Performing Arts and Social Change (Minor)

The minor in Performing Arts and Social Change employs the restorative practices of theater to foster community-engaged learning and to affect social change. Students practice creativity, critical reflection, and empathy that extends well beyond the theater and into the wider community.

The program features a distinctive curricular partnership with The Marin Shakespeare Company (MSC). Dominican is one of the few universities in the nation to house a professional theater company on campus, and each year, Marin Shakespeare mounts three main-stage productions in the Forest Meadows Amphitheater. Under the guidance of artistic director Robert Currier and managing director Lesley Currier, the company also provides free and low-cost educational programming to underserved populations in the local community. Among these are the incarcerated. Shakespeare for Social Justice is an arts-in-corrections program that combines drama therapy with Shakespearean performance in Northern California penal institutions, including San Quentin State Prison.

Under the guidance and mentorship of literary scholars, social justice advocates, artists, and technicians in professional theater, students wed theory to practice in specialized coursework. The minor culminates in a capstone experience featuring a professional internship with MSC or another approved community partner. The internship is enhanced by a faculty-led community of practice where students critically reflect on their experiences and develop a final project suited to their professional and academic goals. Signature work could be scholarly, creative, digital, or performance-based with the option of joining MSC’s Acting and Technical Summer Training Program, which offers ensemble casting in at least one mainstage production and Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) points.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students will:

1. Reflect critically on their identity as a person, a professional, and a community member.
2. Analyze the relationship between agency and structures that produce inequity in diverse communities.
3. Act creatively and collaboratively to learn within diverse community contexts.
4. Co-create artistic and restorative practices through performance that promote equity and enhance well-being.

Total Credit Hours: 16