Department website: http://krieger.jhu.edu/theatre-arts
JHU Theatre offers a conservatory-style approach to the study of acting, directing, playwriting, and theatre history, along with the fundamentals of technical direction, play production, play analysis, and theatre management.
Courses are taught by theatre professionals with practical experience in the best professional and regional theatres. Coursework is complemented by regular performance opportunities in the John Astin Theatre in Merrick Barn. The mainstage productions each fall and spring are professionally directed and designed. Each season also includes experimental performances and readings, as well as student-created performances as part of The Playshop series.
For those students who seek a career in the theatre, the minor in Theatre Arts and Studies offers an introductory acting sequence, advanced classes in acting, courses in design and technical theatre, directing workshops, courses in theatre history and theory, playwriting, and independent study opportunities. The department's conservatory-style approach, with its personal attention and focus on practical training, as well as numerous opportunities for high-level performance, will provide rigorous preparation for a professional career.
For those students who love theatre but are not focused on a career, JHU Theatre is an ideal component of the liberal arts. Coursework builds broad perspectives on performance and literary traditions, and it deepens an appreciation for the arts, whether theatrical, literary, musical, or visual. Play-making in Merrick Barn, whether as an actor or as part of the production team, advances skills in communication and collaboration, and brings creativity to other endeavors. Students pursuing careers in medicine, engineering, law, science, and many other areas, have been challenged and enriched by their time with JHU Theatre.
For current course information and registration go to https://sis.jhu.edu/classes/
Courses
AS.225.100. Theatre Histories. 3 Credits.
Investigations into some of the many histories in the development of the drama, from Greek origins to today's global theatre. An introduction to interpretive concepts, as well as to practical elements of playmaking. This course is a good way to explore and appreciate the art of theatre, and is required for the minor.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.101. Acting Foundations. 3 Credits.
An exploration of foundational exercises and techniques in the art of acting. Practice in voice, movement, listening, and improvisation. Students will read plays and develop interpretive and storytelling skills, building toward scene work. This class is for both new and experienced actors, and offers preparation for advanced acting and performance classes.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.212. Voice and Speech for the Actor. 3 Credits.
It has been said that 90% of what an actor does onstage is dependent on being effortlessly heard and understood by their audiences. This course is designed to establish the tools for the actor to begin to create this foundation. Using a combination of both the benchmark texts by Edith Skinner and Kristin Linklater, along with in-class exercises and monologues, we will begin the process of exploring both vocal power through breathing and breath control, and the fundamental tools of clarity in the speaking of a dramatic text onstage.
Prerequisite(s): AS.225.101
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.215. Performing Musical Theatre. 3 Credits.
Effective performance in musical theatre demands a committed analysis of the musical and dramatic values of the song and the libretto from which it springs, in order to develop a fresh, organic interpretation. This course will provide you with the training to both analyze and interpret musical theatre scenes and songs and to make the most of them in performance.Instructor Permission Only.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.220. Script and Stage. 3 Credits.
An exploration of the complex relationship between the text of a play and its full realization as a production. We will go to see several plays in the Baltimore and DC area. Based on these, we will develop case studies, first examining the play as text and its historical and theoretical contexts, and then experiencing it as performance. Writing Intensive. This course can fulfill the Theatre Minor requirement for an Introductory Theatre Course.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.240. Living Playwrights: Contemporary Plays by Contemporary Writers. 3 Credits.
Learn about contemporary theater through contemporary plays; learn about contemporary plays through contemporary theater. We will read amazing, current plays about life today by some of today's most vibrant playwrights. For each play class will start with a table-read, followed by a discussion that simulates how actors and directors work together. The goal is to approximate the first week of a rehearsal process. In this way the class teaches a theater artist's approach to reading, analyzing and understanding dramatic text.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Citizens and Society (FA4)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3),
Engagement with Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.250. Elements of Theatrical Design. 3 Credits.
Students will survey theatrical design through various projects. We will develop moments based on sound, costume, space, and light, focusing on how these elements help to tell a story. Students will develop artistic statements and arguments that justify their creative choices, while practicing constructive criticism in an environment that encourages exploration and play.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.305. A History of Black Performance and Drama. 3 Credits.
A survey of the history of the Black Performer and Performance. In exploring the art of storytelling from ancient African civilizations, students will critically engage and discuss the origins, aesthetics, characteristics, and practices of Black performers, and their often-unacknowledged contributions and influence upon mainstream performance throughout the history of the world.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.308. Shakespeare in Performance. 3 Credits.
Students will work with a selection of Shakespeare's plays --- TWELFTH NIGHT, RICHARD III, and CYMBELINE--- in exploring specific ways in which the power of the lines can be translated dynamically and immediately into vocal and physical performance. This course can be repeated for credit, because it covers different topics. (Some background in the acting sequence is encouraged).
Prerequisite(s): AS.225.101
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.310. Stagecraft. 3 Credits.
A hands-on approach to the technical and theoretical elements of production. Meets in the Arellano Theatre Scene Shop. Permission Required.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.311. Scene Study. 3 Credits.
Topics will vary by term. Please see the specific term and section for current topics.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.314. Theatre: Tech Direction. 3 Credits.
An introduction to Technical Direction including pre-production and production with an overview of materials, tools, rigging and safety, together with design and its implementation.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.318. 21st Century Female Playwrights. 3 Credits.
This is a writing intensive class exploring the current wealth of women playwrights, including Pulitzer Prize winners: Wendy Wasserstein, Paula Vogel, Lynn Nottage, and Jackie Sibblies Drury (2019 Prize for FAIRVIEW). We will discuss Script Analysis and read (and see) plays by numerous writers including Claire Barron, Kia Corthron, Theresa Rebeck, Sarah Ruhl, Danai Gurira, Caleen Sinnette Jennings, and Hansol Jung. This class will include a mid-term and a Final Paper.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.320. Performance. 3 Credits.
Performance class will present Cindy Cooper’s RUNNING ON GLASS, which features the stories of a diverse group of women in sports history including Wilma Rudolf, an African-American Olympic runner who overcame childhood polio, Babe Didrikson, one of best all-around athletes of any gender, and Peanut Johnson, a professional pitcher in the all-male Negro Leagues. The play has 8 female characters; all genders are encouraged to audition. Students interested in stage management or technical theatre are encouraged to enroll. Rehearses during regularly scheduled class times, with one or two May presentations. Participation in the class can coincide with participation in other spring productions. Auditions in early November.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.321. The Lab - The Actor/Director/Playwright Lab. 3 Credits.
Student actors, directors, and playwrights will explore their respective crafts with emphasis on process and individual artistic growth. Participants in the class will also collaborate on the creation of new material for the stage. Recommended Course Background: one course in Acting, Directing, or Playwriting.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.323. Design for the Stage. 3 Credits.
The fundamentals of stage design, with an emphasis on process, including script analysis, research, conceptualization, and implementation, from the first reading of the play to opening night, along with an overview of theatre architecture from the Greeks to the current day and into our imagined future.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.324. Adaptation for the Stage. 3 Credits.
For aspiring playwrights, dramaturgs, and literary translators, this course is a workshop opportunity in learning to adapt both dramatic and non-dramatic works into fresh versions for the stage. Students with ability in foreign languages and literatures are encouraged to explore translation of drama as well as adaptation of foreign language fiction in English. Fiction, classical dramas, folk and fairy tales, independent interviews, or versions of plays from foreign languages are covered.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.325. Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen. 3 Credits.
An introduction to Shakespeare, in which every play we read we will also see performed. Close textual work and a focus on historical context will be accompanied by visits to local theatres, recordings of live performances, and Shakespeare films.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.327. The Art of the Dramaturg. 3 Credits.
