COURSE CURRICULUM

The Department of Dance and Theatre at the University of North Texas offers a professionally oriented theatre education that combines rigorous academic study with extensive hands-on production experience in fully equipped performance spaces, including a 409-seat proscenium University Theatre and a 160-seat Studio Theatre designed as a flexible black box space. These venues, along with well-developed costume and scenic shops, technical facilities, and storage resources, support an active production season that allows students to apply classroom learning directly to live performance environments. A distinctive strength of the program is the opportunity for qualified undergraduates to take on significant professional responsibilities, including performing lead roles, directing public productions, stage managing, and designing scenery, costumes, lighting, makeup, and wigs, which helps students build real-world experience early in their academic careers. The curriculum emphasizes communication, collaboration, and organizational skills that are highly transferable across industries, making theatre graduates well-prepared for diverse career paths beyond performance alone. Students often combine theatre studies with other disciplines such as journalism or law to pursue specialized careers like theatre criticism or entertainment law. In addition to curricular training, students may participate in faculty-led professional projects, audition for local theatre companies, and engage with visiting productions, expanding their exposure to the broader performing arts industry. Student organizations further enhance networking, skill development, and professional growth, while merit- and talent-based scholarships support high-achieving students. Career pathways for graduates include acting for stage and film, directing, stage management, production roles, theatre education, arts administration, and technical positions such as lighting, costume, makeup, props, scenery, and sound design. Additional opportunities exist in marketing, box office management, and theatrical photography. Core coursework includes stagecraft, play analysis, acting fundamentals, stage management, voice training, and theatre history, ensuring that students develop both practical production skills and a strong understanding of theatrical literature and performance traditions.