![[Theater and 
Rhetoric]](theater.hdr.gif) 
Professors Branham, Andrucki, Acting Chair (fall semester and Short term), and 
Kuritz, Chair (on leave, fall 
semester and Short Term); Associate Professor Nero; Assistant Professor Seeling; Ms. 
Plavin, Mr. Pope.L, Mr. 
Williamson, Ms. Vecsey, and Ms. Gage   
Theater  
The major in theater combines the study of dramatic literature from the Greeks to the 
present with work in acting, 
directing, dance, and design. Students thus acquire skills in production and performance 
while learning the history of 
one of the world's major forms of artistic expression. Majors are prepared for graduate 
work in the humanities or for 
further professional training in theater. The theater major is also a valuable asset for a wide 
variety of careers -- such 
as business, law, or teaching -- requiring collaborative effort, public poise, imagination, 
and a broad background in 
the liberal arts.  
In addition to its academic work, the department annually produces more than a dozen 
plays, dance concerts, and 
other performance events in its three theatres. These require the participation of large 
numbers of students, both 
majors and non-majors. All members of the community are invited to join in the creation of 
these events.  
Majors in theater and rhetoric who are interested in secondary-school teaching should 
consult the Department of 
Education about requirements for teacher certification.  
The theater major is required to complete the following:  
 
- 
-  All of the following: 
 
Theater 101. An Introduction to Drama.  
Theater 130. Introduction to Design.  
Theater 200. The Classical Stage.  
Theater 210. The Revolutionary Stage.  
Theater 261. Beginning Acting. 
  -  One course required from among: 
 
Theater 231. Scene Design.  
Theater 232. Lighting Design.  
Theater 233. Costume Design. 
  -  One course required from among: 
 
Theater 370. Directing.  
Theater 227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-Garde Theater and Performance Art.  
Theater 251. Dance Composition. 
  -  One course required from the following: 
 
Theater 220. The Modern Stage.  
Theater 225. The Grain of the Black Image.   
  -  One course or unit in the Department of Art and one course or unit in the Department 
of Music, one of which 
must be in the history of the field. 
  - A comprehensive examination in the senior year, except for those majors invited by the 
department to enroll in 
Theater 457 or 458. 
  
Theater majors must also earn five production credits by the end of the senior year. 
Students considering a major 
should consult with the department chair early in their careers for information on fulfilling 
this requirement. In 
addition, the theater major must enroll in one semester of dance, or in a physical education 
activity course approved 
by the Department of Theater and Rhetoric.  
(Students in the Class of 1999 may elect the major requirements in the 1995-1996 Bates 
College Catalog.)  
Secondary Concentration in Theater.  The secondary concentration in theater 
consists of six courses 
or units and other production and performance credits. Students interested in pursuing a 
secondary concentration 
should consult with the department chair.  
Secondary Concentration in Dance.  This dance program emphasizes original, 
creative work in dance, 
integrated into the mainstream of a liberal arts education. The secondary concentration in 
dance consists of six 
courses or units and other production credits.  
The following courses or an equivalent are required:  
Theater 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance.  
Theater 251. Dance Composition.  
Theater 252. Twentieth-Century American Dance II.  
Theater 253. Dance Performance Repertory.  
One Short Term unit or an Independent Study (Theater 360) in Dance Education.  
Theater s29. Dance as a Collaborative Art.  
One course from the following:  
Theater 227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-Garde Theater and Performance Art.  
Theater 232. Lighting Design.  
Theater 233. Costume Design.  
Theater 360. Independent Study in Dance.  
Any music or art history course.  
Students are expected to take modern technique and/or ballet twice a week and perform in 
two productions a year for 
a minimum of two years.  
In addition, 2.5 production credits are required.  
A summer at the three-week Bates Dance Festival is recommended, but not required.  
  
