PCA Courses
100. Beginning Ballet.
Fundamentals of classical ballet including barre, center work and across-the-floor movements with emphasis on body alignment and elements of ballet style. Material is presented in a progression from basic to more complex. Lectures consist of pertinent references to dance history, terminology, movement theory and dance films illustrating related subject matter.
101. Production Credit.
This is a practicum credit for students working on faculty-directed productions. Students are selected through the regular audition process and credit (either .25 or .5 credit units) is based on the size of the role and/or the time commitment involved. Students may take up to 1 unit of production credit. Pass/fail grading only. Permission of instructor required.
103. Stagecraft.
The study and practice of creating scenery for the stage, this course also explores the operation of the theater’s physical plant. Material is presented in lectures and is further illustrated through the activities of the production studio.
105. Language as Human Experience.
We will tackle fundamental questions of what language is and how languages both create and constrain human potential. Our method for addressing these questions will be comparative. That is, at every step we will consider how languages do and do not vary across cultures in terms of their form, function and feeling. Along the way, we will examine the structure of language and the ways this structure varies across languages; we will survey the ways in which languages are transmitted from one generation to the next, and consider the ways in which languages inevitably change in the process; and we will explore language as a principal medium in which social identities are formed. No background in linguistics or anthropology is required, but a fundamental curiosity about culture and communication is expected. Offered every semester. Dual-listed by Anthropology.
106. Performing Diversity.
Using research, creative writing and personal experiences, this seminar explores various issues of multiculturalism and diversity on the St. Lawrence campus and in America today. We will engage a variety of texts to investigate the links between identity and oppression by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, differing abilities, and religion. As part of a significant research project, members of the class create performance texts (combining video presentations and live performance work) about specific research topic areas. To be a part of this seminar, you do not need prior experience in video production or acting/performance, but you must be willing to get involved with exploring both. This course is available to first-year students only as an FYS.
107. Beginning Acting.
An introduction to the basic mental and physical skills used in acting, including use of imagination, understanding of the self, character analysis, body flexibility and expression, and voice and diction. Coursework includes exploratory and centering exercises, improvisational techniques and scene and monologue study.
111. Rhetoric and Public Speaking.
An introduction to the art of public speaking, focusing primarily on the construction and critique of persuasive discourse. Students study the classical rhetorical tradition as a continuing influence on the contemporary theory and practice of persuasion.
113. Introduction to Performance Studies.
This course engages students in the analysis and performance of texts other than dramas (e.g., poems, short stories, personal narratives). The course emphasizes analysis of the dramatic situation in texts, process-centered workshops, and performance criticism.
125. Introduction to Theatre.
This course is designed to aid the student in an investigation into the various aspects of theatrical performance and process. This course will explore the five main aspects of the theatrical event: director, actor, playwright, designers (costume, scenic, lighting) and audience. Throughout the course students will discover the relationship between text/literature and the artistic nature of theatre to make and enhance meaning.
127. Introduction to Communication Studies.
This course explores the forms, functions, techniques, technologies and institutions of human communication with the goal of enhancing understanding of the complex dynamics of social interaction. Topics include communication and meaning; language, thought and communication; non-verbal communication; gender and communication; intercultural communication; and the mass media.
201. Introduction to Journalism.
A general study of journalistic principles and methods as well as extensive practice in the gathering and writing of news. In the first half of the semester, we will learn how to write and analyze basic types of stories in a style particular to new media, with an emphasis on accuracy, clarity, and efficiency. We will also discuss the mission of the journalist in a democratic society. In the second half of the semester, we will practice and refine such learned writing and reporting skills in an atmosphere closely resembling the conditions in a digital-era newsroom: covering actual events of local, state, national and international importance as they unfold in real time - all this under the pressure of real deadlines. Dual-listed by English.
202. Sound for the Stage.
This course explores artistic and practical aspects of using sound in support of theatrical productions. Dual-listed by Music.
204. Costume Design.
This course explores the artistic and practical aspects of designing costume for performance. Through a series of projects, students analyze the costume requirements for various plays, research period fashions and develop costume designs for specific characters and productions. Prerequisite: PCA 107 or PCA 125.
