University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2016/17 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Arts > Department of Theatre > Theatre and Performance Studies (BA) > Specification
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Programme code | 1DRAM011U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Paul Clarke
|
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of Theatre |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | Dance, drama and performance (2019) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 3 years (full time) |
This programme is a consequence of the new departmental grouping of Music, Film, Theatre, which for the first time acknowledges the distinct disciplinary areas of Film and Television, and Theatre and Performance Studies. The new programme builds on the best features of the highly successful and well respected Single Honours in Drama, which for decades has been held up nationally and internationally as a model of best practice and provision in undergraduate programmes. It will continue to integrate the best research-informed critical, historical and theoretical teaching with high-quality creative and production experience, both through teaching in discipline-specific and equipped facilities in the department and placement in a professional context. It also provides us with the opportunity to continue to respond to student and external-examiner feedback, as well as advice from the Faculty and ESU, in that we have slightly modified our assessment profile across the units as well as increased optionality by making some units available across levels 5 and 6. Interdisciplinarity will be possible within the new degree and an indicative list of relevant cross-departmental and cross-faculty units has been provided below; these units, which address the programme’s learning outcomes can form part of Single Honours Theatre and Performance Studies.
This new Single Honours programme will enable students to deepen and expand their skills, knowledge and understanding of theatre and performance studies. The programme develops students’ interest in practices, histories and theories of theatre and their understanding of the interrelationship between performance practice, theoretical study, historical, cultural and political contexts. The first year introduces students to histories, contexts, forms, and ways of analysing performance, and enables them to develop practical skills in theatre production. In addition, they will develop their ability to discuss issues and write critically about the arts in dialogue with film and music students. In the second and final years, optional units deepen students' analytical expertise, knowledge around particular performance contexts, periods and genres and expand their practical skills in theatre-making. In the final year, students also take two supervised independent study projects, chosen from: extended essay; written dissertation; practical performance project; work placement. Optionality increases through Years 2 and 3 so that students can specialise, and these self-initiated projects provide skills that prepare them for postgraduate study or professional contexts. Assessment is by a combination of essays, individual and group presentations, practice-based productions, vivas, documentation and critical analysis of creative work. Having gained a combination of specialised and transferable skills, students are well-equipped to pursue a range of careers relating to the contemporary creative industries and arts-related professions, and within academic, professional and managerial sectors.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (1-7, 10) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1-8, 10, 12) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1-12) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (5, 6, 8-12) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (5, 6, 8-12) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (1-7, 10, 12) |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (1-7, 10) Individual and group presentations (1-8, 10, 12) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-12) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-12) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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|
Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (1, 2, 4-6, 9) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1, 2, 4-6) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1, 2, 4-10) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (1-3, 5, 6, 10-16) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (3, 9-14, 16) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (1, 2, 4-9) |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (1, 2, 4-9) Individual and group presentations (1-10,13,14,16) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-15) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-16) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (3, 7, 9) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (3, 4) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (2-7, 9) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (1-9) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (1-9) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (3-9) |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (2-5, 8) Individual and group presentations (1-9) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-9) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-9) |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 is introductory, providing a foundation for second and third year learning and for fulfilling the programme’s outcomes. Students gain familiarity with performance forms, key theories and concepts, contexts and ways of analysing theatre and performance. Through workshops, practical skills are acquired, in theatre production, reading a script for performance and staging a play for an audience. In addition, students develop their ability to discuss issues and write critically about the arts in a broader cultural context, in dialogue with film and music students on the Criticism in the Arts unit. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
