The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance offers its majors a
liberal education and pre-professional training in an
interdisciplinary program leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree in
dramatic art, with an emphasis in either theatre or dance.
Students develop their abilities through a wide range of courses
combining practical and theoretical skills that emphasize
critical thought and independence in a context of challenging
cooperative work.
From the first year, majors may participate in every aspect of
bringing a work to the stage: acting, dance, directing,
playwriting, choreography, stage management and design.
Technical practice in the design and creation of sets, costumes,
sound and lighting accompanies a firm grounding in dramatic
literature, dance and theater history, performance theory and
criticism. This combination of theory and practice prepares
students for a broad range of career opportunities.
Most importantly, it provides an opportunity for you to work
closely with a faculty member to develop an original creative or
scholarly project, to explore an idea with greater depth and
rigor than is typically encountered in the undergraduate
classroom. It allows and you to stretch yourself creatively and
intellectually, and on a practical level, if you have a high GPA,
successfully completing an honors project is the only way to
receive high or highest honors for your degree within the College
of Letters & Science (you may receive honors on GPA alone). Many
of the most competitive applicants for graduate study have
completed some form of honors project. Not only does this
demonstrate a high level of accomplishment, it also provides more
information for a faculty member to address in a letter of
recommendation.
What does an Honors Project look like?
According to the catalog, “[t]he Honors Program in the College of
Letters and Science permits students to pursue a program of study
in their major at a level significantly beyond that defined by
the normal curriculum. It represents an opportunity for the
qualified student to experience aspects of the major that are
representative of advanced study in the field.” It may be
scholarly or creative, but it will have a written component
either way. In Theatre and Dance, honors projects range from
staged readings of original full length plays; to complete paper
designs of productions; to research, design and delivery of
workshops;to scholarly research essays on a range of topics, to
directing shows with a specific research focus, or any other
investigation of a relevant area of research or creative activity
that is approved by the faculty. The project must be framed by a
research question that you want to investigate, whether it is a
physical exploration of a practice or an intellectual exploration
of performance contexts, and it will include a written component.
The project may be done in conjunction with production activity
in the department, but simply completing production activity is
not in and of itself an honors project. All projects involving
production resources will need to be approved by both the faculty
adviser and the chair of the department and will typically need
to be planned and approved well in advance. Honors projects
typically do not receive production resources. NOTE: In order to
complete the honors degree in Theatre and Dance you will also
need to complete an additional 8 units (typically 2 additional
courses) of Theatre and Dance upper division electives selected
with your thesis advisor that will support your preparation for,
or supplement the work on, your project.
What should I do if I want to begin this process?
Your first step is to contact your faculty adviser or the faculty
member with whom you want to pursue an honors project and begin
talking about possibilities—the sooner, the better. Ideally, you
should begin planning in the academic year prior to the start of
the honors project, but minimally you should have a plan in place
prior to the start of the first quarter of the required DRA 194HA
course. However, you do not need to know exactly what you are
going to do to start a conversation with the faculty. Even if you
are just starting your degree, it is not too early to start
thinking carefully about how you want to focus your studies.
Practical Considerations
Once you have faculty approval for your project you will sign up
for DRA 194HA under a CRN for the faculty adviser for your
project and DRA 194HB in the following quarter.You will receive
an IP grade for the first quarter, and after completing DRA 194HB
you will receive the same grade for both quarters. Though the
exact nature of the project is determined in consultation with
the faculty adviser, all honors projects have a written
component. Successful completion makes you eligible for high or
highest honors, which will be determined by the faculty based on
both the quality of the project and your overall record; however,
this is contingent on your GPA being sufficiently high to meet
the minimum standards for the College of Letters and Science.
To set up an advising appointment current students please
click here. If you
are not a current student please call 530-752-0890 to set up an
appointment.