215. Dramatic Texts in Context.
This course examines how knowing the theatrical and cultural contexts of plays helps theatre practitioners make informed choices regarding how to stage them. Prerequisite: PCA 107 or PCA 125. Dual-listed by English.
223. Playwriting.
This course explores the processes of composition characteristic of the playwright. In a series of weekly assignments, various aspects of the art are introduced, e.g., characterization, dialogue, dramatic action and others. The course concludes with the writing of a one-act play. Students read exemplary plays from the modern repertoire. Dual-listed by English.
225. Peer Mentoring in Rhetoric and Communication.
This course is designed to train students who will work as rhetoric and communication mentors in the University’s WORD Studio. Permission of instructor required.
230. Beginning/Intermediate Modern Dance.
This course emphasizes development of basic modern dance concepts and technique, including increase of students’ strength, control, rhythmic awareness and stage presence. Specific techniques touched upon and/or covered in depth include, but are not limited to, O’Donnell, Nickolas, Garth Fagan and Graham. The course provides an in-depth knowledge of the history of modern dance. Students will strengthen their choreographic skills and produce an original piece.
235. Beginning/Intermediate Jazz Dance.
This course is for the elementary dance student interested in developing the basic movement skills of jazz dance. Emphasis is placed on the Jack Cole technique. Course material consists primarily of building a solid technical base, learning isolations, rhythmic difference and dynamics. The course provides an in-depth knowledge of jazz dance, its phenomenon and its changing character throughout the years. Students are exposed to Broadway, concert and commercial jazz styles, strengthen their choreographic skills and produce an original piece.
239. Media Industries.
This course surveys the historical development of traditional media industries such as newspapers, magazines, books, television, radio, film, music recording and video games, as well as the issues related to the emergence of digital technologies epitomized by the Internet. It likewise focuses on the historical evolution of two other closely related fields advertisement and public relations. Dual-listed by Film and Representation Studies.
244. Techniques of Screenwriting.
An introductory study of basic technical problems and formal concepts of screen writing. The study of produced screenplays and formal film technique, along with writing scene exercises, builds toward the construction of a short (50-minute) script. Dual-listed by English; also offered through Film and Representation Studies.
250. Communication & Performance Research Methods.
This course introduces students to a variety of qualitative research methods and theoretical lenses used by scholars of communication, rhetoric, and theater. Students will be exposed to existing research that uses these methods and will practice these approaches throughout the semester. The capstone project involves developing an individual research projects that uses a particular method of qualitative analysis to answer questions about a communicative and/or performative text or act.
255. African-American Drama.
African-American drama is a tradition that has unique themes and forms with sources in African ritual and language; gesture and folklore; the Southern Baptist church; the blues; and jazz. Students examine plays, read essays, view videos and listen to music to discover the qualities that make this drama a vital resource of African-American culture and an important social and political voice. Dual-listed by English.
270. Collaboration Across the Arts.
The direction of this course is determined largely by the unique combination of students who participate. Students form groups of two or three to work on a collaborative project of their own design reflecting their collective interests. For example, a pair of students may create a multimedia work that draws connections between image and sound. Students critique works in progress, study exemplary works, discuss relevant aesthetic issues, trace connections across media and consider strategies for collaborative work. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Dual-listed by Music; also offered through Art & Art History.
3000-3999. Special Topics in Rhetoric/Communication Studies.
The content of each course or section of these 200-level special topics courses varies and will be announced each semester.
3000-3999. Special Topics in Theatre/Performance Studies.
The content of each course or section of these 200-level special topics courses varies and will be announced each semester.
301. Advanced Modern Dance.
Advanced Modern Dance is an exploration of advanced modern technique and theory in a variety of styles of modern dance. The class emphasizes educating the body as an instrument for artistic expression as well as development of flexibility, strength, coordination and awareness of principles of motion. The class will also work on choreography and composition exercises using the concepts of space, time, effort and shape. Prerequisite: PCA 100, PCA 235, or PCA 230.
303. Stage Lighting.
An investigation of theatrical lighting equipment and its applied use in producing drama, concerts, and dance on the modern stage. The course includes a study of basic electricity, lighting instruments, computerized lighting control and design procedures. Materials are presented in a lecture/demonstration format and are further explored in the lighting lab and departmental productions. Prerequisite: PCA 103.
