UNDERSTANDING THEATRE

Theatre 110 – Sec# 70393

Fall 2009

October 24 - December 12

David Stears, Instructor

Email:  david.stears@canyons.edu

Office Phone:  (661) 259-7800  ext. 26064

Hello Students,

Welcome to Understanding Theatre. I am David Stears, the instructor for this HYBRID class. This is just a short letter to prepare you for our class, a more
complete syllabus will be found in Blackboard, when the course is available.

First I must tell you, I love teaching this class.  I have taught it for close to a decade in traditional classroom settings, hybrid and reduced sessions and fully online.
The fundamentals of theatre cross-over and influence every type of entertainment we experience today:  live events, concerts, movies, television, books, video games
 and advertising.  We are living in a world influenced by the creation of theatre and the artist that participate.  Either as active audiences or participants, or inactive
observers we are flooded with images and techniques that have their roots in theatre.

We will be exploring theatre and the theatrical event from the audience perspective, including functions of the producer, architect, playwright, director,
 actors, designers, and critics.

Our class will combine both the traditional and the on-line environments, consisting of five class meetings, readings from our text, reading three plays,
searches on the Internet, taking quizzes, using the discussion board in Blackboard, and writing papers.  Although this is an accelerated schedule,
this course contains the same content as a full semester, traditional section.   You should plan on investing 20-30 hours a week for on-line time,
reading and assignments.

Required Reading/Textbook:

Theater: The Lively Art       by Edwin Wilson & Alvin Goldfarb,  5^th or 6th Edition 

You Do Not need to buy a new textbook.  Each edition contains the much the same information, however the chapters have been moved around. 
Our learning sections will be divided by content, rather then chapter numbers.

You will be required to read three plays.  They may be found at many local bookstores, purchased used from the Internet, or found in many local libraries.
The ISBN helps located the correct books when ordering online.  All copies of the required texts and plays are on reserve in the library at the Valencia Campus.

Equus                                                 By Peter Shaffer

Published by Samuel French, Inc.                              ISBN: 0-573-60872-5

Buried Child                                       By Sam Sheppard

Published by Dramatists Play Service Inc.                 ISBN:  0-8222-1511-X

Cat of a Hot Tin Roof                        By Tennessee Williams

Published by Dramatists Play Service Inc.                 ISBN: 0-8222-0189-5 

Technical Requirements:

Must have access to a computer, the Internet, and have an email address. You should be fairly computer literate.  Your assignments and papers will be submitted using the Assignment function in Blackboard.  If you are having trouble with Blackboard, you may find assistance by click this link: Blackboard Assistance at COC.

This course will be available on COC's Blackboard system beginning Saturday, October 24th.  Instructions for logging in to Blackboard are located on the Login Directions. 
Class officially begins with a meeting on Saturday, October 24^th at 8:30 am at the Canyons Country Campus, room 504.  You can and will be dropped from the
class if you do not log in to Blackboard, and take the Syllabus Quiz by 11:59pm on Sunday of the first week of enrollment.  No exceptions will be made.

PLEASE NOTE: IT IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO DROP YOU FROM THE COURSE.  IF YOU FAIL TO PARTICIPATE IN CLASS, AND DO NOT DROP THE COURSE
ON YOUR OWN ACCORD, YOU WILL RECEIVE A “FW” IN THE COURSE.  Once again, it is your responsibility to be accountable for your academic records.
Failure to drop from the course due to lack of participation will result in a final grade of “FW” or “Failure to Withdraw.”

Once the class has begun, the best way to contact me is through the message function in Blackboard. We will spend a short portion of each of our meetings to address
questions about the online environment of our class.

Due to the fact that this is a reduced schedule hybrid course, our time together will move very quickly.  You will need to be both prepared and ready for the challenge.
You must be self-motivated and focused during this courses timeframe in order to stay on track.  Here are some links to help you with your online learning:

For Online course readiness assessment: 

http://www.canyons.edu/offices/distance_learning/info/Assessments.asp.

For Blackboard (BB) login:

http://www.canyons.edu/offices/distance_learning/BBSupport/Bbtechsupport2.asp.

For BB Tutorial on the Distance Learning Website:

http://www.canyons.edu/distancelearning

Preparing for the beginning of our class

* Secure the textbook and plays

* Read Chapter’s One & Two in Theater: The Lively Art (6^th Edition) (Or the Preface, Introduction and Chapter One in the 5^th Edition)

* Clear your Calendar:  Your going to need the time.  It is only 8 weeks and they will FLY BY VERY Quickly

* Dust off your sense of Humor and Fun.  Learning is always is always easier and richer with a positive attitude and a sense of adventure.

* Optional: Check out some of the links listed below.  I found them very useful when I was participating in online classes.

I’m looking forward to our class together.  Enjoy your holidays.

Sincerely,

David Stears

Useful and Optional Links:

Confessions of an E-Dropout by Allison Rossett. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/arossett/viewpoint.htm.

Tips for Online Success from Illinois Online Network http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/tips.asp

Etiquette for the Net = Netiquette From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette