Peck School of the Arts Programs Offers Opportunities in Dance and Music

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts is very pleased to announce the following new programs, approved last week by UWM's Academic Program and Curriculum Committee.

Performance & Choreography/Africa and the Diaspora Track: This new track added to the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance prepares students to perform and create original dance choreography for theatrical productions and positions UWM Peck School of the Arts as the only such program in the Midwest at the undergraduate level. Developed by professor and African dance expert Ferne Caulker Bronson, the curriculum has been created with a wide range of opportunities for students to infuse their dance studies with exposure and training to aesthetic, religious and cultural sensitivities that will insure their ability to move into a variety of cultural situations. Africa and the Diaspora students will complete a rigorous technical and creative curriculum with a foundation in Africa and the Diaspora techniques, with cross training in ballet and modern. Students will also study body/mind sciences, dance pedagogy, historical and cultural contexts for dance and the interactive collaboration skills necessary to bring dance to the theatre with a high degree of excellence.

Certificate Program in Rock and Roll Studies: Developed in response to strong interest from students and faculty and under the direction of renowned Rock and Roll historian and Peck School senior lecturer DR. Martin Jack Rosenblum, this unique program will prepare students to use the tools of ethnomusicology, musicology, literature studies and cultural studies to examine American vernacular music in a way previously reserved for what is called "classical music." Beginning in Fall 2010, certificate students will gain a solid understanding of this musical genre while deepening their knowledge of the style from an array of courses across the arts and humanities.

More detailed information about each program will be communicated in the coming months. For immediate information, please contact Ellen Friebert Schupper at 414-229-6771 or schupper@uwm.edu.