DEPARTMENTAL MISSION:
The Department of Communication and Theatre Arts’ mission is to build and advance students’ knowledge of communication and performance in multiple contexts. The goal is to affirm creative and critical thinking in an increasingly media driven world. The Department supports and enhances students’ roles as citizens, advocates, speakers, listeners, audience, and performers of critical thought through creative work. The Department empowers students to understand the interconnected nature of information through independent and group projects at ever-increasing levels of sophistication.
Theatre: CTA’s Theatre program is based on two interrelated values. (1) Through performing and learning about the way theatre works on a personal, historical, and social basis, we discover ourselves in our own time and place and others throughout the world. (2) We believe poetic and social justice is at the core of virtually all theatre.
Film: CTA offers courses that explore the art of film from its invention in the 1890s to the present day, and examines cinema’s impact on American and world cultures. Students develop the analytical and evaluative abilities to understand and articulate how the language of film conveys messages and meaning to audiences.
Media: Social media, television, radio, citizen journalism, digital performance, and gaming, influence our knowledge, work, and personal lives connecting the self to society. Media fluency empowers students to participate in social and political life.
Speech: Speech courses empower students to communicate effectively in every situation with confidence and credibility. Students get the opportunity to hone organizational, presentational, listening, critical reasoning, and research abilities are essential to academic and professional success.
Minors in Communication and Theatre Arts: The Department of Communication and Theatre Arts offers exciting minors in Theatre and Communication.