Courses
101. An Introduction to Drama.  A study of the elements of drama and 
performance focusing on a 
half-dozen periods in theater history: fifth-century Athens, England in the Renaissance, 
France and Japan in the 
seventeenth century, Russia and Scandinavia in the nineteenth century, and postmodern 
America. Readings may 
include works by Sophocles, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Zeami, Moli¸re, Ibsen, Chekhov, 
Brecht, Fornes, and S.-L. 
Parks. Topics for discussion include styles of acting and performance, the varieties of 
theater space, the principles of 
scene design, the function of the director, and the relationships between stage and society. 
Attendance at films and 
performances supplements work in class. M. Andrucki.  
102. An Introduction to Film.  A survey of film style and technique, including an 
overview of film 
history from the silent era to the present. Enrollment limited to 70. M. Andrucki.  
110. Women in Film. This course investigates the depiction of women in film 
from the silent era to the 
present. Using feminist film criticism as a lens, it examines the impact of these film images 
on our society. The 
history of women filmmakers is also surveyed, highlighting the major contributors in the 
field. Enrollment limited to 
50. E. Seeling.  
130. Introduction to Design.  An approach to the principles and elements of 
design, offering 
instruction in drawing, simple drafting, sculpture, painting, and costume and mask 
construction. Accompanying 
research in world styles of visual expression informs the exploration of line, mass, shape, 
time, space, light, and 
color. Research topics may include African festival, Islamic design, Asian dance-drama, 
European carnival, and 
Russian fairground theater. The goal of the course is to “tease out” a fresh expression using 
the simplest of 
elements. No previous artistic or theatrical training is required. Enrollment limited to 14. E. 
Seeling.  
132. Stagecraft. This course provides an introduction to the technical skills and 
techniques used to 
produce theater productions. Students are introduced to theater terminology, stage lighting 
equipment, scenery and 
property construction, scene painting, sound engineering, and theater management. Crew 
work on department 
productions required. Enrollment limited to 25. J. Williamson.  
135. Gay and Lesbian Theater History in the United States and England prior to 1968. 
This is a survey course of gay and lesbian playwrights, producers, actors, and directors 
in England and in the United States prior to 1968, when repeal of the "Padlock Ordinance" 
in New York ushered in the era of openly gay and lesbian theater. The course explores the 
gay and lesbian sensibilities of the Shakespearean canon, the Marlovian theory of the 
authorship of the canon, Aphra Behn's radical treatment of prostitution in her plays, the 
cross-dressing of Charlotte Cushman, lesbian representation in turn-of-the century Yiddish 
theater, and the intersection of race, gender, and sexual orientation in the work of 
Angelina Weld Grimkˇ. C. Gage 
200. The Classical Stage. According to the mad Frenchman Artaud, classical 
drama was the original 
“theater of cruelty.” This course studies the aristocratic violence and punitive laughter of 
about a dozen tragedies 
and comedies from Aeschylus to Racine. Correlated readings in the theater history and 
dramatic theory of classical 
Greece and Rome, Elizabethan England, and seventeenth-century France establish the 
social and intellectual context 
for the most challenging and disturbing body of drama in the Western tradition. Required 
of all majors. Not open to 
students who have received credit for Theater 201. Open to first-year students. M. 
Andrucki.  
210. The Revolutionary Stage.  From 1700 to 1900, Europe was transformed by 
the revolutionary 
currents of radical politics, industrialization, and romantic individualism. This course 
studies the impact of these 
forces on the central dramatic ideas of character and action in plays by (among others) 
Beaumarchais, Goethe, Ibsen, 
Strindberg, Chekhov, and Shaw. Correlated readings in theater history and dramatic theory 
establish the cultural and 
intellectual context for these subversive playwrights. Required of all majors. Open to first-
year students. P. Kuritz. 
 
