About Drama (major) in University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The RC Drama program offers a unique course of study at U-M: the understanding of drama both as art form and literature. They learn to understand all the stages of the dramatic process - from the circumstances of a work's composition to the history of theater methods and presentation. Students attune their sense of theater aesthetic through practice and experimentation. They immerse themselves in the dramatic process as actors and directors as well as learning about all the aspects of production: costuming, scenery, lighting and sound design.

The Drama major is operated in collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Drama. The major combines the strengths and faculty resources of the RC and Theatre and Drama.

• The RC brings strengths in a humanities approach to drama and the dramatic arts, most notably in its Text-to-Performance orientation that combines the literary, the historical, and the theatrical.
• Theatre and Drama contributes expertise in design, production, and practicum work, thereby exposing students to the best of both worlds.

Both programs offer students a variety of hands-on experiences and opportunities to study, explore, and perform.

Students have the opportunity to explore the fields of dramaturgy, directing, the teaching of dramatic literature, and practical theatre as it relates to theory; and to study dramatic texts and experience performance and production. It consists of 35 credits that move from introductory courses to those along two distinct upper-level tracks. The major culminates in a play production capstone seminar that brings all the elements of this major into focus.

The Program regards drama as an art form that is both literary and theatrical, drawing on these and many other arts for its expression but claiming methods and purposes which are finally its own. A proper appreciation of drama requires the recognition and study of several stages in the making of a play, primarily those of the playwright and his conditions of work, the text and form of the play, the performance of the play, and the audience and society from which the play arises and to whom it is addressed. This demands a practical as well as a theoretical encounter with all the components of the dramatic experience. Accordingly, the method of study employed by the Drama Program combines active experiment and dynamic presentation with critical analysis and appropriate conditions for interpreting, enjoying, and evaluating the living work of dramatic art.

Academic qualification equivalents

• Applicants must have passed high school

English language requirements 

• IELTS :6.5
• TOEFL IBT: 88

University of Michigan Highlights

University of Michigan Cost of Attendance

The budget table may be useful, but the actual cost is entirely dependent on your lifestyle and the path you choose.

Fall/Winter 

Spring/Summer