Monday, February 14, 2011
Is a Name Change Cosmetic or Real?
TACT: "My main curricular focus this academic year has been to revive and re-focus our BA degree in Theatre. The reason for this has not only theoretical ramifications for me; it also has practical consequences. In this era of state-funded public education, resources in many state colleges such as mine are becoming thin – very think. It has not escaped anyone’s attention that, when it gets time to cut academic programs, the ones feeling the ax these days are humanities and fine arts programs. SUNY Albany’s theatre department is scheduled for elimination along with other programs, and at Bemidji State University in Minnesota the theatre program there has also gotten the ax. Nothing new here – it’s been happening for sometime now. So I am under the gun as the head of a theatre department – I must meet my enrollment target set for me of 26 new BA majors (I have a total enrollment target of 45 first-time full-time students).
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This is a very interesting issue, since at many of the schools I applied to, the difference was very clear and distinct - those in the BFA programs were receiving intensive conservatory education in a narrow focus with guaranteed production positions, while the BAs had a wider stance, but were relegated to taking courses they could get into and a coin flip's chance of getting a show position. Tom's considered change seems like a complete change of philosophy to me - it's regimenting the wide curriculum and adding guaranteed production experiences in every discipline (the big key difference). I believe the change to the ATP program could be very beneficial.
I think the problem is that a BA can be awarded to anyone completing a liberal arts education, so the question is whether to change the institution to create the exclusive appearance and have the BFA title apply.
I think it would be a ton of work to have the university on board for changing the title of the program, but if their focus really is on production and not on theory/criticism it may be worth the effort.
I honestly wasn't aware that schools really offered both BFA and BA theatre options. I definitely wouldn't consider getting a BA major in a school that also has a BFA program, because, as Brian pointed out, there is little chance of getting to do much work on any actual productions. The idea of creating an ATP program is a good way, especially if it is something that, from the higher-up's view in the university, feels is just a cosmetic change. It makes the degree sound like it means something, and hopefully wouldn't be too much work. I think the test would be to then find a way to make sure these students still get to work on productions in some regards with the BFA students.
It’s not the name of the course that is unattractive to students. You could call the major anything you wanted to, but Kevin is completely right here… the problem is that a BA can be awarded to anyone completing a liberal arts education. Students that are really serious about doing theatre for the rest of their lives are looking for that BFA degree because, in general, an employer is going to trust a BFA graduate more than a BA graduate. Changing the name of the degree may help in a way to attract more students, but I don’t think it would be as successful as the author thinks unless they get rid of the BA and only focus on the BFA program.
I have an MA in Theatre Arts and now I am getting an MFA in Production Technology & Management. While the work-load and demands may be different I think I can speak to some of the things this gentleman speaks to. In grad school my first time around I spent more time in the shop than I did in the classroom. Though I have a fondness for dramaturgy and expressionist plays, the "general" aspect of the degree didn't help me get where I am today, it was the technical side, which was largely coincidental.
Granted my situation focuses on the individual desires of the student, I was attracted to a generalist degree because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. But maybe a general degree isn't a place to find that out.
So there's that song from Avenue Q, "What Do You Do With a BA in English?" What do you do with a BA in Theater? While theater certainly has a place in the liberal arts, maybe schools should be rethinking theater (and entertainment.) Perhaps it should be treated the same as a vocational or career training program. Sure there's aspects from theater that can be applied to other careers, the way say something studying HVAC can't apply those skills to cabinet making, but the crux of this post (and most others written about theater in secondary education) is the question of what do students do with the knowledge they obtain while in college? A general theory/critism degree: not much (unless they move to Berlin, a city that has the highest amount of paid dramaturgs in the country.) A degree that trains them to be or do something: they will likely seek out their field.
So I don't think a name change is the answer, but it may be a step in the right direction for rescuing a program potentially put on the chopping block.
UCLA offers a BA in theater and they claim that their program offers you all of the benefits of a BA and a BFA. They say that so other schools that offer BFA's cut people because they are required to fill a quota and they get your money for the first two years and then you get cut because you shouldn’t have been in the program to start with. They also claim that most BA programs are not in depth enough to give you the education that you need to be a theater artist. That being said, UCLA was trying to fit into both programs when it really didn’t fit into either. I think that the name can do a lot of an organization, obviously that's what UCLA believes or they wouldn't feel they needed to clarify it. Also I know that when I was applying to The University of the Arts they told me that they had changed the name of their program, and the people that had applied changed drastically. Also what people wanted to do after they left the program changed a lot as well. I think that a name change pretty much change who you are and who goes to your school and so will change the program inevitably.
I actually think he makes a pretty good case for changing the name. I have a BA in Theatre, and I understand that it is not very descriptive of what I know and what I have done. Changing the name might make the program more attractive for applicants because they can be more confident that potential employers will understand what their degree means.
Also, I disagree with Tiffany. Not everyone who is serious about making a career in theatre is looking for a BFA program. I specifically chose a BA program for my undergrad because I wanted to kind of well-rounded education it offered. It really gives a fuller perspective on the profession, which I think is really valuable. It also gave me a chance to pursue many other interests in college, which I think have helped my development as a person and a professional. I am glad I didn't spend my undergrad in a conservatory program, I think I would have missed out.
No matter what you change the title of the program to, you can't change the actual name of the degree or the weight of it. However, a change to the program's name could prove more marketable when searching for jobs. It can be used as a tool to help employers consider the BA different if the name of the program is more specific and better describe what the students skills are. General Theater is so broad it can mean acting, theater management, or production management, each of which are vastly different jobs and skills. I would almost recommend breaking up the BA names to have options like such here at CMU. It could then be a class or two that differentiates the programs on what is the concentration. It could even be as broad as titles such as design, technical theatre, and acting. Something to help the student be better identified for their focus. It also make it sound stronger and less community theater-ish.
If there is a great possibility of the BA program being eliminated, go ahead and change the name. Make it seem more appealing. However, this can lead to students not understand exactly what the program is and being off-put by it.
BA programs can be great programs to give both students who are and are not serious the information they need if they are serious about theatre. Back home we have several BA theatre programs that are great for learning about theatre. These programs have given students opportunities to work in the shop and on stage. I do not think that a BFA program is the only or necessarily best way to go if it is a students intention to work in theatre. While a BFA program can be more focused and can help with connections, it's not the only way to get into the industry.
I do admit that I didn't give BA Theater programs much of a chance while applying for theater programs. I was rather ambitious and thought that I wanted to jump right in. Since theater is so streamlined, it does seem that students who have BFA in theater design (or rather, just theater) seem to have more advantage in the job field over those who simply have a BA Theater degree. But it is rather interesting to propose to rename BA in Theatre into BA in Applied Theatre Production. The specificity of the name definitely sounds more marketable and applicable for theater production. In a place where people do indeed make judgments based on degrees and school in the first few years (and more) of the profession, I think that changing the name of the degree can definitely have a huge impact.
It sounds like they are not talking about making substantial curricular changes, and instead are taking about name changes. If that's the case, then maybe I feel this discussion is moot. I mean, students should be going to college for the education. Sure, some go for the diploma, but that's a waste. Part of being an informed consumer is doing research on the institutions you're applying to in order to find out if they will provide you with the education you want. Yes changing the name may make it more marketable. It may shift the demographics of who looks at the program. But it shouldn't spell drastic changes.
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