting; and to
develop awareness and skills in internet communications.
See
“Notes on
Assignments”
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Jan 16 |
Introduction:
syllabus, assignments |
Subscribe
to usdtheatre |
| 19 | No class--Martin Luther King, Jr., Day | |
| 21 | No class--ACTF | |
| 23 | No class--ACTF | |
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26 |
Library
orientation; intro. to electronic research
databases |
Meet
in Room 323 of |
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30 |
Programs
and procedures |
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Feb 2 |
Approaching
research and writing; on production-supportive research; bibliographic
sources, reference works and periodicals; use of sources; organization;
serving on faculty |
READ
MLA, Chapter 1 and Appendix A; recommend Thaiss and Davis, Writing
about Theatre and/or Suzanne Hudson’s How to Write about Theatre
and Drama |
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4 |
Continue
research and writing; MLA documentation style |
READ
MLA, Chapters 4 and 5; DUE:
hand in bibliography topic |
| 6 | Continue MLA style |
READ
MLA, Chapters 2,3,6, and Appendix B; READ Graduate School
handout |
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9 |
DUE:
City oral report #1 (10 min.); |
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11 |
DUE:
Continue City oral reports |
DUE:
hand in script selection |
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13 |
Continue
MLA style |
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16 |
No
class—Presidents’ Day |
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18 |
DUE:
bibliography, with oral report (15 min. max.) |
Bibliography |
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20 |
Continue
bibliography reports |
“ ; DUE: hand in paper, annotated
bibliography |
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23 |
Continue MLA style |
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25 |
WWW development |
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27 |
WWW development |
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| March 2 |
DUE:
script/author paper, with oral report (20 min.
max.) |
Script/author |
| 4 |
Continue
script/author |
Script/author |
| 6 |
Continue
script/author |
Script/author |
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9 |
No
class—Spring recess |
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11 |
No
class—Spring recess |
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13 |
No
class—Spring recess |
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16 |
City
oral report #2 |
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18 |
Continue
City reports |
DUE:
e-mail City web sites to class (City Report
#2) |
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20 |
DUE:
tentative Program of Study & tentative advisor/Graduate Advisory
Committee selection |
DUE:
hand in tentative Program of Study |
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23 |
DUE:
script/criticism bibliography oral report (15 min.
max.) |
Script/crit
bibl |
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25 |
Continue
criticism bibliog. reports |
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27 |
Continue
criticism bibliog. reports |
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30 |
DUE:
theatre periodical oral report (10 min. max.) |
Periodical |
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Apr 1 |
Continue
periodical reports |
Periodical |
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3 |
DUE:
script/commentary and criticism paper OR major artist paper, with oral report (20 min.
max.) |
Script/crit |
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6 |
Continue
commentary and criticism OR major artist reports |
“ |
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8 |
Continue
commentary and criticism OR major artist reports |
“ DUE:
hand in paper, including full bibliography |
| 10 | No class--Good Friday | |
| 13 | No class--Easter Monday | |
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15 |
City oral report #3 |
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17 |
Continue
city reports |
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20 |
Research
questions and process |
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22 |
Continue
research questions/process |
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Continue
research questions/process |
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27 |
DUE: script/social history OR visual design survey paper, with oral report (20
min. max.) |
Script/soc
or viz |
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29 |
Continue
social history or visual design reports |
“ |
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May 1 |
Continue
social history or visual design reports |
“ DUE:
hand in paper |
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7 |
Thursday, 5:30 7:30 PM DUE:
show final WWW pages |
Final
Exam Period |
Required
text:
Gibaldi,
Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers
of Research Papers. 6th edition.
Language
Association of
Recommended
resources:
MLA Style Manual and
Guide to Scholarly Publishing.
3rd edition.
Turabian,
Kate L. A Manual for Writers of
Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. [most recent edition] Rev. by John Grossman and Alice
Bennett.
Ferguson, Marcia L. A Short Guide to Writing About Theatre. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.
Hudson,
Suzanne. How to Write about
Theatre and Drama.
Thaiss,
Christopher, and Rick Davis.
Writing about Theatre.
Truss,
Lynne. Eats, Shoots &
Leaves.
A
hardcover dictionary for your home or study.
A
paperback dictionary to carry with you.
A
guide to writing style and punctuation (see texts for basic composition
courses).
Many
good web sites for research, writing, and documentation (you may find a few
links at
http://www.usd.edu/~rmoyer/theahisttermpaper.htm
). Find more and share
them.
Attendance
policy: while there is no specific policy yet, roll will be taken and class
participation is important; unexcused absences suggest lack of interest in the
materials and will adversely affect grades, especially if they occur when
assignments are due. Frequent
tardiness will be interpreted as rudeness toward classmates and lack of interest
in the course and will adversely affect your grade. If you have some consistent difficulty
in arriving at class on time, please discuss this with the
instructor.
Some
plays treat or are impacted by special information/knowledge/theory. You may make a case to the instructor to
substitute a paper on such an important/unique topic to replace either the
criticism & commentary paper or the social history/visual design
paper.
Students with Special Needs. Any student who feels s/he may need
academic accommodations or access accommodations based on the impact of a
documented disability should contact and register with Disability Services
during the first week of class. Disability Services is the official office
to assist students through the process of disability verification and
coordination of appropriate and reasonable accommodations. Students
currently registered with Disability Services must obtain a new accommodation
memo each semester. For information
contact:
Ernetta L. Fox,
Director
Disability
Services
Room 119 Service
Center
605-677-6389
http://www.usd.edu/ds ; dservices@usd.edu
Academic honesty.
No credit can be given for a dishonest assignment. At the
discretion of the instructor, a student caught engaging in any form of academic
dishonesty may
be:
a. Given a zero for that
assignment.
b. Allowed to rewrite and
resubmit the assignment for
credit.
c. Assigned a reduced grade for
the
course.
d. Dropped from the
course.
e. Failed in the
course.
Freedom in
learning. Students are
responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are
enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic
performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should
be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of
study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic
standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or
conduct should contact the dean of the college which offers the class to
initiate a review of the evaluation.
Grading:
*bibliography, city reports, and script/commentary and criticism bibliography
(oral report
and
the complete bibliography that is included with the paper) @ 10% each;
*periodical report and class participation @ 5% ;
*script/author, script/criticism or major artist, and script/social history or visual
design survey @ 20% each;
*personal WWW page must be completed to include minimum requirements in
order to pass
the
course; content and/or design enhancements may raise the semester grade by a +
(plus);
inaccuracies (including misspellings, poor grammar, etc.) or non-working
links
may lower the semester grade by a - (minus);
*other (promptness and accuracy of minor assignments, discussion,
attitude, attendance, etc.)
may
raise or lower the semester grade by a + or - (e.g., B+ to A-, B- to C+,
etc.).
N.B.:
At least one meeting with your Advisor or with your Graduate Advisory Committee
to discuss your preliminary Program of Study must occur before the course will
be considered complete.