Courses of Study 2016-2017 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Performing and Media Arts
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In the College of Arts and Sciences .
Course Offerings
Performing and Media Arts majors acquire a broad understanding of performance and media through several rubrics: history, theory and criticism; creative authorship (i.e. directing for stage or screen, choreography, writing for performance and media); design; and embodied performance (acting, dance, movement). Each rubric entails historical and geographical breadth, encompassing theatre/performance, dance/movement, and cinema/media from every continent and across periods, studying and producing artworks from antiquity to the present. All students benefit from the synergies between the study and practice of dance and movement, of live theatre, and of time-based media works, the writing of plays and screenplays, design and technical realization across art forms, and the critical study of canons and traditions of each form. Additionally, majors practice a range of methods and interpretive strategies, including theories and practices of acting and directing; the study of speech and dialects; design theories and technologies; media platforms and production; and humanities- and arts-based forms of inquiry. Majors are encouraged to locate theatre, performance, movement/dance, cinema and media within allied humanities fields and the applied arts by taking courses in such areas as history, art history, psychology, literature, history of architecture, music, and fine arts. The study of foreign languages is strongly encouraged.
Website: pma.cornell.edu
Faculty
N. Salvato, chair; R. Archer, A. Bunn, J. Chu, W. Cross, D. Feldshuh (director of graduate studies, spring 2017), J. E. Gainor, (director of undergraduate studies spring 2017, on leave fall 2016), C. Goelzer, K. Goetz, S. Haenni, E. Intemann, K. Jaime, B. Levitt (director of undergraduate studies, fall 2016), R. Maggor, B. Milles, S. Sheppard, G. Simmons, B. Suber, S. Warner (director of graduate studies fall 2016, on leave spring 2017), A. Villarejo (on leave fall 2016)
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Performing and Media Arts Major
What is Performing and Media Arts?
Performing and Media Arts is the department where it is possible to creatively explore and study theatre, film and dance individually or to put these disciplines together in new ways. For example, students can combine creative and critical work in acting and film, cinema and media, theatre and television, dance and light, film and sound. The major is both flexible and rigorous, giving students opportunities to put together their own course of study. In consultation with their faculty advisor, they also plan a departmental sequence in an area of their interest. Students are encouraged to do both creative work and critical studies.
Prospective majors must consult the director of undergraduate studies, pma-dus@cornell.edu.
To be admitted to the major, students must have completed one course in the department (or equivalent for transfer students), excluding first-year writing seminars and laboratory classes, and received a grade of B or above. This course will count toward the requirements for the major.
To complete the major, students must take:
- a 2-semester sequence of courses in the history of live performance (PMA 3750 - Global Stages I -PMA 3751 - Global Stages II ), the history of media (PMA 3550 - Global Cinema I -PMA 3551 - Global Cinema II ), or the or the history of movement-based practices ( PMA 3226 - [Global Dance I] , PMA 3227 - Global Dance II ). In close consultation with their departmental advisers, students may receive permission and approval to make a 2-semester sequence across these three areas of historical investigation.
- 6 courses, of 3 or 4 credits each, including 3 courses in a departmental sequence
- at least 1 course in each of the rubrics not covered in the departmental sequence above
- PMA 4000 - Senior Studio
- A minimum of 2 out of 3 different production laboratories (PMA 1410 , PMA 1610 , or PMA 2610 ), one of which must be PMA 2610 and totaling 3 credits, or at least 3 credits of PMA 2611 . Production labs cannot be used to fulfill requirement (2).
- one elective course of at least 3 credits
Students must pass all courses used to fulfill the performing and media arts major with a letter grade of at least a B-. No S-U grades accepted unless there is no letter grade option.
To summarize, a total of 10 performing and media arts (PMA) courses and 2 laboratory courses are required to complete the major.
Rubrics:
History/Theory/Criticism: In these courses, participants develop the critical skills integral to studying global histories of cinema, dance, dramatic literature, expressive behavior, theatre, and related forms of live and mediated performance. While attending to these histories and engaging in aesthetic reflection, participants also learn about various theorizations of performance and media and about recent methodological approaches to the study of performance and media.
Creative Authorship: In these courses, participants develop the creative and technical skills needed to produce time-based artwork. Areas of exploration include directing for stage and screen, choreography for stage and screen, cinematography in film and digital video, sound production, gallery installation work, and dramatic writing for stage, screen, and related media. Courses emphasize creative authorship as a powerful mode of individual expression and as a foundation for creative collaboration.