In their second year students take two lecture and seminar units, which expand their contextual and historical, cultural and political frameworks for understanding theatre and performance. Students deepen their understanding of performance forms, genres or periods through optional units, which draw on expertise from staff research and enable a focus on particular theatre practices. In these options, which are taught across Level I/5 and H/6, students are expected to improve their skills in both creative, collaborative practice and their ability to reflect critically and theoretically. Students’ capacity for self-directed learning is also developed, which is necessary preparation for Level H/6 (e.g. through researching longer essays, devising and realising group performance projects). |
Level H/6 - Honours |
In the final year, students choose two supervised independent study options: written dissertation, practical performance project, extended essay and/or work placement. They develop their individual interests, and conceive self-directed projects that prepare them for professional contexts or postgraduate study. Students produce longer essays, are expected to formulate more nuanced and sophisticated arguments, refine their ability to gather and assimilate information, and should be confident using more advanced theory. Their knowledge of forms, genres and practices becomes deeper and they are expected to produce more professional, conceptually-informed creative practice. Their knowledge and understanding (15A) should be in depth and advanced, they should show a mastery of intellectual and creative attributes (15B), demonstrate self-motivation, effective collaborative working, independent thinking and a range of other transferable skills (15C). |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
Workload Statement
In common with the rest of the University, units in the Faculty of Arts
adhere to the credit framework which sets out that 20 credits normally
equates to some 200 hours of student input. Some of this time will be spent
in class, with the remainder divided between preparation for classes and
preparation for, and completion of, the assessment tasks. Some of this
activity may occur within the University’s online learning environment,
Blackboard, which you may use to prepare wikis, to interact with other
students, to download tutorials or to receive feedback.
Assessment Statement
Please select the following link for a statement about assessment. This is University of Bristol access only.
https://www.bris.ac.uk/arts/current/under/assessment.html
As noted above, this programme emerges from the highly successful Single Honours in Drama, which has effectively in recent years delivered a balanced curriculum across both film/television and theatre/performance studies. We wish to maintain a degree of cross-disciplinary optionality in this programme, as well as become open to the provision that becomes available from across the Faculty within Project Arts. Theatre and Performance Studies by its very nature is eclectic and hybrid, developing out of both language and literature studies; and we intend to maintain and develop that porosity. Furthermore, this programme will build on the unique and distinctive strengths of Drama as was, namely the combination of internationally recognized scholarship and innovative practice-as-research, conducted in professional contexts, with the unique resource of the UOB’s Theatre Collection and the active partnerships at all levels with leading local and national arts-organizations. Including teaching fellows offering practical production skills training working alongside scholars to deliver performance projects to public audiences, these strengths in combination infuse and inform all the Department’s teaching, and provide its students with a highly distinctive provision: for instance, in terms of opportunities for engagement with archives and primary source materials, and industrial placements with leading organisations in their field, such as Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol Old Vic, Mayfest and In Between Festival of Live Art.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Performance Forms and Analysis | DRAM11004 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Performance Contexts | DRAM10025 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Production Skills for Performance 1 | DRAM10028 | 10 | Mandatory | TB-1A | |
Production Skills for Performance 2 | DRAM10026 | 10 | Mandatory | TB-1B | |
Criticism and the Arts | DRAM10029 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Staging the Text | DRAM11008 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Producing the Performance | DRAM10027 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Performance Histories | DRAM23125 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Politics of Performance | DRAM20048 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Select from: | |||||
Performing the Archive: Re-use, Re-enactment and Adaptation | DRAM23129 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Popular Performance: Cabaret, Music Hall, Musicals and Revue | DRAM23124 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Interpreting Plays | DRAM23128 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Choreography for Theatre | DRAM20051 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Early Modern Theatre Practice | DRAM20056 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Applied Theatre | THTR20002 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Choose open units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Select one from: | |||||
Independent Study: Performance Project | THTR30015 | 40 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Independent Study: Dissertation | THTR30018 | 40 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Plus at least one of: | |||||
Independent Study: Extended Essay | THTR30017 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
Independent Study: Work Placement | THTR30016 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
Select from: | |||||
Devised Performance | THTR30003 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Contemporary British Theatre | THTR30019 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Age of the Actress: Eighteenth-Century Performance Practices | THTR30022 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Site-Specific and Immersive Performance | THTR30006 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Theatre and Performance Studies (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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