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It is important that students
plan ahead for their comprehensive in Communication Studies.
To complete the senior
comprehensive, students must take a sequence of two classes.
The first of these classes is taken in the spring of the junior
year; the second in the fall of the senior year. Typically, the
student is expected to complete some work over the intervening
summer.
Students wishing to participate in Saint Mary's travel abroad
programs should plan to do so before the Fall semester of their
Junior year in school.
Students may complete the senior comprehensive in one of two
sequences of courses reflecting the main intellectual traditions
of the communication discipline:
- Research methods (COMM 385 & COMM 496), which explores
social-scientific methods of inquiry. Contact either Professor Vince
Berdayes or Professor Colleen Fitzpatrick (research sequence) for more information.
- Rhetoric and criticism (COMM 302 & COMM 495), focusing
on the critical analysis of all types of public communication.
The first course in either sequence should be taken in the
spring of the junior year, the second in the fall of the senior
year. Contact Professor
John Pauley (rhetoric & criticism sequence) for more
information.
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The Senior Comprehensive in Theatre is a year-long
process which begins in the fall of the fourth year. The student
chooses a play to analyze in written form during the fall semester
and to "actualize" in a live production during the
spring semester.
This is a capstone experience which involves the knowledge
gleaned from the play analysis, acting courses, voice & movement,
stagecraft and directing. An advisor is on hand for consultation,
but the faculty encourages the student to make her own creative
choices in terms of script selection, performance venue,
design choices, casting, and rehearsal strategies.
A short reflection paper is the third and final step of
the comprehensive process.
Recent projects have been as diverse as the 19th century
Symbolist play The Intruder, Ionesco's well-known absurd
piece, The
Bald Soprano, a very current Murray Schisgal comedy, Tennessee
Williams one-acts, and interesting experimental works with
dance, mime and movement. This project can easily accommodate
a student's primary interest in theatrical literature.
For more information about the Senior Comprehensive in
Theatre, contact Professor Katie Sullivan. |
