Ancient and Medieval Theatre

THEA 61A - 01 FALL 2018

Dr. M. Chemers Course Overview

The 61 series is a multi-quarter curriculum of three 5-unit courses that focuses on

Location and time reading plays within their, and our own, historical contexts. The first step in
understanding theatre and its potential for advancing social discourses is learning
Second Stage
how to read a play like a dramaturg. The second step is putting that reading into a
T/Th 3:20-4:55 pm context that illuminates the historical contexts for dramatic writing and practice. The
third step is placing that knowledge into a fresh context for new interpretations and
adaptations. This course teaches how plays function as part of the social systems that
Phone
produce them to render the student a more effective creator and critic of performance
831.502.7571 culture. In 61A, we explore the theatrical writing and practice in key times and
places prior to the modern period, including Greece, Egypt, Rome, India, Pre-
Conquest Mesoamerica, Classical China and Japan, and Medieval Europe. 61B will
Email
cover world theatre traditions between the 16th and 18th centuries, and 61C will cover
[email protected] world theatre from the 19th century onward. Upon successful completion of the
course, the student will be able to:

Office Location • Demonstrate a broad general understanding of the theatre history of the
periods covered
J-19
• Read plays from the period covered with deep critical engagement
• Execute a critical analysis of a dramatic text within its historical context
Office Hours • Create a useful production history
• Identify historical racial, sexual, gender, class, and other kinds of bias
Fridays 10-12 and by
appointment
Required Text
Teaching Assistants
The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama, W.B. Worthen, ed., Sixth Edition. Note: this
1. Isabel Cruz (C, D)
book is expensive, but it will be used throughout the 61 series. This course requires
[email protected]
that you purchase the Sixth Edition of the Anthology. This text has been ordered and
2. Peyman Shams (A, B) should be available at the Bay Tree Bookstore and on reserve at the McHenry
Library. It is also readily available for purchase online. Please note that it is your
Sections responsibility to acquire this text in a timely fashion, whether the bookstore has
enough copies or not. Other readings will be made available on the course’s
A Th 5:20-625 J-102
CANVAS site. All students who are registered for the class are automatically given
B F 9:20-10:25 J-102 access to the CANVAS site. Problems? https://its.ucsc.edu/canvas/.

C F 10:40-11:45 J-102 Additional Resources: On the canvas site you will find a number of additional
research guides and other resources to help you succeed in this course. Your next
D F 1:20-2:25 J-102 stop is your Teaching Assistant, and of course you can always talk to the professor.
 NOTE: Doc will provide links via canvas to all of the prezi lectures, but if you
didn’t see the lectures, you’ll be pretty much screwed just trying to cram from those.

COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to change!)

Date Subject Reading
9.27 Introduction: incest, drugs, cannibalism, None. SECTIONS WILL
hell-mouths and theatre history MEET FRIDAY 9.28
10.2 How to Read Tragedies Ghost Light ch 4 (canvas)
10.4 Oedipus in Context Wadsworth 13-20, and 75-94
10.9 Medea in Context Wadsworth 95-110
10.11 Medea Today None. Production Histories Due
10.16 How to read Comedies Ghost Light ch 5 (canvas)
10.18 Lysistrata in Context Wadsworth 111-128
10.23 Greek to Roman-why we give a darn None.
10.25 The Brothers Menaechmus in Context Wadsworth 129-152
10.30 Midterm Review All of the above
11.1 MIDTERM EXAM STUDY!

11.6 Engaging Global Classical Theatre Excerpt of Natyasastra (canvas)

11.8 Shakuntula in Context Shakuntula (canvas)

11.13 Mesoamerican Pre-Conquest Theatre TBA

11.15 GUEST LECTURER: KINAN VALDEZ TBA
11.20 TBA TBA
11.23 Matsukaze in Context Wadsworth 181-203
11.27 NO CLASS MEETING: Thanksgiving
11.29 The York Crucifixion in Context Wadsworth 253-8, and 277-82
12.4 Everyman in Context Wadsworth 283-293
12.6 Final Exam Review STUDY!

FINAL EXAM Monday December 13 8:00-11:00 am

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 2

 Discussion Section Schedule
Week Subject
Week 1 Introductions
Week 2 12-step workshop/ How to write a production history
Week 3 Production Histories #1 due
Week 4 Introducing the Big Pitch Project
Week 5 Midterm Exam Prep
Week 6 No meeting. Work on Big Pitch with your team.
Week 7 Production Histories #2 due
Week 8 Big Pitch, round one
Week 9 Big Pitch, round two
Week 10 Big Pitch, round three
Week 11 Final Exam Prep

Course Requirements
• Class Attendance. Attendance in the lecture sessions is critically essential to passing the course.
Assignments and guidance will be given during the lecture sessions, and the central ideas of the course
will be presented and discussed. Attendance in the individual discussion sections is mandatory. Every
unexcused absence will result in the lowering of your final grade by one grade level (A to B, B to C, etc).
Tardiness, or leaving class before the end time will not be tolerated and will be counted against your
attendance. If your attendance is prohibited by forces beyond your control, we expect you to produce
documentation in support of a request that your absence be excused. If we approve the request for an
excuse, you are still responsible for acquiring whatever material you missed, perhaps borrowing notes
from another student, and for requesting whether we will provide an appropriate alternate assignment.
• Participation. At the end of each lecture session, there will be a chance for students to raise questions and
discussions, but the participation grade will also derive heavily from your work in the discussion sections.
You are expected to come to all course sessions with all readings and assignments completed, and
prepared to discuss the topics of the day. These grades will be posted periodically – it is your
responsibility to check in with your TA if your participation grade is declining.
• Professional Class Conduct. Students are expected to come to class on time, with homework done, fully
prepared to engage the material of the day. Students should engage proactively with the material while in
class, ask questions, and be respectful of fellow students. Students should be taking notes every day.
Students are expected not to be disruptive, not to sleep, not to chat with one another, email, IM, websurf,
or otherwise screw around while in class. Students are expected not to work on other homework during
the class. Students are expected to turn off all cell phones (if you are expecting an emergency call, please
inform a Teaching Assistant before class). Unless you have a special need, laptops are not allowed to be
open in class. Students are expected to behave with professional decorum at all times. Students who fail
to meet these requirements will be asked to leave the class session and may be penalized.

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 3

 • Reading Quizzes. There will be 10 reading quizzes given throughout the quarter. They will be given in
the first ten minutes of class and test your comprehension of the assignment of the day. They might be
given any day. If you leave class after the quiz is given, you will be counted absent for the day.
• Exams. There will be two exams, both electronically graded scantron exams. For each test, you will need
to bring a RED scantron form and a #2 pencil to class. Questions will cover the general knowledge
presented in the class, and will not merely require factual responses but also some analysis of the plays
and ideas presented. The tests are non-cumulative. You’re welcome. Please do not ask to take the final
exam on a different day
• Production Histories. Your TA will instruct you how to write production histories and how to use them
in your critical engagement with a play. Production History #1 requires you to find a recent (last five
years) production that is an adaptation of a play that originated in Ancient Greece. Production History #2
requires to you find a recent production that uses non-European source material from the time period.
• The Big Pitch. Your TA will assign you to a small groups within your section. Each group will assume
the role of a troupe of performers working during one of the specific historical periods we are studying,
who are presenting an innovative idea to someone in power (played by your TA) who can fund them in a
ten-minute pitch. During your presentation your group will:
1. Establish who you are, your time period and location, and whom the TA represents.
2. Establish your credentials as accomplished performers of a style that has been the standard up until
now.
3. Explain this new innovative performance you want the TA to support, and give them a live sample
of what the show will eventually look like.
4. Assuming that the TA is going to hate your idea, explain why this innovation is a good idea in a
social and historical context by anticipating the TA’s objections, and by extension why the TA
should support you and not, say, have you burned at the stake.
You will present these pitches during the last three weeks of class according to a schedule your TA
creates. Your TA will determine whether your troupe is funded, supported, or executed.

