Discover the Theatre Curriculum
The mission of the Department of Theatre is to embrace theatre as a means to inspire humanity and engage a diverse society. Collaborative artistic exploration cultivates a commitment to changemaking. Theatre at USD empowers and inspires critical thinking, creative engagement, effective communication and generous collaboration — offering students endless career opportunities.
What Theatre Students Learn:
- Multidisciplinary applications of theatre within a global context
- Creative and critical thinking skills
- Empathetic engagement
Major
The theatre major focuses on classical and contemporary theatrical storytelling practices in the context of cultural diversity. Students acquire and develop the conceptual, creative and technical skills necessary for playmaking. Auditions are not required to become a theatre major.
Minor
The theatre minor provides foundational offerings in acting, design, script analysis and technical theatre as well as a range of elective courses and production experiences.
Explore Theatre Courses
Read descriptions of our current theatre classes on our Courses page. Not all courses offered below will be available every semester. Make sure to check course offerings on the registration portal for each upcoming semester.
Program Requirements
Each student declares their major(s) and minor(s) under a single catalog of record that is identified on the student's degree audit (available on Degree Works).
The program requirements below are based on the current course catalog and may not be applicable if a student is declared in an earlier catalog.
Find all previous course catalogs under on our Archived Catalogs of Record page.
44-46*
Major
22-24 units
Minor
Major unit estimates include preparation for the major course units as well as major requirements.
- Major
- Minor
- Learning Outcomes
Preparation for the Major
Lower-Division | ||
THEA 101 | Script Analysis | 3 |
THEA 117 | Theatre Practicum - Backstage and Production | 1 |
THEA 205 | Technical Theatre with Lab | 4 |
THEA 220 | Fundamentals of Theatrical Design | 3 |
THEA 230 | Fundamentals of Acting | 3 |
Total Units | 14 | |
Major Requirements
The Theatre major requires 32 upper-division units.
Upper-Division | ||
THEA 305 | Creating the Play | 3 |
THEA 306 | Acting the Play | 1-3 |
THEA 316 | Theatre Practicum - Costume Production | 1 |
THEA 317 | Theatre Practicum - Stagecraft | 1 |
THEA 360 | Theatre History 1 | 3 |
THEA 362 | Theatre History 2 | 3 |
THEA 370 | Performance Studies | 3 |
THEA 380 | Theatre of Diversity | 3 |
THEA 475C | Theatre and Community | 3 |
Take two courses (six units) from the following: | 6 | |
THEA 320 | Scenic Design | |
THEA 325 | Lighting and Sound for Entertainment Design | |
THEA 330 | Costume Design | |
THEA 365 | Playwriting | |
THEA 390 | Directing and Stage Management | |
Take one course (three units) from the following: | 3 | |
THEA 340 | Voice and Speech | |
THEA 345 | Physical Actor | |
THEA 430 | Contemporary Acting | |
THEA 435 | Classical Acting | |
Total Units | 30-32 | |