New undergraduate and graduate degrees in the Department of Theatre and Dance in the College of Arts, Languages and Letters at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have been launched as the campus strives toward its goal to become a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning and to enhance the state’s workforce.
Local television and film industry
Undergraduates in the new BA in theatre and dance can pursue one of two concentrations: dance or theatre. The new BFA in theatre and dance will maintain its previous concentration in dance and will add one in acting for theatre, screen and new media. The new BFA concentration aligns with the department’s commitment to strengthen ties with the state’s growing film and TV industry by providing training and education for students to move directly into the workforce in Hawaiʻi, the continental U.S. and globally.
“This responds to an often-heard plea from top casting directors in Hawaiʻi for more trained actors for professional roles in Hawaiʻi‘s film and television industry,” said Markus Wessendorf, department chair for UH Mānoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance.
Educator development
For the MA, a new non-thesis emphasis in theatre education is now available, matching the existing dance education emphasis. Both MA plans support statewide efforts to expand teacher education. The curriculum for both MA degrees supports the department’s commitment to developing educators familiar with Hawaiʻi and its arts.
Indigenous theatre
A groundbreaking new PhD concentration in Hawaiian and Indigenous Performance has also been approved. Doctoral study in this area will center performance practices of Hawaiʻi in a global context through the study of Indigenous performance traditions, Indigenous methodologies and concepts, as well as Indigenous language, culture, politics, history, environment and sustainability. The steadily increasing enrollment of the existing v program in Hawaiian Theatre and the local, national and international attention it has received, indicates the potential of Hawaiian performance as a major subject of scholarly and creative research.
“[It’s] imperative to the continual development of Hawaiian arts and sciences on this campus and to the continual strengthening of the presence and relevance of the Hawaiian language in our country,” said Jonathan K. Osorio, dean of Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge.
All degrees in the department are now degrees in “theatre and dance” versus “theatre” and “dance” in an effort to become a more unified department.
More graduate degrees
Graduate students in the new MFA in theatre and dance can pursue one of two concentrations: dance or theatre; in the MA in theatre and dance students may select one of three concentrations: MA in dance, theatre or performance studies. The new PhD in theatre and dance allows students to choose one of three concentrations: Asian performance, Hawaiian and Indigenous performance, or performance studies.
For information on the curriculum and the application process for these degrees, contact department chair Markus Wessendorf at wessendo@hawaii.edu.
