Theatre Arts, B.A.

About the Undergraduate Program (School of Theatre and Dance)

Grades below C in courses required of theatre and dance majors and minors are not acceptable in fulfillment of degree requirements. A grade of C or better must be achieved in any DAN or THA course that is a prerequisite for another course. Transfer students must complete the following minimum credit hours of major or minor courses in residence at Texas Tech: B.A. theatre majors, 24 hours; B.F.A. theatre majors, 36 hours; B.A. dance majors, 24 hours; and theatre or dance minors, 9 hours.

Semester Credit Hour and Contact Hour Equivalents. Pursuant to the Texas Tech University Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog, the Texas Administrative Code, and norms stated in the NAST Handbook, the credit and time expectations for the School of Theatre and Dance courses are as follows:

• For studio-based courses, a standard of 30 in-class contact hours per credit hour per term is employed. Further, noncontact hour time expectations for out-of-class student activity typically range from 20 to 30 hours per credit hour per term.
• For traditionally delivered 3-credit-hour lecture- or seminar-based courses during a regular semester, students should expect to be in class for 3 hours per week and work outside of class a minimum of 6 hours per week. For 3-credit-hour courses requiring a non-credit lab, students should expect to be in class for 6 hours per week and work outside of class 3 to 6 hours per week.

Theatre Arts Major

The number of hours required for the B.A. in Theatre Arts is 120, at least 40 of which must be at the junior and senior levels. The degree will provide students an opportunity to participate in a more individualized degree through the choice of elective courses for a minor from outside the major area discipline that is consistent with the university philosophy and policies for a liberal arts degree.

Communication Literacy Requirement. Students attending Texas Tech University for the first time in the Fall 2017 term or later will complete a Communication Literacy requirement in their program(s) of study.

Texas Tech University’s transition from the Writing Intensive requirement to the Communication Literacy requirement signals the university’s awareness that in addition to the fundamental role that writing plays in enabling students to explore, develop, focus, and organize a message, other types of communication must also be taught as appropriate for a student’s discipline. Throughout each program of study, then, students must be given ample opportunity to develop their skills in forms of communication central to that program.

Communication Literacy courses for the B.A. in Theatre Arts  are THA 3308 , THA 3309 , and THA 3351 .

Recommended Curriculum

Total Hours: 120

The sample course sequence above includes general minor classes for subject areas in which students can complete classes in any order at any time. Be aware that the minor in education (leading to Texas Teacher Certification) follows a much different pattern. To minor in education, students must meet specific GPA requirements, testing standards, and be admitted to the Teacher Education Program (TEP) through the College of Education. Application to the TEP typically does not occur until the student reaches approximately 70-75 credit hours. Teacher certification will most likely add one full year to a student’s program due to the one year student teaching requirement.

* Choose from the university’s core curriculum .

^† The B.A. in Theatre Arts requires at least one year (or its equivalent) of the same foreign language on the college level.