EXAMPLES:
• You are a troupe of pre-Tragic Dionysian celebrants, perhaps with Thespis, who are trying to
convince the High Priest of Dionysos to allow masks and dialogue in the ritual.
• You are a troupe of comic actors from the countryside trying to get the Archon of Athens to allow
you to perform alongside the more serious dramas.
• You are a troupe of Athenian satirical actors trying to prevent Cleon from throwing you in prison
for mocking his administration.
• You are a troupe of Mesoamerican performers trying to get a Conquistador priest to allow you to
do the annual festival – perhaps you are Quiché hoping to do the Rabinal Achí and the TA is
Sahagún.
• You are early modern European guild members trying to convince the bishop to support a Corpus
Christi play.
• You are the students of Bharatamuni trying to convince a powerful demon not to devour you for
performing a natya.

Please note: this is a collaborative project. Your team will have to research the material sufficiently to
add something new to what the professor discussed in class. You do not need to make elaborate costumes,
but providing small details that stand in for large ones will help a lot. You do not need to be really good
actors to get a good grade, but setting aside a few hours to rehearse your pitch with your team is essential.
Please do not be the member of your team who does a slack job and makes everyone else work harder.
That person is awful.

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 4

 GRADING
Attendance and Participation (10 pts/week) 100 970-1000 A+ 940-969 A
Production History #1 100 900-939 A- 870-899 B+
Midterm Exam 100 840-869 B 800-839 B-
Production History #2 100 770-899 C+ 700-769 C
Comprehension Quizzes (20 points each x10) 200 600-699 D >600 F
The Big Pitch 100 UCSC does not award a grade of C-
Final Exam 200

In this course, “A” work represents a mastery of the course material and communication of that material.
“A” work is cogently organized, correctly researched and appropriately cited and presented, and can be
understood with clarity.

A “B” is awarded to work that shows a solid comprehension of the course material, an understanding of
the concepts and theories, and a capability to communicate these ideas by providing evidence of critical
analysis and evaluation.

A “C” is awarded to acceptable work, which demonstrates at least a basic familiarity with the course
material – enough to pass the course, but not enough to indicate a strong future as a Theatre Major.

A “D” is awarded to minimally acceptable work. For whatever reason, the student has demonstrated only a
limited understanding of the material, and the professor cannot attest that the student has acquired the
critical skills the class hoped to teach. A “D” is not a passing grade for Theatre Majors or Minors.

An “F” is given when the student’s work has demonstrated an insufficient understanding of the course
material, or when the student has not contributed enough work for a reasonable evaluation, or when the
student’s work has proven significantly lacking in evidence or critical engagement at an appropriate level,
or if the student’s work is fraudulent or dishonest in some way.

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 5

 FAQ
When’s the best time to talk to the professor? Just before or just after classes are terrible times to talk to me.
Come to my office hours or email to schedule an appointment.

Do you check email? Yes, but it’s not my religion. On weekdays, during the working day, I will usually respond
before the end of the day. I do not regularly check email on weekends or evenings. Please follow up and
confirm all messages sent via email.

Can I submit my assignments by email? No. Please submit all assignments, cleanly printed, to the appropriate
person during the class meeting time on the day the paper is due, or in the prof’s mailbox ONLY IF you
have permission to do so.

Do you accept papers late? Sure. But there are consequences for substandard behavior. For every day you are
late with an assignment, your grade on that assignment will drop a level (A to B, B to C, etc).

Will you offer personalized tutoring in writing? I can help you learn how to craft a sophisticated, brilliant,
incisive, complicated, eventually even publishable argument about theatre history and dramatic literature,
but I expect you to know already how generate a well-organized, research-based argumentative essay that
cites evidence. If you need some writing help – and we ALL do from time to time - visit this website:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/lss/. They can help you get a tutor, and they offer special skills courses. Also,
check out this website: http://www.cmu.edu/styleguide/ for a guide to writing fluently and clearly.

How do you feel about cheating? The official UCSC policy governing Academic Integrity is available at
http://www.ucsc.edu/academics/academic_integrity/. Suspected cases of plagiarism or other cheating will
be handled strictly according to those policies. If you have any questions about what exactly constitutes
plagiarism, read
http://www1.ucsc.edu/academics/academic_integrity/undergraduate_students/resources.html and talk to
Dr. Chemers about it. Any behavior that constitutes cheating, plagiarism, or any form of misconduct
(including submitting a paper that has been submitted to another class) will not be tolerated in this class
for any reason. Students who are guilty of plagiarism in any form will no longer be allowed to attend the
class sessions and will receive a failing grade. In addition, the professor may choose to pursue more
stringent academic disciplinary action, which may include your expulsion from the university.