215. Popular Performance in Urban America: 1820-1920.  An examination of 
various forms of 
American popular performance in the context of changing urban social relations involving 
class, race, gender, and 
ethnicity. Students read and analyze secondary histories, as well as written and musical 
examples of melodrama, 
minstrelsy, musical comedy, ethnic theater, vaudeville, and cabaret. Prerequisite(s) or 
Corequisite(s): one of the 
following: History 141, 142, Sociology 236, 240, Anthropology 101, or Theater 101. 
Open to first-year students. 
Enrollment limited to 15. Staff.  
220. The Modern Stage.  A visionary modern theorist of the stage wrote from his 
asylum cell, “We 
are not free and the sky can still fall on our heads. And the theater has been created to teach 
us that first of all.” By 
examining the mirrors and masks of Pirandello and Genet, the incendiary rallying cries of 
Kaiser and Brecht, the 
erotic and violent silence of Pinter and Handke, and the surreal iconoclasms of Apollinaire 
and Shepard, this course 
surveys the ways the contemporary theater seeks to elucidate the baffling condition of 
humanity. Correlated readings 
in theater history and dramatic theory explore a cultural context which proclaims “ALL 
WRITING IS GARBAGE.” 
Required of all majors. Open to first-year students. M. Andrucki.  
225. The Grain of the Black Image.  A study of the African American figure as 
represented in images 
from theater, movies, and television. Using the metaphor of “the grain” rendered by Roland 
Barthes and Regis 
Durand -- “the articulation of the body...not that of language” -- this course explores issues 
of progress, freedom, 
and improvement, as well as content versus discontent. Correlated readings in critical 
literature and the major 
classical plays by Hansberry, Baraka, Lonnie Elder, and others, as well as viewings of 
recent movies and television 
shows. Open to first-year students. Staff.  
226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film.  African American scholar Carolyn F. 
Gerald has 
remarked: “Image means self-concept and whoever is in control of our image has the power 
to shape our reality.” 
This course investigates the ideological, social, and theoretical issues important in the 
representation of racial and 
ethnic minorities in American film from the Depression to the civil rights movement. It 
examines the genres, 
stereotypes, and gender formations associated with film images of Native Americans, 
Asian Americans, and African 
Americans. Open to first-year students. W. Pope.L.  
227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-Garde Theater and Performance Art.  This 
course is a hands-on 
poetic exploration of the binary territories of “language as object” and “subject as language” 
as they have been 
articulated in the work of contemporary performance-theater artists from Robert Wilson, 
Richard Foreman, and 
Fluxus to Holly Hughes, Karen Finley, and Jim Neu. Some background in performance is 
recommended. Open to 
first-year students. Enrollment limited to 12. Written permission of the instructor is 
required. W. Pope.L.  
231. Scene Design. A study of the dynamic use of stage space, from Renaissance 
masters to twentieth-
century modernists, offering instruction in scale drawing, drafting, scene painting, model-
making, and set 
construction. Students may use scheduled departmental productions as laboratories in their 
progress from play 
analysis and research to the realization of the design. This course focuses on the use of 
visual imagery to articulate 
textual idea, and is recommended for students with an interest in any area of drama and 
performance. Prerequisite(s) 
or Corequisite(s): Theater 101 or 130. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 
14. Written permission of 
the instructor is required. E. Seeling.  
232. Lighting Design. The Aesthetics of Light. This course provides an 
introduction to the unique 
aesthetic and technical considerations a lighting designer must make. Students examine the 
modern lighting aesthetic 
by studying popular culture and learning to translate these images to the stage. Students 
also are required to serve on 
a lighting crew for one of the department's productions and design part of the spring dance 
concert. Prerequisite(s) 
or Corequisite(s): One of the following: Theater 101, 130, or 132. Open to first-year 
students. Enrollment limited to 
14. Written permission of the instructor is required. J. Williamson.  
233. Costume Design. An approach to costume design offering instruction in 
drawing the figure, color 
rendering, script and character analysis, and the various skills of costume construction 
from pattern-making to 
tailoring. Work in fabric printing, mask-making, and makeup is available to students with a 
special interest in these 
areas. Research in period styles informs the exploration of the design elements of line, 
shape, and color. The goals 
of the course are skill in the craft and the flair of creation. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): 
Theater 101 or 130. 
Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. E. Seeling.  
240. Playwriting.  After reviewing the fundamentals of dramatic structure and 
characterization, 
students write one full-length or two one-act plays. Recommended background: two 
courses in theater or in dramatic 
literature. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the 
instructor is required. W. 
Pope.L.  
241. Spanish Theater of the Golden Age.  This course focuses on the study of 
Spanish classical drama 
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Reading and critical analysis of selected dramatic 
works by Lope de Vega, 
Tirso de Molina, Calderon de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, Ana Caro and Maria de 
Zayas, Sor Juana Inˇs de la 
Cruz, among others offer an insight into of the totality of the dramatic spectacle of Spanish 
society during its 
imperial century. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Spanish 215 or 216. This course is the 
same as Spanish 241. 
Enrollment limited to 20. B. Fra-Molinero.  
250. Twentieth-Century American Dance I. Dance activity in America presents an 
overwhelming 
array of talent and diversity ranging from turn-of-the-century artists such as Isadora 
Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, 
through such mid-century innovators as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey, to Merce 
Cunningham and the Judson 
Dance theater in the sixties. In addition to these artists, the course studies dances from 
musicals and ballets by 
choreographers such as George Balanchine and Agnes De Mille. Most works are seen on 
video, but students also 
attend live performances. Open to first-year students. 		M. Plavin.  
251. Dance Composition.  Through movement experiences, discussions, and 
readings, this course 
explores a variety of approaches to the creative process, such as improvisation; short 
compositional studies; and 
problem-solving techniques involving imagery, art, and music. Emphasis is on creation 
and organization of these 
movement materials into a coherent and communicative whole. Open to first-year students. 
Enrollment limited to 12. 
M. Plavin.  
252. Twentieth-Century American Dance II.  This course focuses on a variety of 
contemporary 
questions in dance, including the following: What is the “body image” that grows out of our 
culture's view of the 
body? How do cultural diversity and cultural blending influence contemporary dance? How 
are gender roles and 
sexuality finding expression through movement? Discussions center on the ways 
choreographers and dancers 
confront these issues. Most works are seen on video, but students also attend live 
performances. Open to first-year 
students. M. Plavin.  
253. Dance Repertory Performance.  Modern dance consists of a plethora of 
styles with each 
choreographer's process and technique expressed through his or her work. In this course, 
students experience three 
points of view with three different guest artists, as each guest artist sets a piece on them 
during an intensive two- 
week residency. Students then perform the piece informally at the end of the residency. The 
following week, after 
receiving feedback from the artist, the students continue to rehearse and polish the piece. 
The process begins again 
with each of the remaining artists. At the end of the semester, the three pieces are 
performed in a more formal 
setting. Recommended background: some previous dance experience. Open to first-year 
students. Enrollment limited 
to 20. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Plavin.  
261. Beginning Acting. This course introduces the student to the physiological 
processes involved in 
creative acting. The student studies the Stanislavski approach to the analysis of realistic and 
naturalistic drama. 
Exercises leading to relaxation, concentration, and imagination are included in an 
improvisational context. Studies in 
motivation, sense perception, and emotion-memory recall lead the student to beginning 
work on scene performance. 
Not open to senior majors in theater. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 16. 
P. Kuritz.  