This upper-level seminar is designed for students with some background in theatre or in dramatic literature, with aspirations to do further work in the art form. Students will gain an understanding of the theory and practice of working with dramatic texts in preparation for a theatre production. This will involve reading and discussing influential theorists who explore dramatic structures and styles and theatre practices. Additionally, there will be a practical component. Students will select and work on a couple of scripts, once classic and once contemporary, and create a "model book" for whichever becomes the student's primary project, including the script, notes, research, and visual samples for a hypothetical production: or possibly a real one.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.328. The Existential Drama: Philosophy and Theatre of the Absurd. 3 Credits.
Existentialism, a powerful movement in modern drama and theatre, has had a profound influence on contemporary political thought, ethics, and psychology, and has transformed our very notion of how to stage a play. Selected readings and lectures on the philosophy of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre -- and discussion of works for the stage by Sartre, Ionesco, Genet, Beckett, Albee, Pinter, and the late plays of Caryl Churchill. Opportunities for projects on central European Absurdism in works by Dürrenmatt, Havel, Witkiewicz, and Mrozek. Students may also choose to examine post-colonialism in the work of Frantz Fannon and second-wave feminism in essays by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre's long-time collaborator.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.330. Playwriting Strategies. 3 Credits.
A workshop in playwriting, designed for both experienced playmakers and those first exploring the art. Students will investigate the creative process, from the initial imaginative impetus, to drafts and revisions, to presentation of the work. The course will explore fundamental playwriting techniques, such as writing effective dialogue, attending to story, and delineating character.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.333. Hamilton: Civics and Character. 3 Credits.
Disney’s filmed release turned the hit musical Hamilton into a streaming-era cultural phenomenon, but the show had already been on stage in multiple countries across four continents. This course will unpack the historically sourced lyrics of Hamilton to study the bedrock of American civics – separation of powers, states’ rights and the Bill of Rights. For problem-solvers and performers alike, this unique exploration of the show’s complex characters will highlight the civic participation of all in the forging of a new nation. Hamilton and this course offer a fun, encyclopedic dive into the rousing debate about the start of the American experiment. No acting experience necessary.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
AS.225.335. Comedy Tonight. 3 Credits.
Laughter is what brings audiences into the theatre -- and sends them home again having heard whatever else they found when they got there, too. From a lot of Greeks in masks a couple of millennia ago, through Moliere and Shakespearean clowns, to Keaton and Chaplin and Ball and Burnett and right on up to a solid majority of all entertainment staged and filmed today, the folks in the seats come in, for all kinds of reasons, ready for a laugh. Getting up on a stage and going "out there" --learning how to play fast and sharp with verbal, physical, and satirical comedy -- is the key to telling almost any story in a way that "goes over", "gets across", and brings 'em back for more. Members of this performance class will explore, every week, up on our feet, how to find the funny, and get it from the page to the stage.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.340. Moment Work. 3 Credits.
We will create a short but dense piece of theatre for invited performance using Moment Work, the method of devising used by Tectonic Theater Project. By removing text as the focus of creating theatre, we will utilize the theatrical elements to produce unique theatrical forms while cultivating a sense of play and active engagement. Class will feature a guest appearance by a Tectonic Theater Project Member. Actors, designers, directors and playwrights are welcome, as well as those who are curious with little to no theatre experience.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.345. History of Modern Theatre & Drama. 3 Credits.
An investigation of the major playwrights, historical movements, and theatre practices of the 20th and 21st centuries. Watch high modernism upend everything – and then watch it all get upended again and again. How does it land today? We will go to the theatre in Baltimore and DC to answer that question.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Writing Intensive
AS.225.346. Creative Improvisation: For Theatre and for Life. 3 Credits.
An exploration of the imagination and the senses using basic techniques of improvisation: exercises, conflict resolution, ensemble building, and theatre games. No previous acting experience is required.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.350. Acting for Doctors. 3 Credits.
