Performing Arts and Social Change (Minor)

The Performing Arts and Social Change minor is designed to harness the transformative power of performing arts to promote community-engaged learning and drive social change. Students cultivate creativity as a form of resistance, engaging with key concepts from performance studies to connect with their broader communities. Students work in partnerships with community organizations such as Alter Theater, which are dedicated to the pursuit of equity and justice for marginalized communities. Guided by literary scholars, spoken word poets, social justice advocates, and seasoned professionals in dance, theater, music and more, students connect theory to practice through specialized coursework in which they actively engage in issues of social justice involving the intersections of race, class, disability, sexuality, and gender.

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.

Required Courses:

CASC 3400	Theory and Practice for Community Action and Social Change	4.00 units
ENGL 3109	Politics of the Body in Motion	3.00 units

Group 1 Electives:

Select one from the following. Other courses may be approved by the department.

ENGL 2300/ENGL 3300	Film Studies	2.00 units
	and
ENGL 2304/ENGL 3304	Drama Studies	2.00 units
ENGL 3300/ENGL 2300	Film Studies	2.00 units
	and
ENGL 3304/ENGL 2304	Drama Studies	2.00 units
ENGL 3016	Shakespeare for Social Justice	4.00 units
ENGL 3018	Romantic to Pre-War Literature	4.00 units
ENGL 3107	Governing Bodies: Body Text and Contexts	4.00 units
ENGL 3108	Monsters and Monstrosity	4.00 units
ENGL 3331	Expressive Writing	4.00 units
ENGL 3405/ENGL 4405	Poetry Writing	4.00 units
ENGL 3413	Spoken Word	4.00 units

Group 2 Electives

Select one from the following. Other courses may be approved by the department.

MUS 1012	Piano: Healing Art of Music	4.00 units
MUS 1013	Listen & Compose: Diverse World of Music	4.00 units
MUS 1021	Musical Cultures and Songwriting	4.00 units
MUS 3012	Piano: Healing Art of Music	4.00 units
MUS 3013	Listen & Compose: Diverse World of Music	4.00 units
MUS 3021	Musical Cultures and Songwriting	4.00 units
PHIL 2101	The Power of Words: Culture, Conditioning	4.00 units
PHIL 2104	Ethics from the Margins	4.00 units
PHIL 2124	Othering and Belonging	4.00 units
PHIL 2520	Self, Community and Ethical Action	4.00 units
PHIL 3124	Othering and Belonging	4.00 units
PHIL 3520	Self, Community and Ethical Action	4.00 units
RLGN 3076	Religion & Social Movements	4.00 units

Capstone

CASC 4996	Community-Engaged Internship	2.00 units
CASC 4905	Community of Practice and Signature Work	2.00 units

Total Credit Hours: 16