262. Acting for the Classical Repertory.  Students extend their basic acting 
technique to explore the 
classical dramas of the world's stages. The unique language of the dramas--verse--is 
explored as both an avenue to 
character study and to vocal and physical representation. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): 
Theater 261. Open to 
first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff.  
263. Voice and Speech. Students examine the nature and working of the human 
voice. Students explore 
ways to develop the voice's potential for expressive communication with exercises and the 
analysis of breathing, 
vocal relaxation, pitch, resonance, articulation, audibility, dialect, and text performance. 
Recommended background: 
one course in acting or performance or public speaking. Open to first-year students. 
Enrollment limited to 20. K. 
Vecsey.  
264. Voice and Gender.This course focuses on the gender-related differences in 
voice from the 
beginning of language acquisition through learning and development of a human voice. A 
variety of interdisciplinary 
perspectives is examined according to the different determinants of voice production--
physiological, psychological, 
social interactional, and cultural. Students explore how race, ethnicity, class, sexual 
orientation, and age affect vocal 
expression. Students also analyze “famous” and “attractive” human voices and discuss what 
makes them so. 
Recommended background: Theater 263, Women's Studies 100. This course is the same 
as Women's Studies 264. 
Open to first-year students. 		K. Vecsey.  
300. Theories of the Stage. A survey of some of the major Western ideas about 
the moral, political, 
and spiritual purposes of the theater. Readings include selections from The Republic, 
Aristotle's Poetics, essays by 
Renaissance and eighteenth-century neoclassicists, and works by various radicals and 
romantics of the modern era. 
Prerequisite(s): one of the following: Theater 200, 210, 220, 225, Classics 202, English 
213, or 214. Staff.  
360. Independent Study. Independent work in such areas as stage management, 
directing, and speech. 
Departmental approval is required. Students are limited to one independent study per 
semester. Staff.  
363. Playing Comedy.  Students extend their basic acting technique to explore the 
peculiar nature of 
comic performance on stage. Concepts of normalcy, incongruity, ignorance, power, and 
situation are applied to 
comic traits, invention, and diction. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to 
first-year students. 
Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz.  
365. Special Topics.  Offered occasionally in selected subjects. Staff.  
365B. Creating Community-Based Theater I. In the tradition of Moli¸re, Aeschylus, 
Shakespeare, August Wilson, and Ellen Stewart, students organize and run a grassroots 
neighborhood theater program by and for the residents of a particular downtown Lewiston 
community. Since "the play exists halfway between the audience and the stage," in the 
words of playwright Robert Anderson, by understanding the practical skills and dynamics 
of working in, for, and with a community, students learn to apply the theory and craft 
of the playwright, actor, technician, designer, or director. Students plan, recruit, 
organize, teach, train, and inspire young people and their families to create a theater 
of their own. Recommended background: theater. Open to first-year students. C. Gage 
365C. Creating Community-Based Theater II. Students learn the practical skills 
of directing, teaching, playwriting, and designing for a community-based youth theater 
located in downtown Lewiston. In a storefront theatre environment, students are 
responsible for the full production of an evening of one-acts with older teens, and 
a puppet-theater production with middle-school children. In addition, students conduct 
theater game workshops in the Lewiston schools. Written permission of the instructor 
is required. Open to first-year students. C. Gage 
370. Directing. An introduction to the art of directing, with an emphasis on 
creative and aesthetic 
problems and their solutions. Included is an examination of the director's relationship to the 
text, the design staff, 
and the actor. The approach is both theoretical and practical, involving readings, rehearsal 
observation, and the 
directing of scenes and short plays. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to 
first-year students. 
Written permission of the instructor is required. C. Gage.  
457. 458. Senior Thesis. A substantial academic or artistic project. Students 
register for Theater 457 in 
the fall semester and for Theater 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors 
thesis register for both 
Theater 457 and 458. By departmental invitation only for theater majors. Staff.  
Short Term Units   
s22. Contemporary Performance Poetry.  An investigation of poetry as a 
performance medium. 
Included is a historical overview comparing the European traditions of Dadaism, Futurism, 
and their proponents in 
America to the Afro-American tradition exemplified by Shange, Baraka, and present-day 
hip-hop rappers. The 
approach is theoretical and practical, utilizing readings, discussion, film, recordings, and 
texts created and performed 
by students. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. 	
	W. Pope.L 
s24. Advanced Performance-Theater. Within a festival/workshop format and 
working under the 
supervision of faculty and visiting artists, students explore and extend their knowledge of 
making performance-
theater. The unit includes physical work and studio games; reading/discussion of cutting 
edge performance-theater 
practice and theory; creating, performing, and producing performance-theater works; and 
master classes and 
performances by visiting artists. There is a materials fee of $25.00 per student. 
Recommended background: Theater 
227. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 24. Written permission of the 
instructor is required. E. 
Seeling, W. Pope.L.  
s25. Ballroom Dance: Past to Present. From 1875 through the turn of the century, 
social dancers in America rebelled against proper dance and the court dances of Northern 
Europe and Great Britain. This gave a new look to dance, introducing exotic, playful 
music and a new attitude of what social dance in America could be. In this unit, students 
learn the movements and study the cultures and histories of dances that were inspired 
by this new music. This unit begins with dances from the early 1900s and continues through 
ragtime, the swing era, the Latin invasion, jitterbug, and disco, to the present day of 
dancesport. The unit culminates with three performances based on the swing, the tango, 
and Latin American rhythms. Open to first-year students. M. Plavin 
s26. Theater Production Workshop I. Working under faculty supervision and with 
visiting professional 
artists, student actors, directors, designers, and technicians undertake the tasks necessary 
to produce a play. 
Readings and discussions explore various ways of understanding and producing a text. 
Written permission of the 
instructor is required. 		P. Kuritz.  
s27. Film and Theater.  Films have always looked to the theater for stories and 
characters. This unit 
studies the transformation of plays into movies, paying particular attention to such 
fundamental differences between 
stage and screen as the use of space and time, the manipulation of point of view, and acting 
versus stardom. Students 
read extensively in dramatic literature and film theory, and view a variety of films based on 
plays. Included are 
works by such playwrights as Shakespeare, Shaw, Williams, Albee, Pinter, and Shepard, 
and such directors as 
Olivier, Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Kazan, Nichols, and Altman. Open to first-year students. 
Enrollment limited to 30. 
M. Andrucki.  
s28. The Living Stage: Theater in New York.  A study of contemporary theater 
focusing on the 
experience of live performance in New York City. An initial on-campus period of reading 
and discussion of relevant 
modern texts precedes about two weeks of intensive theatergoing in New York. The unit 
surveys works from the 
Broadway mainstream to the farthest reaches of “Off-off-Broadway,” and includes 
performances by artists and 
ensembles representing the enormous variety of cultural perspectives available in America's 
largest city. Enrollment 
limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. 	M. Andrucki.  
s29. Dance as a Collaborative Art.  The integration of dance and the other arts for 
the purpose of 
producing a forty-minute piece that is performed mostly for elementary school children. 
The productions, usually 
choreographed by guest artists during the first two weeks of Short Term, encompass a 
wide variety of topics from 
dances of different cultures to stories that are movement-based. Subject matter varies from 
year to year. Students 
participate in all aspects of the dance production necessary to tour for a three-week period 
of teaching and 
performing in schools throughout Maine. Open to dancers and non-dancers. Enrollment 
limited to 25. M. Plavin. 
 
