BWW Student Center's School in the Spotlight: Vassar College

The Drama Department at Vassar offers a degree in drama which "focuses on the study of world-theater and literatures from the Greeks through the 21st century, as well as hands on theater making through the art of collaboration. We teach dynamic courses in acting, directing, dramaturgy, design, and playwriting. Our aim is to introduce students to the theoretical and practical dimensions of theater through the encounter of a variety of genres and cultures, and to encourage students to generate new work through collective creation."

Vassar has a long and distinguished history in drama, dating back to the early 1900s. We were the first among what were once called the "Seven Sisters" colleges to establish a formal Department of Drama. It was created through the efforts of Gertrude Buck, who started the Vassar Dramatic Workshop in 1916; WinifrEd Smith, who established the Division of Drama in 1938; andHallie Flanagan Davis, who began producing plays in 1927 for the Experimental Theater of Vassar College. Davis is an especially important member of this early group of distinguished faculty. She was a dynamic and talented woman who became famous in the 1930's for her "Living Newspaper" productions. While teaching at Vassar, Davis was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to direct the Federal Theater Project as part of the WPA. The Department of Drama carries on the innovative work of these pioneering women and still produces productions as the Experimental Theater of Vassar College. The Department's academic strength is evident in its liberal arts approach to the study of drama, integrating areas of history and literature, with an expectation that both students and faculty will produce powerful and vigorously experimental works.