Beyond the Classroom
Education Abroad
Study in America
Theatre: London & Stratford, England
Program Overview
Our journey begins with two weeks of online classes in the US, setting the stage for our immersive study in London and Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Students have the unique opportunity to attend productions at the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford and take classes at Shakespeare's Globe in London. We explore Shakespeare in various styles, from perfectly recreated Elizabethan drama to a Macbeth set in post-apocalyptic Serbia. Our museum experiences include the National Art Gallery, the Victoria and Albert, Westminster Abbey, and the Tate Modern Art Gallery, offering a rich cultural backdrop to our studies.
What You Will Learn
This course centers around William Shakespeare’s plays, examined from two completely different approaches at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Shakespeare’s Globe. We have classes on the historical context of the productions as well as talk backs with actors. At the Globe, we take classes in acting, voice, text, movement and historical dance. Students work on scenes which are rehearsed and performed in the Globe facilities.
Throughout the program, students keep journals of their experience, critiquing the plays we see, analyzing the production approaches, and recording personal discoveries and challenges encountered in our performance classes and time in England. This becomes a valuable record of the experience.
Shakespeare in Performance (TH4323/TH5323) will expose students to different approaches to the performance of Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare Through Performance will focus on contemporary performance practices while Shakespeare: Text and Context (TH4324/TH5324) will provide a historical and cultural background to the plays and the performances.
In addition, we will examine textual implications of Shakespeare’s source materials and analyze his texts for language characteristics. The primary teachers will come from the Birthplace Trust/Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe. The APD and assistant director will supplement instruction.
Theatre: The Oregon Shakespeare Intensive
Program Overview
The Oregon Shakespeare Intensive offers undergraduate and graduate courses that examine theatre production with a specific focus on acting and directing at the nation's largest regional theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF).
What You Will Learn
Preliminary course work and instruction at two 3-hour class meetings held on-campus in San Marcos to be completed during Summer II semester. Students will examine eight productions at the OSF in Ashland, Oregon with several backstage tours and guest lectures from leading OSF directors and actors.
About the Festival
With an annual budget of over $25 million, the largest resident acting company in the United States, and a season of 11 plays produced in 3 varied theatre from February to November, the scope of impact of OSF is significant to theatre throughout the country. A company of directors, actors and designers work in a true rotating repertory system, performing in multiple plays in the season's offerings. Their contacts allow many of them to live and raise families in this unique community.
Film: Paris & Lyon, France
What You Will Learn
Students will then create and shoot their own visual, silent short film in Paris, Lyon & the ancient village of Perogues. These films first cuts will be shared at our closing dinner before we leave France.
Students will learn about the early filmmakers with a focus on George Melies, the Lumiere brothers and the inspirational work of the first female writer/director/producer, Alice Guy Blache.
Program Overview
The Birth of Cinema in France is all new, immersive program in Paris and Lyon in which students will literally walk in the steps of early groundbreaking filmmakers and the locations in Paris and Lyon where these first films were made.
While in Paris, students take three movie walking tours, a boat tour, visit museums, participate in a hands on workshop on mobile cinema at CineStudio, The Paris School of Film & Media, before putting what they learn into practice on the banks of the Seine.
In Lyon, students will visit and be able to shoot at the Lumiere Institute, where the cinematograph was invented. Finally, students will take the train on a day trip to the ancient village of Perogues where the students will finish their films. At the closing dinner, students will share what they have created.
Dance: Granada, Spain
Program Overview
The first half of the semester will be asynchronous, and then we will meet in Granada, Spain for the last 15 days of the semester. During our in-person time we will have class, visit cultural sites and museums, take Flamenco classes, and attend lots of dance concerts.
Granada, Spain is a charming, walkable, university town that is over 800 years old. It was the final stronghold of the Moors in Spain, and was conquered by the Catholic monarchs in 1492. This rich history resulted in a beautiful and complex city, full of alluring architecture, vibrant art, and fruit trees lining the streets.
What You Will Learn
We will be immersed in the current and historical culture of Spain throughout our time in Granada. We will learn the stories of this historically significant city, and experience the culture of the people living there. Our curriculum will include guided, walking tours of ancient neighborhoods, visits to the Alhambra Palace and the Museo Cuevas de Sacromonte, Flamenco classes and performances, and the Festival de Música y Danza.