Courses
We aspire to embrace creative and empowering pedagogies in all our courses. Many courses offered within the School directly address a range of equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization issues. The list below will expand on a regular basis.
From the Dance faculty
Recognizing that the present dancing body is a full participant in traditional continuums,
The Division of Dance is committed to articulating the heritage of its practices.
Imagined futures in dance education are of critical importance, and are addressed through the de-universalization of perspectives on the form, and the unpacking and criticism its dominant hierarchies. The Division of Dance explores approaches towards empowering communities through the legitimisation of individuals’ embodied knowledge, performance and education.
Dance’s curriculum engages in a broad and diverse exploration of cultures. Dance’s jazz dance course offerings, for example, physicalize and analyze studio and vernacular/urban practices via history, race, BIPOC luminaries/legacies, and Afrofuturism.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are also addressed in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability, in considering access, the equalizing of opportunities, and artistic contributions and influences. Strong connections are made between praxis, theory, allyship and advocacy in both the focus and the objectives of many of our courses.
Dance courses
DNCE 211 Introductory Jazz Dance
DNCE 215 Hip Hop I
DNCE 231 Introduction to Dance Writing and Movement Analysis
DNCE 206.03 Topics in Dance Forms: Tap Dance
DNCE 309.07 Special Topics in Dance Theory I: History of Urban Dance
DNCE 311 / 411 Elementary Jazz Dance I / Intermediate Jazz Dance I
DNCE 313/ 413 Elementary Jazz Dance II / Intermediate Jazz Dance II
DNCE 341 Early Dance History
DNCE 343.07 Special Topics in Dance Practices: African Dance and Culture
DNCE 427 Cross-Cultural Currents: Embodying Global Dance
DNCE 481 Cross-Cultural Currents: Theorizing Dancing Bodies
DNCE 575 Travel Study
Drama courses
DRAM 205 - Story
DRAM 210 - Introduction to Acting II
DRAM 243 - Introduction to the Practice of Drama
DRAM 371 & 471 - Playwriting
DRAM 613 - Selected Problems in Directing II
DRAM 483: Contemporary Women Playwrights
DRAM 313: Scenography
DRAM 321: Stage Management
DRAM 610: Directing
DRAM 511: Directing
From the Drama faculty
The Division of Drama is actively working towards increased diversity and inclusivity in both its curriculum and its performance programming. Engagement with Indigenous culture includes both student and faculty collaboration with elder, storyteller and knowledge keeper Sakokoto, as well as the introduction to Indigenous performance practices and dramaturgy. Black dramatic literature and theatre history are now established aspects of Drama’s curriculum. And Drama’s Main Stage season now includes the most culturally diverse programming in its history. There is much more work to be done, and Drama is committed to providing a meaningful contribution to the SCPA’s efforts towards increased equity, access, and advocacy.
From the Music faculty
Many courses within the Division of Music engage directly with issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity by moving students beyond Western music traditions. These include both performance-based and academic offerings. The World Music Ensemble and World Hand Drumming combine performance and academic study to provide invaluable, hands-on opportunities to explore a diversity of musical cultures and approaches. Introduction to World Music and Music Cultures of the World expose students to a wide diversity of musical traditions from throughout the globe; World Music Pedagogy encourages future teachers to celebrate their own diverse cultures and to think beyond music rooted in European origins; Popular Music Pedagogy explores the diverse lineages and present day manifestations of popular music in their teaching practice. Our courses on Jazz History and various topics in Music and Popular Culture further enhance students’ understanding of musical cultures through a more diverse lens. And the Division’s new track in Jazz performance engages deeply and directly in the that genre’s definitive roots in Black musical forms and tradition.
Music courses
MUSI 229/329 World Music Ensemble
MUED 417 topic 8 World Music Pedagogy
MUSI 232 Musical Cultures of the World
MUSI 533 topic 11 Ethnomusicology
MUSI 307 topic 1 Intro to World Music
MUSI 307 topic 2 World Hand Drumming
MUED 417 topic 4 Popular Music Pedagogy
MUED 417 topic 6 Elementary Music
MUSI 203 Jazz History
MUSI 306 Topics in Music and Popular Culture