s30. Theater Production Workshop II.  Experienced students, working under 
faculty supervision and 
occasionally with visiting professional artists, produce a play under strict time, financial, 
and material constraints. 
Readings and discussions explore various ways of understanding and producing a play. 
Prerequisite(s): Theater s26. 
Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz.  
s32. Theater Production Workshop III.  The most experienced theater students 
work under faculty 
supervision and in leadership positions with other students in the production of a play. 
Readings and discussions 
challenge students' notions about acting, directing, and design for the theater. 
Prerequisite(s): Theater s26 and s30. 
Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz.  
s36. Work-Study Internship in Theater.  Qualified students participate in the 
artistic and educational 
programs of professional theater companies. Each intern is supervised by a staff member. 
By specific arrangement 
and departmental approval only. Recommended background: two courses in acting, 
directing, design, or playwriting; 
participation in departmental productions. Open to first-year students. Written permission 
of the instructor is 
required. Staff.  
s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the department 
only after the student 
has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the 
Short Term and has 
secured the sponsorship of a member of the department to direct the study and evaluate 
results. Students are limited 
to one individual research unit. Staff.  
 
 
Rhetoric  
The major in rhetoric offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of human 
communication. Students complete a 
series of core courses in rhetorical theory and criticism, complemented by courses on 
language, media, and 
communication drawn from the curricula of other departments. All students complete a 
senior thesis.  
The major in rhetoric consists of eleven courses distributed as follows:  
 