306. Advanced Screenwriting.
An extension and intensification of PCA 244. Students are expected to work independently on the preparation of two feature-length screenplays. Workshop format emphasizes the revision and editing process. Prerequisite: PCA 244. Dual listed by English; also offered through Film and Representation Studies.
307. Characterization.
An intensive study of the acting process building on skills developed in PCA 107. The course focuses on character development in psychological realism and is intended to expand the actor’s range with both scene and monologue work, as well as to expand skills in voice/body integration and script analysis. Prerequisite: PCA 107 or PCA 125.
309. Acting Styles.
A concentrated study of three theatrical styles: Greek tragedy, Elizabethan drama and comedy of manners. The course includes reading and research on the theatre and culture of each historical period, followed by an intensive exploration of their vocal and physical styles through guided improvisations, exercise and scene study. Prerequisite: PCA 107.
310. Culture & Media.
Print or electronic mediating technologies have accompanied humans for more than five centuries and at some point people started questioning the extent to which they influenced, or as we will learn to say, co-constructed our everyday reality. This class surveys some of the important intellectual contributions to this inquiry – media theories and seminal studies. At the same time, it follows some of the most significant contemporary debates that reflect the symbiotic relationship between the media and our own culture. Also offered through Film and Representation Studies. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127.
311. Advanced Public Speaking.
Intensive study of the principles and practices of researching, organizing, writing, delivering and criticizing persuasive speeches. Students employ contemporary theories of persuasion to analyze a variety of rhetorical situations. Students construct persuasive speeches for different speaking situations in order to develop critical and practical skills. Prerequisite: PCA 111.
314. Devising for Performance.
This course focuses on the process of adapting and staging non-dramatic texts (e.g., novels, short stories, poems) for performance. The class emphasizes the process of selecting, adapting, scripting and rehearsing texts for performance. Prerequisite: PCA 107, PCA 113, or 125.
315. Gender and Communication.
All of our communications have a gendered component, and all gender performances are, by definition, communicative. In this course, we explore some of the many contexts, media and modalities through which communication and gender intersect. We examine both how we perform gender and how we become gendered through the processes of social interaction. Prerequisite: PCA 127, PCA 111, or GNDR 103.
316. Advanced Communication Studies.
This course surveys contemporary theories and principles of human communication and complements this inquiry with practical exercises designed to test and explain the theories. Course material focuses on interpersonal communication, non-verbal communication, mass communication, intercultural communication and the relationship between gender and communication. Prerequisite: PCA 127.
317. Performing Poetry.
“Milktongue, goatfoot, and twinbird” are the words that poet Donald Hall uses to describe what the voicing and embodying of poetry feels like to him. It’s something with taste and texture in our mouths, something we feel in our bodies, and something that sings, chants, and fills the world with sight and sound. In this course we focus on the performance of various poetic forms: traditional fixed forms, open verse, concrete poems, found poems and others. We will add to Hall’s list of ways to describe what happens when poetry returns to its roots in the oral tradition, and in the process examine the intersections of contemporary poetic theory and performance theory. Prerequisite: PCA 107 or PCA 113. Dual-listed with English.
318. Argumentation and Debate.
Study of the nature and functions of argument: the classical and contemporary concepts of rationality, truth, knowledge and models of argument; and the evaluation of argument in formal and ordinary language situations. Students participate in several argumentation and debate assignments to develop critical and practical skills. Prerequisite: PCA 111. Cross-listed with Peace Studies.
319, 320. Shakespeare.
An intensive study of Shakespeare’s plays; 319 concentrates on Shakespeare’s histories, comedies and romances, while 320 focuses on the tragedies. Prerequisites: PCA 125 or ENG 110 and one 200-level English literature course; or two 200-level English courses. Dual-listed by English; also offered through European Studies.
321. Intercultural Communication.
This course explores theoretical and rhetorical frames around culture, cultural difference and cultural encounter, the purpose being to enable participants to become more culturally sensitive and effective communicators. Prerequisite: PCA 127. Dual-listed by African-American Studies.