In this cutting-edge course, an acting class designed for pre-med students who are interested in a career in either clinical work or research, we will explore ways in which collaboration, curiosity, and connection can enhance your understanding and ability to be an effective medical professional. Empathy, perspective-taking, analysis of dramatic literature with medical themes, and devising a piece around medical ethics will be the focus of the activities. No acting experience is required, just a willingness to explore your creativity in an inclusive environment.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.370. Creativity in Arts Management. 3 Credits.
Creativity in Arts Management is designed for those involved or passionate about the arts, offering a comprehensive exploration of arts management and the transferable skills that apply across various career paths. This practitioner-focused course delves into a wide array of arts disciplines, including theater, orchestra, visual arts, literary arts, and more. By examining different artistic genres, the professionals within these fields, and the strategies and systems of arts management, students will gain not only a deeper understanding of these specific areas but also the ability to apply these insights beyond the arts.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.410. Theater and Philosophy. 3 Credits.
This course focuses on a powerful current in theater and thought from ancient works to the modern day: plays that self-consciously use the means of theater, such as a play-within-the-play, to represent the world. This type of play, along with its close relative, the Dream Play, traces its origin more to Plato and his motif of the Theatrum Mundi (the theater of the world/the world as theater) than to Aristotelian mimesis (the imitation of reality), and poses an alternative to the realist tradition. An ancient, alternate modality, this non-realistic line is also a modern one, recurring throughout history. By the 20th century, this “secret smuggler’s path” becomes a dominant language for theater itself, posing an alternate dialectics, an alternate metaphysics, an alternate hermeneutics for our ability to understand reality as well as illusion. This course—which lies at the intersection of both disciplines—will be cross listed between Theatre Arts and Philosophy. We will read plays from across histories as well as philosophical and theoretical texts, unearthing surprising correspondences in the two overlapping (Shakespeare would say "undistinguishable") fields.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.225.501. Independent Study. 1 - 3 Credits.
Permission only.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Customized Academic Learning using the Customized Academic Learning form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
AS.225.502. Independent Study. 1 - 3 Credits.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Customized Academic Learning using the Customized Academic Learning form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
AS.225.555. Theatre Practicum. 1 - 3 Credits.
Academic credit for in-depth contributions to a JHU Theatre production. Actors, designers, members of the creative team in a Mainstage or Playshop production may choose to register for Practicum credit. Student will develop an independent syllabus in collaboration with Practicum instructor. Students may register for 1, 2, or 3 credits.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Customized Academic Learning using the Customized Academic Learning form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
Cross Listed Courses
Center for Africana Studies
AS.362.140. Blackstorytelling: Public Health in the Black World. 3 Credits.
What about performance offers a unique opportunity to learn from and with communities? How might dramatic performance be used to share information while learning from an audience? This course examines the work and research of young artists from Liberia, West Africa who used street theatre to teach best practices for prevention during the Ebola crisis and considers how their use of dialogical performance contributed to critical knowledge which iteratively informed interventions throughout their awareness campaign. This community engaged course connects public health education efforts in Africa to community health education in Baltimore through the Blackstorytelling tradition with local expert Janice the Griot. Course co-educator and artist Janice the Griot Green will share her firsthand experiences and guide the class through the principles of Blackstorytelling for community change. Students will design public performance projects around local-global community-basedconcerns using the tools they have learned. In partnership with the Great National Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, students will develop performance-based public health messaging drawing on their collection to support community outreach curricular materials development. This performance work will be created collaboratively in workshops during class and in team meetings. Public health researchers who are looking for innovative ways to share their data will gain insights into this experimental ethnographic method and practitioners who want to offer their communities ways to connect best practices to lived experience will develop new pedagogical tools. This is a Community Engagement course in partnership with the Center for Social Concern.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Engagement with Society (FA4)
Comparative Thought and Literature
AS.300.323. Shakespeare and Ibsen. 3 Credits.