- Core Courses. Required are
  
Rhetoric 185. Public Discourse or Rhetoric 291. Introduction to Debate.  
Rhetoric 275. African American Public Address or Rhetoric 386. Language and 
	Communication of Black 
Americans.  
Rhetoric 331. Rhetorical Theory and Practice.  
Rhetoric 390. Contemporary Rhetoric or Rhetoric 391. Topics in Rhetorical Criticism. 
 
Rhetoric 457 and/or 458. Senior Thesis. 
Students are also required to complete at least one course from each of the following areas. 
No single course may be 
used to complete more than one requirement. No more than one Short Term unit may be 
counted toward the major. 
 
  - Theories of Communication. 
 
Anthropology 333. Culture and Interpretation. 
Anthropology 334. Language and Culture. 
Philosophy 195. Introduction to Logic. 
Philosophy 235. Philosophy of Mind and Language. 
Psychology 375. Seminar and Practicum in Group Dynamics. 
Psychology 380. Social Cognition.
  -  Representation. 
 
Art 225. Iconography. 
Art 287. Women and Modern Art. 
Art 288. Visualizing Race. 
Art/Political Science/Rhetoric 289. Hate, the State, and Representation. 
Art 375. Issues of Sexuality and the Study of Art. 
Sociology 270. Sociology of Gender. 
Theater 225. The Grain of the Black Image. 
Theater 226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film.
  -  Media Studies. 
 
Art s32. The Photograph as Documentary. 
Political Science 212. Media and Politics. 
Rhetoric 195. Documentary Video Production. 
Rhetoric 255. Moving Pictures: Committed Documentary Film and Photography. 
Theater 102. An Introduction to Film. 
Theater 110. Women in Film. 
Theater 226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film.
  - Social and Political Movements. 
 
