This course served as a kind of “Introduction to Theater” course at Lake Forest College. I taught it in a seminar format my second year as Interim Chair & Director of Theater. The syllabus, including readings and assignments, is available. Email D. Ohlandt, Ph.D. at profohlandt(at)gmail.com.
This introductory-level seminar course is designed for students from all backgrounds who are interested in exploring how theatrical performance has shaped culture and can be used as a tool for understanding human interaction. We will explore impulses throughout history to “make theater” for religious, educational, and political ends, as well as for general entertainment. We’ll also turn these theories around and look at how the ideas and tools of theater and performance can provide insight into religious ceremonies, classroom interactions, political campaigns, and social events.
Course objectives:
- to expand our vocabulary of theater and performance terminology; to learn key words from the discipline and practice of theater arts
- to identify and practice the skills of reading dramatic literature
- to identify and practice the skills of watching theatrical performance
- to learn how to define the historical, social, and theoretical context of a play
- to understand what insight these contexts can provide into a play
- to practice analytical writing and academic research
- to translate non-theatrical events and situations into theatrical terms; to identify the insight that comes from “seeing” the world as performance
D. Ohlandt, Ph.D. 