William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen are the two most frequently performed playwrights in history, and both have been credited with reinventing drama: Shakespeare for the Elizabethan stage and Ibsen for the modern. In this course we will pair plays by each author – those that stand in an explicit relation of influence as well as those that share a significant set of concerns – in order to investigate how each takes up and transform key problems in Updated description: the literary, political, and philosophical tradition for their own historical moment. Plays to be studied by Shakespeare: Hamlet, King Lear, Coriolanus, The Tempest; by Ibsen: Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck, An Enemy of the People, The Master Builder. As part of the course, we will try to organize at least one excursion to a Shakespeare or Ibsen performance in the Baltimore-D.C. area. This class counts towards the requirement of text-based courses for the minor in comparative thought and literature.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
AS.300.346. Revolution in Theatre, 1880-1930. 3 Credits.
The years 1880-1930 constitutes one of the most intense periods of experimentation in Western drama. We will look closely at texts and performance practices from this time to trace how dramatists upended the conventions that had governed the theatre since the time of Shakespeare and imposed a completely new understanding of the artform. Authors to be read will include August Strindberg, Maurice Maeterlinck, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, W. B. Yeats, Sophie Treadwell, Luigi Pirandello, Federico García Lorca.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3)
Critical Study of Racism, Immigration, & Colonialism
AS.305.319. Freedom Education: Embodied Speculative History of Maryland Schools for African Americans in the 1800s. 3 Credits.
Maryland had the largest pre-Civil War population of free African Americans who were intent on creating the educational means necessary to maintain their own freedom and uplift. Education and land ownership was tantamount to securing standing in society and to forging an early, even if fraught, sense of social citizenship and its benefits. In this course, students will support the research efforts of a local Maryland school house museum to develop immersive, experiential learning and engagement tools. Drawing on material and documents specific to the museum such as objects, curricular texts, original letters, newspaper accounts, experiences of the first teachers, and contemporaneous accounts of teaching in Freedmen’s schools, students will engage in a speculative history that will serve as the foundation for creative reenactment of freedom education in early 1800s Maryland.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Citizens and Society (FA4),
Projects and Methods (FA6)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3),
Engagement with Society (FA4)
English
AS.060.136. Theater at the End of the World. 3 Credits.
The world is ending, the planet is dying, civilization is falling to ruin – now what? For millennia, theatermakers have asked and answered this question through their art. Why does theater keep staging such scenes of devastation and renewal? In this course, you will read a selection of such apocalyptic plays, as well as works in other genres that ask us to imagine that, when all else has withered away, the theater will somehow survive. Course materials will range from medieval morality plays and Shakespearean tragedies to recent novels, avant-garde theater, and Broadway musicals. With the help of texts by and about BIPOC performers, we will also ask: For whom, exactly, is the world supposed to be ending? For whom did it end at least once already – whether years or centuries ago? And what does theater offer to communities who have already survived the apocalypse, or who currently live in apocalyptic times? As an introduction to college-level studies in English, this course teaches the fundamental skills of close reading, attentive viewing, deep discussion, powerful writing, and effective revision.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Citizens and Society (FA4)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3),
Engagement with Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
First Year Seminars
AS.001.162. FYS: From Shakespeare to Baltimore. 3 Credits.
This First-Year Seminar is designed around what is on stage in Baltimore and DC this fall. We will attend several plays, both professional productions and student productions at JHU. We will pay attention to the interpretation of plays on the page, and to the ways that scripts materialize as performances on the stage. We will place these performances in the context of larger theatre histories, studying great plays from the age of Shakespeare to contemporary American theatre. No acting experience is required – just the desire to explore the theatre of today. A great way to find out about the lively theatre scene on campus, and a great way to get to know your new city.
AS.001.253. FYS: The Drama of Artificial Intelligence. 3 Credits.