History 261. American Protest in the Twentieth Century. 
Philosophy/Religion 212. Contemporary Moral Disputes. 
Political Science 335. Black Political Thought. 
Political Science 346. Power and Protest. 
Political Science 352. Women as Political Subjects. 
Religion 247. City Upon the Hill. 
Rhetoric 278. The Rhetoric of Nuclear Culture.
  - Critical Methods. 
 
African American Studies/American Cultural Studies/ Women's Studies 250. Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry. 
English 295. Critical Theory.
   
 
Courses
150. Trials of Conscience. Why do people sue when they could kill? This course 
examines trials from 
the classical and medieval period (e.g., Socrates, Joan of Arc), as well as theoretical 
models for the role of litigation 
in Western culture. The course considers the role litigation plays in both generating and 
containing a critique of 
dominant ideology. It explores the interpretative problems that the rhetorical nature of the 
sources pose for historical 
analysis of these trials. Students analyze the rhetorical strategies that the actors in these 
trials deployed to fashion an 
identity in opposition to their communities, and analyze why these strategies usually failed 
at the trial but succeeded 
in subsequent historical memory. All readings are in English. This course is the same as 
Classical and Medieval 
Studies 150. M. Imber.  
160. Classical Rhetoric. The Romans ran the ancient world by the sword, but also 
by the word. This 
course explores how they did the latter. Readings include classical works about rhetoric, 
examples of classical 
oratory, and the variety of exercises by which the practice of rhetoric was taught. Writing 
assignments include 
analyses of speeches by classical orators, as well as a range of ancient rhetorical exercises 
like fables, speeches of 
praise and invective, persuasive speeches to historical figures, and mock courtroom 
speeches. The course concludes 
with an examination of the Gettysburg Address and consideration of its debt to classical 
rhetorical theory. All 
readings are in English. This course is the same as Classical and Medieval Studies 160. M. 
Imber.  
185. Public Discourse.  This course is designed to develop an awareness of and 
skill in the techniques 
necessary to a speaker in varying situations, from the large gathering to the small group. 
Students study and compose 
public speeches on various political issues. Enrollment limited to 24. Staff.  
195. Documentary Production.  This course provides an introduction to 
documentary production, 
including videography, sound, lighting, and editing. Students learn both to produce 
documentaries and to recognize 
the importance of production decisions in shaping the meanings and influence of 
documentaries. Students 
collaboratively produce short documentaries on subjects of their own design. 
Recommended background: prior 
production experience and coursework in film criticism. Enrollment limited to 16. Written 
permission of the 
instructor is required. R. Branham.  
255. Moving Pictures: The Rhetoric of Committed Documentary. Committed 
documentary 
filmmakers and photographers have traditionally sought to expose social problems, 
challenge ways of seeing, and 
mobilize support for political action. This course surveys the history and rhetorical 
techniques of documentary film 
and photography from the social reformers of the nineteenth century to the bold 
experimentalists of the present. 
Special attention is devoted to the work of women documentarists. Extensive film viewing 
is required. Open to first-
year students. R. Branham.  
275. African American Public Address.  This course is a study of the history of 
oratory by African 
American women and men. Students examine religious, political, and ceremonial speeches. 
Historical topics include 
the abolition of slavery, Reconstruction, suffrage, the black women's club movement, 
Garveyism, and the civil 
rights and Black Power movements. Contemporary topics include affirmative action, 
gender politics, poverty, 
education, and racial identity. Open to first-year students. C. Nero.  
278. The Rhetoric of Nuclear Culture, 1939-1964. The first quarter-century of the 
nuclear age 
witnessed the development, use, testing, and threatened use of atomic weapons. This 
course examines the diverse 
political, social, and cultural responses to life in the shadow of the bomb, including 
government public-relations 
campaigns, schoolhouse rehearsals for Armageddon, and organized political protest. 
Weekly laboratory sessions 
feature documentary and fiction films on nuclear issues, from Duck and Cover to Dr. 
Strangelove, from Godzilla to 
The Atomic Cafˇ. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Staff.  
289. Hate, the State, and Representation. This course examines the 
representational strategies that 
the state employs to establish and maintain a stable identity among its constituencies by 
identifying and disciplining 
“deviance.” Possible topics include: body politics in the French Revolution; race and role 
models in contemporary 
culture; nationalism and sexuality in Western Europe; citizenship, “rootlessness,” and the 
Roma (Gypsies) in 
Eastern Europe; race, disease, and genocide in the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. This 
course is the same as Art 289 
and Political Science 289. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 54. C. Nero, 
J. Richter, E. Rand.
 