Design: In these courses, participants develop the creative and technical skills needed for the elegant, expressive, and imaginative transformation of ideas into a particular visual/aural medium, connecting image to concept, idea to form, sensation to intellect. Participants learn the ways in which design provides a means of organizing spatial, visual, and auditory information into compositions that are artistically and conceptually rigorous.
Embodied Performance: In these courses, predominantly acting, voice & speech, and dance technique courses, students develop and improve on established methodologies in techniques for stage and screen performance. Courses include movement and vocalization techniques in both narrative and abstract contexts.
Rubrics Key: Course rubrics will be identified as follows: History/Theory/Criticism = (HTC), Creative Authorship = (AU), Design = (DE), and Embodied Performance = (EP). Additionally, Production Laboratory courses will be designated with (PL). Sequences:
A sequence must reflect depth by including a two course progression from the 3000-level to the 4000-level. The third course adds depth and breadth to the chosen focus.
In History/Theory/Criticism: cinema/media studies, performance/theatre studies
In Creative Authorship: dance composition, directing, film/media production
In Design: costume, lighting, scenery, sound
In Embodied Performance: acting, dance technique Senior Studio
All senior majors will synthesize four years of study in a collaborative intellectual and artistic project with the faculty. In this course, students will conceive and produce works for presentation to the public in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, as well as a supporting historical/theoretical/critical matrix, integrating the major’s four rubrics. As a crucible for artistic and intellectual collaboration, the senior studio may emphasize an area of study, a period, a text, or a theme. Honors
Individual student projects are distinct from the Senior Studio. Students who have maintained a GPA of 3.5 in their major courses, and an average of 3.0 in all courses, may elect to work for honors during their senior year. They must consult with their advisor in the spring of their junior year about the honors program. Honors projects are possible across the spectrum of creative and analytical work. Projects in performance, film/media production, and design also require a written analytical component related to the creative work. Performing and Media Arts Minors
The Department of Performing and Media Arts offers four minors. The minors are open to all students in the university, including those outside the College of Arts and Sciences. To declare a minor, you will need to contact Donna Miller in 223 Schwartz Center. Performing and Media Arts Minor:
The Performing and Media Arts Minor encourages students to do focused yet flexible coursework in the department’s inter-disciplines. This coursework enables students to draw connections between live and mediated forms of performance and production, as well as between studies and practices of these forms. Students pursuing the PMA minor work closely in consultation with faculty advisors to ensure that their work in the department is completed in courses that integrate performance and media and demonstrate the cross-pollinations between them.
To declare the Performing and Media Arts Minor, you will need to contact Donna Miller in 223 Schwartz Center. Dance Minor:
The Dance Minor is designed to be flexible yet ensure that students grapple with the fundamental practices of doing, making, and thinking dance. Included in the curriculum are courses that explore choreographing dance and studying dance as a historical and cultural behavior, as well as more familiar dance technique courses. Requirements:
Note:
Courses in which a student receives a grade below a C cannot be used to fulfill the requirements for the Dance Minor. All credit toward the minor must be from PMA courses taken at Cornell or from PMA courses taken with Cornell-approved programs.
Film Minor:
The Film Minor provides students with a fundamental understanding of the formal, industrial, aesthetic, political, spiritual, and rhetorical aspects of cinema and media from the 19th century to the present. Through elective courses in cinema and media, students may focus on national cinemas, genres or modes (narrative cinema, for example, or personal film), or critical issues (such as melodrama, or media theory). Students may, in addition, pursue some work in film and digital production, particularly through courses in animation.
To declare the Film Minor, you will need to contact Donna Miller in 223 Schwartz Center. Requirements:
Note:
Courses in which a student receives a grade below a C cannot be used to fulfill the requirements for the Film Minor. All credit toward the minor must be from PMA courses taken at Cornell or from PMA courses taken with Cornell-approved programs.
Theatre Minor:
The Theatre Minor allows students to focus in areas that interest them within the discipline of live performance: acting and directing for stage production; theatre history, theory, and criticism; and theatre design and technologies.
To declare the Theatre Minor, you will need to contact Donna Miller in 223 Schwartz Center. Requirements:
Note:
Courses in which a student receives a grade below a C cannot be used to fulfill the requirements for the Theatre Minor. All credit toward the minor must be from PMA courses taken at Cornell or from PMA courses taken with Cornell-approved programs.
Summer Study in Rome and/or Paris/Dublin:
Many of the dance courses are also offered during a summer program in Rome, Paris, and Dublin. For more information, contact the program director, Byron Suber, at pbs6@cornell.edu. First-Year Writing Seminars:
Consult the John S. Knight Institute website for times, instructors, and descriptions. |
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