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Theatre > Minor Requirements > Comprehensive Exams

Comprehensive Exams

Theatre Studies

Guidelines and procedures for administering Senior Comprehensive Exams in Theatre are covered in the document below.

Theatre Senior Comprehensives

Through required coursework each theatre major is guided toward a successful completion of a senior project that is the foundation of their comprehensive process. In the spring semester of junior year each student submits a formal senior project proposal to the chair of the department. Depending on the student's interests, the senior project may focus on acting, directing, dramaturgy, or design.  The format of this proposal is discussed at length in upper level classes. The chair appoints a thesis committee and students meet with their thesis committee in February to discuss the scope and educational value of their proposal. The thesis committee considers, advises, and thoughtfully responds to each specific project proposal. The department chair sends a letter to the student outlining the committee's decision and the specific guidelines and requirements for each approved project.

The theatre department has established a structured process to help students negotiate the daunting task of successfully researching, implementing, and analyzing some important aspect of a theatrical event. To succeed students must meet certain standards at each checkpoint in the comprehensive process or they will not be permitted to proceed to the next level toward their senior project.

We have the following unofficial meetings and checkpoints for theatre majors: 

Freshman Review (End of second semester as a freshman): Theatre faculty meets with first year students to guide each student's course of study. This meeting provides students with a complete understanding of coursework necessary to fulfill his or her educational and artistic goals. 

Sophomore Review (Beginning of second semester as a sophomore): All members of the theatre faculty review each student's emphasis and discuss possible directions for his or her senior project. The scope of a senior project depends on completing all necessary coursework prior to first semester of senior year. 

Junior Review (Beginning of first semester as a junior): Students choose a faculty mentor for their senior project. Students decide on a direction for their senior project by midterm.

Senior Project Proposal (Beginning of the spring semester as a junior): Depending on the student's interests, the senior project may focus on acting, directing, dramaturgy, or design. However, fulfillment of all major requirements (appropriate to the student's focus) must be completed before the start of each student's senior project. Senior Project Proposals are submitted in January of the student's junior year to the chair of the theatre department. Next, students meet with an appointed committee to discuss the academic and artistic merit of their project proposal.  Upon approval, students receive a formal letter confirming departmental support of the proposed senior project. This letter outlines the parameters and requirements of the senior project. Please note, a project is not considered approved until students receive their approval letter from the departmental chair. 

If a senior project proposal is not approved the faculty mentor works with the student to redefine the project. At this point, students are asked to carefully consider the feedback provided by their thesis committee, as well as the educational and artistic merit of their proposed senior project based on the quality of coursework completed by the end of junior year.  A revised senior project proposal must be submitted to the chair by the last Friday in February.
 
Senior Review (Before classes start during the first semester of senior year): Each student meets with his or her theatre faculty mentor to review preparatory work for the senior project. Students explain their work and answer questions raised by their faculty mentor. If preparatory work is unsatisfactory or incomplete the faculty mentor will ask for revisions and provide a due date based on the project timeline.

Mock Comps (During final week of their first semester of senior year): Each senior writes a thesis paper based on his or her senior project. The writing process starts with the completion of the senior project. All members of the senior project committee read the current draft of the senior written thesis at the end of the fall semester. Students meet with their committee and discuss their senior project and their paper. If the senior project is scheduled late in the semester the chair schedules committee meetings for the first week of the second semester. Please note: students must meet all deadlines outlined in their approval letter to successfully complete the comprehensive process. This includes the completion of all written requirements for Mock Comps.

The official Theatre Comprehensive Process:

Senior Seminar l: Senior Project (Fall semester as a senior):  A thesis project in which students research, analyze, explain, manage, and carry out some important aspect of a theatrical production. Depending on the student's interests, the project may focus on acting, directing, dramaturgy, or design. Prerequisites: Fulfillment of all major requirements (appropriate to the student's focus) and approval of the formal Senior Project Proposal by a committee appointed by the chair of the Theatre Department. Senior Project Proposals must be submitted in January of the student's junior year. Students undergo an interview process with an appointed thesis committee to outline the artistic and educational merit of their senior project.  Upon approval, students receive a formal letter from the chair outlining the parameters and requirements of the senior project. Prerequisites may be added or subtracted by authorization of the department chair as indicated by the nature of the senior project and the student's educational needs.

Written Comprehensive Exam:  To satisfy the written portion of comprehensive exams, students write a senior thesis paper based on their senior project. The paper serves as a synthesis of the senior project, and includes theatrical references, a works cited page, in-text citations and properly labeled images of both the student's work and the work of any artist that the student references. The required length of the thesis paper depends on the senior project focus. The minimum length is ten pages and the maximum length is twenty-five pages. Students start the writing process during Senior Seminar I and continue to focus and revise their thesis paper throughout their entire senior year. Each member of the senior project committee reads at least one draft and the final copy of the thesis paper. The final paper satisfies the written portion of comprehensive exams and is submitted during the spring comps period (usually the first two weeks in April).

Defense of Senior Project/Oral Comps:  Artists must clearly define their artistic goals and objectives, evaluate the process, and define the outcomes based on set parameters. The theatre faculty and thesis committee meet with students during the spring comps period (usually the first two weeks in April). The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the artistic merit and educational value of the student's senior project and written thesis. This oral comprehensive exam will last a minimum of one hour and a maximum of two hours depending on the senior project focus. The format and requirements of each oral comprehensive exam are specific to the focus of the senior project. As such, each student receives a comprehensive list of project requirements with his or her senior project approval letter. The specific requirements outlined in the approval letter pertaining to the oral and written portions of the student's comprehensive exams are reviewed during mock comps. 

The faculty involved in the comprehensive process evaluates each student's oral and written performance based on the following criteria:

Failure of Comps and Appeal Process

Failure is extremely rare because of the well-established review process leading up to both the theatre comps. A student is generally not allowed to proceed to the next stage without successfully completing the prior stage.  Unsuccessful completion of the component parts are handled as follows:

Theatre
1. Senior Project:  If during the Senior Review the faculty mentor determines that a student's work is not passable, the student still has a small amount of time to complete work of sufficient quality before the start of the senior project. If unsuccessful, the student is not allowed to proceed with his or her senior project and thus cannot successfully complete the comps process as formally designated in the approval letter. At this point, the student meets with the departmental chair to determine if it is feasible to reformulate the senior project timeline or if another project proposal is necessary.

2. Written senior thesis:  A student is allowed to revise the paper, based on faculty comments.  Once the deadline for submitting comps grades to the Records Office has passed, however, the student must wait until the summer (or next semester) to complete comps with successful revision of the paper.

3. Oral Comps:  If the faculty determines that a student lacks the ability to provide informed judgments about his or her work based on the guidelines and feedback provided during mock comps, the student will not immediately pass the oral portion of his or her comprehensive exams. The student can petition for a follow-up oral comprehensive exam in the same semester. If the student is unable to speak effectively during the follow-up comprehensive in the same semester the student must continue working on this aspect of comps in the following semester, when another follow-up oral comps will be administered.

Appeals Process
Since the faculty work together evaluating all components of oral and written comps for each theatre students, any appeal must extend outside of the department.  The appeal should be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean of Arts and Letters, who will adjudicate the appeal after consulting with the Dean of the College.

For further assistance students should contact the Chair of the Theatre Department.