322. Native American Oral Traditions.
This course examines the oral literatures of Native Americans and the incorporation of these oral traditions into written texts. Native American oral traditions are examined using written texts, videos and live performances. With a focus on origin stories, mythic heroes, and rituals, the course considers Native American views of storytelling, family, religion/cosmogony and language. Prerequisite: PCA 113 or PCA 125. Dual-listed by Native American Studies.
326. American Public Address.
A study of American history through examination of the speeches of spokespersons for social, political, legal and religious institutions and movements. From Thomas Jefferson to George Bush, from Susan B. Anthony to Phyllis Schlafly, from George Wallace to Martin Luther King Jr.: a study of the impact of rhetorical strategies upon ideas and events and of ideas and events upon rhetorical strategies. Prerequisite: PCA 107 or PCA 125. Cross-listed with Peace Studies.
327. Drama By and About Women.
Using theoretical writings and dramatic scripts, this course asks what, if anything, is different about reading drama written by women about women. Although the foundations of this course are rooted in a variety of feminist perspectives, it focuses on a way of reading rather than on any one of a group of political stances. Students are expected to respond subjectively to the voices of women articulated in the plays and, at the same time, use critical skills to comprehend the social, historical and cultural contexts that shaped them. Prerequisite: PCA 125.
328. Interpersonal Communication.
This course examines the social situations in which people create and maintain interpersonal relationships, exploring the myriad social and cultural factors that impinge upon the success of these relationships. Topics include identity, relationship formation, family, friendship, intimacy, gender and sexualities, relationships at school and work, conflict, and digitally mediated interpersonal communication. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or 127.
329. Rhetoric of Social Movements.
This course examines the rhetorical strategies employed in contemporary American social movements (civil rights, Vietnam/anti-war movement, women’s liberation, American Indian Movement, gay and lesbian rights). Cultural texts, speeches, manifestos, sit-ins, marches and songs drawn from each of these calls for change are examined and interpreted using a variety of rhetorical theories. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Cross-listed with Peace Studies.
330. Ritual Studies.
This course examines the nature of rituals, how humans use rituals, the various types of rituals, and how rituals evolve over time. Students explore the origins, histories, and methods of analysis of rituals as well as learning how we produce them. Prerequisite: PCA 107, 113 or PCA 125.
331. Presidential Campaign Rhetoric.
This course examines the forms and functions of rhetoric within the context of presidential election campaigns. Students engage in a variety of formal and informal oral and written exercises related to the persuasive strategies that candidates, the media and independent organizations use to advance their political agendas. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Cross-listed with Peace Studies.
332. Directing.
This course provides the advanced student with practical skills and an understanding of directing methods, including intensive script analysis, concept development and articulation, composition/picturization and collaboration with other theatre artists. Prerequisites: PCA 107 or 125; PCA 103 is recommended.
333. Persuasion: Analyzing Rhetorical Texts.
This course is designed to foster increased awareness of the diverse forms and functions of persuasion in contemporary society and to improve students’ ability to function as discriminating consumers of rhetorical texts. While the course includes extensive reading and analysis of public speeches, it is also intended to heighten student awareness of the presence of persuasive intent in texts not traditionally considered rhetorical, e.g., poems, plays, songs, paintings, music videos and news broadcasts.
334. Environmental Communication.
Environmental Communication (EC) begins with the premise: language shapes how humans live with the natural environment. As a discipline EC recognizes that how we speak about the environment and who is allowed to speak about the environment affect how humans view, interact with, and make policy about their surroundings. Throughout the course students examine how environmental discourse connects issues of citizenship, community building, and environmentalism. Students will encounter theoretical concerns, environmental history, and have opportunities to produce their own environmental communication. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Cross-listed with Peace Studies.
335. Sex Talk.
Sex Talk is an examination of dominant discourses around gender, sex and sexuality with the objective being to have students not only critically analyze these discourses but to interrupt their creation in order to foster counter discourses that challenge hegemonic norms, including misogyny and homophobia. We will explore youth culture and university cultures, and examine how these cultures create, are created by, respond to, and challenge patriarchy, hegemonic masculinities and femininities. The course culminates in students designing and delivering peer education programs/performances on campus. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Cross-listed with Peace Studies; dual-listed by Gender and Sexuality Studies.
