an instructor and seven cast members in a circle

Undergraduate Programs

The intellectual enrichment of a liberal arts education combined with rigorous training in the art forms of theater and dance. 

Our undergraduate programs give students the best of a liberal arts education by combining critical study of theater, dance, and performance with practical experience making challenging creative work. We put our students on the leading edge of collaborative artistic creation, so that besides historical and theoretical knowledge, critical thinking, and writing skills, they also gain confidence in communicating their ideas and passions, and hands-on experience managing complex collaborative tasks. 

While many of our graduates go on to thrive in the professional theater and dance, many others apply what they learn with us to careers in medicine, media and entertainment, technology, law and government, and a range of other professional endeavors.

Our Majors and Minors

Dance Major

The Major in Dance is a liberal arts course of study with intensive studio work in technique and theory of modern dance, ballet and composition with seminars examining dance as a global phenomenon with forms reflecting culturally specific historical, aesthetic and anthropological features. The program also offers a broad range of elective courses including stagecraft, improvisation, anatomy for dancers, musical theater dance, pedagogy, world dance forms, jazz and tap.

Dance Minor

This program emphasizes the study of dance as an independent and collaborative art and as a global phenomenon expressed in a wide variety of contemporary and traditional forms. It requires 17-18 units, including nine units in studio-based/technique courses.

Drama Major

The Major in Drama offers a liberal arts concentration in theater and performance with a balance of scholarly coursework (theater history, literary criticism and interpretation) and creative rigor in acting, directing, design, and technical disciplines. It requires 36 units of scholarly and practical courses, and culminates in a team-taught capstone class, which centers around a collaborative project.

Drama Minor

This program requires 18 units, including coursework in theater productions, six units of theater history, and nine units in elective courses.

get involved in our productions

You don't have to declare a major or minor to take part in one of our productions! Join the crew or audition for a part on the stage and meet our amazing community.

Check out our upcoming productions

Concentration: Dance

The Dance Program emphasizes the study of dance as an independent and collaborative art and as a global phenomenon expressed in a wide variety of contemporary and traditional forms. You may major in dance or minor in modern dance, ballet, or world music, dance and theater. Course topics include dance history and ethnology, theory and techniques of modern dance and ballet, composition, improvisation, applied anatomy, music resources, somatic practices, jazz, musical theater, and world dance forms such as West African and bharata.

Learn More About Our Dance Major

Concentration: Drama

Our theater arts faculty consists of highly accomplished directors, actors, designers and playwrights who are devoted to the mission of university teaching. These artists work closely with our world-class scholarly faculty in theater and performance studies with expertise ranging from Antiquity to twenty-first century theater and performance. The result is a well-rounded education that emphasizes intellectual and creative growth in tandem.

Learn More About Our Drama Major

Study Abroad

In partnership with the Office of Overseas Programs at Washington University in St. Louis, the Performing Arts Department is proud to offer semester study abroad opportunities in theater and dance, as well as a summer study abroad program in theater, Shakespeare at the Globe. 

Learn More About Study Abroad