291. Introduction to Debate.  A theoretical and practical study of academic debate 
designed for 
students without extensive previous experience in the activity. Lectures in debate theory are 
accompanied by student 
participation in several different debate formats, including a regularly scheduled public-
discussion forum. Open to 
first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. R. Branham.
 
331. Rhetorical Theory and Practice. A study of the historical evolution of 
rhetorical theory through 
reading and analysis of primary texts, from classical times to the present. Students write, 
present, and discuss papers 
analyzing divergent rhetorical perspectives and refining their own. Specific attention is 
given to feminist and African 
American rhetoric. Prerequisite(s): one course in rhetoric. Open to first-year students. 
Enrollment limited to 15. C. 
Nero.  
360. Independent Study.  Independent work in such areas as stage management, 
directing, and speech. 
Departmental approval is required. Students are limited to one independent study per 
semester. Staff.  
365. Special Topics.  Offered occasionally in selected subjects.  
386. Language and Communication of Black Americans.  Charles Dickens wrote 
in 1842 that “all 
the women who have been bred in slave states speak more or less like Negroes, from 
having been constantly in their 
childhood with black nurses.” This course examines the linguistic practices of African 
Americans, alluded to by 
Dickens. Readings focus on the historical development of “Black English” as a necessary 
consequence of contact 
between Europeans and Africans in the New World; on patterns and styles of African 
American communication, 
such as call-and-response, signifying, and preaching; and on sociopolitical issues, such as 
naming traditions, 
racial/ethnic identity, gender and language acquisition, and education and employment 
policy. Recommended 
background: Philosophy 266. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Nero.  
390. Contemporary Rhetoric.  A seminar devoted to the close textual analysis of 
recent and 
provocative political discourse. The texts for analysis are drawn from various media, 
including controversial political 
speeches, documentaries, music, and advertising. This course is designed to offer students 
extensive personal 
experience in criticism and to introduce key concepts in critical theory and practice. 
Enrollment limited to 15. 
Written permission of the instructor is required. R. Branham.  
391. Topics in Rhetorical Criticism.  The topic varies from semester to semester. 
The seminar relies 
largely upon individual student research, reports, and discussion. Enrollment limited to 15. 
Staff.
 
457. 458. Senior Thesis.  A substantial academic or artistic project. Students 
register for Rhetoric 457 
in the fall semester and for Rhetoric 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors 
thesis register for both 
Rhetoric 457 and 458. Staff.  
Short Term Units 
s10A. Bates Theater Abroad: Budapest. In this unit, students travel to Budapest to 
present an English-language production of The Red Faust, a fictionalized study of Hungary's 
leading twentieth-century dissident, Joszef Cardinal Mindszenty. Authored by award-winning 
dramatist Zsolt Pozsgai, and directed by Bates faculty members, the production is staged 
at a professional theater in Budapest specializing in programming in English. In addition 
to rehearsing and performing, students study the historical and political backgrounds of 
the play, meet with leading figures in contemporary Hungarian culture, and visit relevant 
historical sites. Prerequisite(s): participation in the theater department's March production 
of The Red Faust. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited 
to 15. M. Andrucki and K. Vescey 
s21. Documentary Video Production.  In this unit, students direct and produce 
video documentaries 
on subjects of their own selection. Classic documentaries are viewed and discussed in 
class. Students make weekly 
presentations of their work-in-progress and analyze the works of others. Prior course work 
or production experience 
in film or video is recommended. Enrollment limited to 12. Written permission of the 
instructor is required. R. 
Branham.  
s23. Debate Touring.  Students research, analyze, prepare briefs upon, and debate 
a public-policy 
topic selected by the instructor for presentation to various audiences. Recommended 
background: Rhetoric 291. 
Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 4. Written permission of the instructor is 
required. Staff.  
s50. Individual Research.  Registration in this unit is granted by the department 
only after the student 
has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the 
Short Term and has 
secured the sponsorship of a member of the department to direct the study and evaluate 
results. Students are limited 
to one individual research unit. Staff.  
 
 
  
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