336. Rhetoric and Citizenship.
Throughout the course, students explore citizenship through the lens of rhetorical theory and history, study philosophical debates over citizenship, and debate the current state of citizenship in U.S. society. While engaged in these theoretical discussions, students enact their own civic engagement by examining their communities of obligation, identifying concerns in their communities, and using rhetoric to address a community concern. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Cross-listed with Peace Studies.
338. Twentieth-Century Avant-Garde.
Students are exposed to theoretical writings, dramatic texts and performances that reflect the continuing experimentation in the theatre since the 1890s. Students examine artistic reactions to a post-Darwinian and post-Freudian worldview and are exposed to the various methods by which playwrights and theatre practitioners have grappled with finding new ways of articulating what it means to be human in an industrialized world. Prerequisites: PCA 107 or PCA 215. Dual-listed by European Studies.
340. Performance Art.
Students read essays about the historical tradition of performance art and the relationship between performance art, theatre, dance and the visual arts, and consider the work of contemporary performance artists such as Karen Finley, Spaulding Gray, Laurie Anderson, Rachel Rosenthal and Pina Bausch. Students also learn about performance art by doing it—by engaging in the process of creating and producing their own performance art pieces. Prerequisite: PCA 107, PCA 113, or 125.
342. Blogging the Globe: News Analysis and Investigative Journalism.
This course fosters the tools necessary to be critical readers and viewers of the news in a complex, globalized media environment while also giving students the opportunity to become investigative journalists themselves. In addition to examining patterns in how global events are covered in mainstream and independent/alternative media outlets in the U.S. and elsewhere, the course explores deeper structural issues concerning discourse, ideology and the representation of "other" cultures; the relationship between media, corporate and state power; and the role of institutions in defining the bounds of "legitimate" knowledge. Students in the course contribute to The Weave, an online public intellectual project, by researching and blogging about underreported stories. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Dual-listed by Global Studies.
343. Taboo Performances
A rigorous, academic study of the ways that we read bodies in performance. The course uses a theoretical lens to examine what is deemed “acceptable” onstage versus what is considered “taboo” and the privilege wrapped up in those discourses. Course readings focus on dramatic literature, theory, and criticism. Students read plays which include taboo acts, engage with the criticism and theory of the dramatic literature, and frame the dialogue through performance and body theory. Fulfills DIV13 requirement ( 2013 curriculum )
355. Studies in World Dramatic Literature.
The study of dramatic literature primarily produced outside the United States and Great Britain. Focus may be upon cultural coherence (e.g., Francophone dramatic literature), discrete dramatic movements on a particular continent (e.g., South African drama), shared thematic concerns (e.g., the role of women) or a period-specific examination of non-Anglo drama. Prerequisite: varies. Prerequisite: PCA 107 or PCA 125.
360. The Public Sphere of Renaissance Venice.
At the peak of its Renaissance period (1480-1530), the Republic of Venice presented itself as a perfect embodiment of Plato’s and Aristotle’s classical republican model. At the same time, it reached a significant hegemonic position in the Western world measured both by hard (military and economic) as well as soft (political philosophy, arts and architecture) standards of power. This course is conceived as a multidisciplinary reading and research seminar examining the complexity of the public life in the famous Italian city-state. Instructor’s permission required. Dual-listed by Economics, Government, Global Studies, History, World Languages (ITAL) and Philosophy.
361. London Coffeehouse Culture & Modernity.
German philosopher Jürgen Habermas famously described the culture of the early 1700s London coffeehouses as the spark that kindled the advent of modern democracy. Indeed, the last licensing act in England expired in 1695 and with it also the censorship of press. Within the next decade, London was flooded with newspapers and pamphlets that openly scrutinized practically all aspects of public, but also private life. They were read and discussed in coffeehouses that soon became social institutions of their own right. Yet, such idealized world of London coffeehouses also had another, much darker side. Relying on secondary sources as well as original newspaper articles, essays and pamphlets published mainly by Addison, Steele and Defoe, the proposed course’s main goal is to help students mentally recreate the atmosphere of London at the down of what we call the Enlightenment era. Prerequisite: PCA 111 or PCA 127. Dual-listed by English.
