Department of Theatre & Communication Arts

our mission

The Department of Theatre & Communication Arts at Whittier College, located 23 miles from the heart of downtown Los Angeles, strives to provide a balanced preparatory foundation, exposing students to multiple approaches and applications of theatre. As part of a liberal arts institution, the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts focuses on providing both breadth and depth in the field, encouraging students to develop interdisciplinary connections, to demonstrate the collaborative nature of this discipline, and to articulate their own critical presentation of theatre as both an artistic art form and as a cultural artifact. Graduating majors will then have the tools to pursue a professional career, graduate studies, or continue their path as lifelong appreciators of the theatrical arts.

Department Goals include:

• Developing students through a series of progressive steps in both scholarship and creative engagement.
• Requiring the collaborative experience of working with others as theatre practitioners.
• Contextualizing theatre as an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary art form, connecting to the visual arts, history, politics, psychology, sociology, philosophy, religious ideologies, and technology.
• Analyzing the context of historical theatrical influences and theinterconnectedness of movements throughout history.
• Synthesizing the interconnection between form, interpretation, and audience.
• Articulating theatrical practices via cultural, sociological, and psychological lenses.
• Presenting a final public creative or scholarly project with an accompanying historical, theoretical, and/or self-reflective paper.

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