Personal Attention Theatre is an interactive and collaborative enterprise, constantly bringing students and professors together in teaching and performance situations. Professors easily get to know students by their first names, and formalities quickly disappear. The play's the thing, and it is the ensemble that matters. It is built on collegiality, which is part of what attracts both students and professors to the stage. The department offers a Bachelor of Arts degree, which allows students to make theatre the foundation of their liberal arts education.
Students study the history and literature of the theatre and the crafts of theatre production.
Special production opportunities are also available through the Musical Theatre Program, the Black Theatre Workshop and the professional Summer Repertory Theatre. Offices, classrooms, shops and dressing rooms are located in both facilities, and students interested in lighting and sound have first-rate equipment and control systems to work with. Advising Each new undergraduate advisee is matched with a faculty member in the student's area of concentration. The department's faculty members as a group represent a range of backgrounds, which covers the spectrum of careers in theatre, and all are available to talk with students about career decisions. In addition, the department invites guest actors, directors and designers to speak to undergraduates about career choices, and alumni return to campus to talk with students about work in the theatre, in television and in film.