370. Against Health: Rhetoric & the Health Humanities.
The links between rhetoric and health reach back to Plato, who famously compared the practical art of medicine to the sham art of rhetoric. According to Plato, medicine was concerned with improving lives and health, and rhetoric was concerned only with improving the appearance of things. This course will flip Plato on his head. By approaching health and medicine as always rhetorically mediated, we will interrogate the emphasis on healthy living that pervades the civic sphere. Our primary objective will be to consider how health, wellness, and sickness are influenced by rhetorical norms and practices; how patient-provider interaction, institutional imperatives, and public deliberation structure health care opportunities and decision-making; how medical discourses influence health care practices and policies; and what these reveal about the character and function of the rhetorical shaping of health. Readings will delve into topics such as AIDS, contagion, cyberchondria, depression, obesity, and zombies. Prerequisite: PCA 111, PCA 127, or BIOL 3057.
371. By Design
Imagine you've been charged with producing an ad campaign that promotes fair trade coffee for three very different target audiences-say, college students, middle-aged housewives, and the folks who do the purchasing for major restaurant chains. What media would you use to reach each of these audiences? Billboards? Ads on buses and subway trains? Direct mail flyers? Newspaper spots? Radio PSA's? Television PSA's? YouTube videos? A website? Cell phone apps? How would the texts targeting each of the three target audiences differ from one another? How would you justify the media choices and persuasive strategies you selected for each audience? These are the sorts of questions that students enrolled in this course will confront. While some attention will be paid to persuasive texts produced by others and to classical and contemporary theories of persuasion, this will be a project-driven course in which students research a social issue of their own choosing and learn to use a variety of software programs (e.g., Photoshop, In Design, Audacity, & Final Cut Pro) to create a persuasive campaign that targets at least three specific audiences. No prerequisites. Fulfills ARTS Distribution (2013 curriculum.
4000-4999. Special Topics in Rhetoric/Communication Studies.
The content of each course or section of these 300-level or 400-level special topics courses varies and will be announced each semester.
4000-4999. Special Topics in Theatre/Performance Studies.
The content of each course or section of these 300-level or 400-level special topics courses varies and will be announced each semester.
480. Independent Study.
Supervised research on an independent basis. Students wishing to register for independent project credit must submit a proposal for approval before registering for this course. Proposals are due two weeks before the end of classes in the prior semester. Proposal guidelines are available in the Arts Office; proposals should be submitted directly to the faculty member whom the student wishes to supervise the independent study. Only juniors and seniors may propose independent projects. Prerequisite: permission of department chair.
489/490. SYE: Senior Project.
Supervised research on an independent basis. Students wishing to register for independent project credit must submit a proposal for approval before registering for this course. Proposals are due two weeks before the end of classes in the prior semester. They should be submitted directly to the faculty member whom the student wishes to supervise the independent study. Proposal guidelines are available in the department chair’s office. Only juniors and seniors may propose independent projects.
498/499. SYE: Honors Senior Project.
The senior project is a capstone designed to allow students to demonstrate their ability to synthesize the analytical and practical skills associated with the discipline. Only those students who have had their senior project proposal approved by the department may register for this course. Proposals are due two weeks before the end of classes in the prior semester. A copy should be submitted to all department members’ mailboxes. Proposal guidelines are available in the department chair’s office. Students are assigned a three-person honors project committee, one of whom will be designated as the student’s primary senior project advisor, with the other two serving as readers. Students must orally defend their project. Project Proposal Guidelines are available in the Arts Office. Students are assigned a senior project advisor who is solely responsible for overseeing the execution and evaluation of the project..
498/499. SYE: Honors Senior Project.
The senior project is a capstone designed to allow students to demonstrate their ability to synthesize the analytical and practical skills associated with the discipline. Only those students who have had their senior project proposal approved by the department may register for this course. Proposals are due two weeks before the end of classes in the prior semester. A copy should be submitted to all department members’ mailboxes. Proposal guidelines are available in the department chair’s office. Students are assigned a three-person honors project committee, one of whom will be designated as the student’s primary senior project advisor, with the other two serving as readers. Students must orally defend their project.