From the rise of machine consciousness to the ethics of automation, artificial intelligence has captured the human imagination. This First-Year Seminar explores how playwrights and theater artists engage with AI as a dramatic subject, a creative tool, and a lens for examining the human condition. Through an interdisciplinary approach, and co-taught by faculty in Psychological and Brain Sciences and Theatre, students will analyze plays and performances that grapple with the hopes and anxieties surrounding AI. Works such as Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (which introduced the word “robot”), Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime, Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, and Nick Payne’s Constellations will serve as key texts alongside contemporary plays such as Julia Cho’s The Language, Rolin Jone’s The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, The Effect by Lucy Prebble, and Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler. We will also discuss experimental performances that integrate AI technologies.
AS.001.277. FYS: Foundations of Acting - Presence, Performance, and the Art of Interpretation. 3 Credits.
This First-Year Seminar introduces acting as a rigorous practice of attention, interpretation, and collaboration. Working as an ensemble, students explore foundational approaches to voice, movement, listening, and improvisation as tools for understanding how meaning is created and communicated—on stage and beyond it.Through close reading of selected plays and embodied studio work, students investigate how stories are shaped by text, context, and performance choices. The course emphasizes interpretive thinking, expressive clarity, and responsiveness to others, culminating in scene and monologue work that integrates analysis with performance.No previous acting experience is required. This class welcomes students from all academic interests and offers preparation for acting and performance courses while cultivating presence, collaboration, and expressive confidence—skills that strengthen communication and creative thinking in any field.
History of Art
AS.010.292. Greek Tragedy and the Visual Arts. 3 Credits.
We will read a selection of Greek tragedies in translation and explore the visual arts that appear in, shaped, and respond to them.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1),
Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Citizens and Society (FA4)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3),
Engagement with Society (FA4)
Modern Languages and Literatures
AS.213.312. Topics in German Literature: Theater Heute. 3 Credits.
Wie antwortet das Theater heute auf die dringenden Fragen unserer Zeit? In Deutschland und Österreich hat das Theater traditionell und aktuell einen hohen gesellschaftlichen Stellenwert. Aufgrund langjähriger großzügiger Förderung konnte das nicht-kommerzielle Theater im deutschsprachigen Raum eine Vielfalt von zunächst experimentellen Ästhetiken entwickeln. Das postdramatische Theater hat die Theaterlandschaft geprägt. Das postmigrantische Theater hat die Theaterkultur verändert. Queere und feministische Themen und Ästhetiken haben sich etabliert. Theaterkollektive sowie namhafte Regisseur*innen arbeiten in den Kulturhauptstädten sowie in der Provinz auf vielfältige Weise daran, die wichtigen Themen unserer Zeit zu reflektieren. Wir werden zusammen Videos von Inszenierungen anschauen, Theatertexte lesen und uns mit den jeweiligen sozialen und politischen Kontexten sowie mit der Geschichte und Theorie des Theaters beschäftigen. Language of Instruction: German
Prerequisite(s): AS.210.361
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Citizens and Society (FA4)
Public Health Studies
AS.280.478. Communicating Climate Change: Creative Approaches for Action. 3 Credits.
Effective communication is imperative in reaching time-sensitive goals in reducing the effects of climate change. Using the framework of persuasive communication and behavior change theory, the course will provide a practice-based opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to develop their own climate communication campaigns. Students will gain familiarity with issues in historical approaches of climate approaches, understand audiences navigating climate misinformation, and social and behavioral theories of change, with an emphasis on arts-based approaches to climate communication. Through lectures, seminars, screenings, and workshops, the course will culminate with an applied assignment of students’ original creative climate communication pieces. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course and instructor approval is required. All students interested are encouraged to request approval; those with a public health background will be strongly considered for approval.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3),
Citizens and Society (FA4)
EN Foundational Abilities: Creative Expression (FA3),
Engagement with Society (FA4)