Theatre
What Should Theatre Majors Know?
By the time they graduate all majors in Theatre should:
Students of Theatre will gradually familiarize themselves with major works, links to search engines, libraries, archives, institutes, and other information literacy resources and the wide body of resources available to scholars in the field.
Writing Intensive Classes
Students who have fulfilled the writing intensive requirement should already have learned basic information literacy skills prior to entering the major in Theatre. Such skills are likely to include:
Information Literacy Objectives for Theatre Students
Students in Theatre History classes and First-Year Seminars taught in the Theatre Department will become familiar with the stylistic rules for writing papers, bibliographies, notes, citing of sources. Students should consult Smith Handbook of Style for specific information regarding the preparation of papers. The Jacobson Center has the Smith Writing Papers Handbook and a summary of the MLA documentation guide online.
The library offers students a great deal of guidance in how to find information and conduct research. Though the information above highlights some of the general resources in Theatre, our students would also benefit greatly from familiarizing themselves with general search engines that often include articles of interest to Theatre.
These skills are to be understood as a basis for all further study in Theatre.
Competencies for Beginning Theatre Majors
Students completing THE198 AND THE199 will:
Students in these courses may consult:
Sources | |
---|---|
THE199 Library Class Guide | Libraries' Resources for Theatre History and Culture Eighteenth Century to the Present |
Find Articles (Smith College) | Interdisciplinary article databases |
JSTOR | Back issues excluding the most recent 2-5 years |
Oxford English Dictionary | Traces the development of English from 1150 AD to the present. Entries include spelling, pronunciation, derivation, meaning, and usage. |
Writing About Theatre - Davis, Rick and Christopher Thaiss | SC/Josten Reference PN 1707 .T45 1999 |
Students studying Acting will:
Students studying Directing will:
Students studying Design will familiarize themselves with:
THE252: Set Design I: Image Research
Most of the information listed is sources for digital image research. There is also an important tab explaining fair use of copyrighted material - especially concerning image research. Some of the best data services are listed on the digital image tab. Skills will be taught in THE252, THE253, THE254, THE317, THE318, THE352, THE353, and THE354.
Students studying Theatre History, Literature, and Criticism will:
Students studying Playwriting will focus on:
Additional Library Web Pages and Online Resources for Theatre Courses
Library Class Guides | |
---|---|
THE213: American Theatre |
Smith Libraries Sources for Shakespeare | SC Neilson Call Number |
---|---|
Shakespeare: an Oxford guide | ref PR 2976 .S333 2003 |
Oxford Companion to Shakespeare | ref PR 2892 .O94 2001 or click here for online |
Essential Shakespeare | ref PR 2894 .C53 |
Shakespeare Index | ref PR 2894 .S25 |
Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare | PR 2894 .C33 2001 click here |
World Shakespeare Bibliography | click here |
Other Online Shakespeare Sources | Links |
Complete Works of Shakespeare | click here |
Complete Texts of Shakespeare’s Plays | click here |
Folger Shakespeare Library Online | click here |
Illustrated Shakespeare Online | click here |
The Rare Book Room - allows visitors to read some of the great books of the world. The Shakespeare section contains most of the Quartos from the British Library, as well as a First Folio from the Folder Shakespeare Library | click here |
Intermediate and Advanced Courses
Since Theatre includes the study of ACTING, DIRECTING, DESIGN, PLAYWRITING, SCRIPT ANALYSIS, THEATRE HISTORY, and many other disciplines students must consult relevant information literacy resources for those disciplines.
Students in Intermediate and Advanced Theatre courses should familiarize themselves with the following search engines:
Database | Description |
---|---|
Play Index 1949+ | Lists plays written from Antiquity to the present; includes plays published separately and in collections, with full publication details. |
Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance | Covers theater performance from ancient to modern times; also covers dance, opera, radio, film, television, and popular performance. |
International Index to the Performing Arts | Indexes 210+ scholarly and popular performing arts periodicals, biographical profiles, conference papers, obituaries, interviews, discographies, reviews and more. |
300 Level Courses and Research-Based Special Studies
Students in advanced research courses should be able to:
Database | Description |
---|---|
Arts & Humanities Search 1980+ | Extensive Index to 1,300 journals in all arts and humanities disciplines. |
Historical Abstracts 1956+ | Covers history after 1450, excluding U.S. and Canada; lists articles, books, collections, and dissertations. |
Humanities Abstracts 1984+ | Abstracts of articles, book reviews, interviews, obituaries, fiction, drama, poetry, and reviews of plays, television, and radio from 465+ sources. |
Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective 1907-1984 | Indexes 1,200 scholarly journals and specialized magazines in the social sciences and humanities; with citations to book reviews. |
MLA Bibliography 1926+ | Extensive index to literature, language, linguistics and folklore in journal articles, books, dissertations, proceedings, and more. From the Modern Language Association of America. |
Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) 1802-1995 | Full text archive of hundreds of periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences from their first issues to 1995. For complete indexing use the Periodicals Index Online. |
Periodicals Index Online (PIO) 1665-1995 | Index to thousands of periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences from their first issues to 1995. Full text of selected titles can be found in Periodicals Archive Online database. |
Additional Sources for Scholarly Articles | |
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Academic Search Premier 1965+ | Full text for 4,500+ scholarly publications in the social sciences, humanities, arts, and sciences. |
Expanded Academic Index 1980+ | Full text scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers. Covers the arts and humanities, the social sciences, science and technology, across all academic disciplines. |
America: History & Life 1953+ | Extensive index to 1,700 journals, books, and dissertations on American and Canadian history, popular culture, anthropology, sociology, economics, education, and politics. |
In What Classes Will Skills be Taught?
Focus | Classes |
---|---|
Beginning Students | THE 198, THE199 |
Acting | THE141, THE142, THE242, THE313, THE346 |
Directing | THE344, THE345 |
Design | THE252, THE253, THE254, THE317, THE318, THE352, THE353, THE354 |
Playwriting | THE261, THE262, THE361, THE362 |
Literature | THE213, THE215, THE217, THE218, THE220, THE240, THE313, THE316, THE317, THE319 |
ETHICAL ISSUES
Using someone else’s words, ideas , or arguments without acknowledgement is plagiarism. This is a serious violation of the College’s Honor Code. Students should learn to distinguish between “received knowledge” and original work, between ideas that have often been repeated and ideas that are new. They must always identify and acknowledge their sources for everything except “received knowledge,” such as dates and facts found in many encyclopedias and dictionaries.
November 30, 2009