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Mission Statement
The mission of the Department of Theatre Arts, like that of the University as a whole, is to disseminate, develop and preserve knowledge. We understand "knowledge" to include the ability to understand and appreciate the theatre arts, and the vision and skill to create new works of art which enhance the human condition.
The Department seeks to disseminate knowledge in five ways. First, we introduce students in the University’s general education courses to the arts of the theatre and to the creative opportunities available within our discipline. Second, we educate undergraduate majors about the theatre's place in society; its history, processes, techniques and skills; these students graduate not as specialists but as broadly educated individuals prepared to enter many professions, including the theatre profession. We expect that most of those who continue in the theatre will seek further training. Third, we educate graduate students to become creative, skilled, knowledgeable theatre artists, with keen judgment and refined critical ability. Fourth, we expose the University community to theatrical productions that are of the highest artistic merit. And fifth, we share with audiences and artists throughout the country new works of art which have been developed at the University of Iowa.
The Department is especially committed to the development of knowledge. We seek to create new works of artistic significance, and through them to investigate the formal and expressive resources available to live theatre. This process includes (among many other things) the initial conceptualization and formulation of a production, including analysis of its possible meanings in given historical circumstances; formulation of all visual and aural aspects of performance; and discovery of the appropriate relationship between performers and audiences. Through this process we seek to identify means for more effective communication. Public performance is both an essential tool in this exploration and an exemplification of the results.
Knowledge is preserved in many ways. In the theatre it may be recorded in scripts, production notebooks, designs, photographs, recordings, and critical commentaries. While all these are important, we believe that because theatre is a living event which always takes place in the present, the primary repository for the fruits of our research is in the experience and practice of our faculty and students as seen in their future works. Secondarily, it is in the memory and response of our audiences.
[Graduate Handbook Table of Contents]
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