Come on, not really? Really. Cheat and fail.

What if I have a disability that might affect my class work? The University of California and this professor are
committed to providing an equitable learning environment for all students. If you require special
accommodations, please get an Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC)
and submit it to me within the first two weeks of the quarter. Contact DRC at 459-2089 (voice); 459-4806
(TTY); [email protected]; or http://drc.ucsc.edu/ for more information on the requirements and/or process.

What if I have personal problems that interfere with my work? College is stressful, and stress is
psychologically damaging. Be careful! All of us must find ways of coping in order to complete our work.
If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, please contact:

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 • Counseling and Psychological Services (831) 459-2628. Hours 8:00am to 5:00pm, Student
Health Center, East Wing 2nd Floor.

If you feel that your emotional condition may interfere with your work, please make whatever
arrangements you need to and inform one of us as soon as possible. We are committed to doing whatever
we can to support your successful completion of the class, but the primary responsibility for taking care of
yourself can and must be only yours.

What if I need to take time off for religious observance? I will make all reasonable accommodation if any
events in the schedule conflict with your religious creed. You must make any request for such
accommodation to me directly within the first two weeks of the term.

Extra credit? Don’t even ask.

Question most likely to give the professor an aneurysm: Can I take the final exam at another time because I
really want to go on vacation that week? No – the UCSC schedule of classes is very clear about dates and
has been posted for many months.

Second most likely: Do I really have to come to class on the 2tht of November? Yes. You will only take this class
one time in your whole life. Because I’d really like to start my Thanksgiving break early. Turkey can
wait. But my parents really want me to come home. I think your parents probably want you to complete
your education, actually.

Third most likely: I missed class – did we do anything important? Twitch. So when can I make up the quiz? I
don’t understand. You missed it. It’s missed. Yeah but like dude you excused my absence, so isn’t there a
way I can make up the material? You may request that your TA give you an alternate assignment for
quizzes. Missed exams and other major assignments require you to discuss the matter with the professor.

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 7

 PRODUCTION HISTORY ASSIGNMENT

One way that dramaturgs clarify their topics is by doing production histories, which are fairly straightforward
research projects. Creating a production history should be the first step in the dramaturgical process for any show
you do. In this critical task, you answer the following questions about a given play:

• Has it ever been done before? If not, has something like it been done?
• What did that production look like?
• Who was involved?
• What were its goals (Why This Play Then)?
• Was it popular? Controversial? Unnoticed?

Answering these questions is vital to getting the proper context for a show you’re doing. I have been constantly
amazed at how much great information doing a production history can reveal for very little effort on my part.
Artistic Directors, directors, designers, and actors all devour production histories with great relish, not only
because it helps them properly contextualize their own work, but because it gives them a sense of being part of
theatrical history. A production history is like a record of the intrepid souls who ventured across this territory
before you; infinitely valuable, especially in dangerous terrain.

To create a production history, you must discover the what (Title), when (Date), where (Country, City, and
Theater), and who (Author, Translator or Adaptor, Director, Designers, Actors, Production Team) of the first
production (of a contemporary play) or a recent significant production (of a classic play). Sources for this include
reviews, historical articles, performance reconstructions (theatre history articles that specialize in recreating the
events as precisely as possible, which you can find in scholarly journals), theatre biographies, and specialized
periodicals that specifically gather this kind of information (see the Appendices for a list of some of these
sources). Going online can save time, but make sure you confirm all the information you find. The internet is
often unreliable (GASP).

Once you have the basic production information about the production, you need to put it in context by retrieving
the reviews of that performance. Begin by writing a condensed summary of the reviews, getting a sense of what
the production meant to the author and the people who saw it originally. It’s also worthwhile to note if there are
any “big names” in the production – how did this project contribute to their overall notoriety? How did their
presence impact the work? Can you see any aesthetic trends in the work that these artists would explore later? Did
the play win any awards? Did it break any new ground? For a first production, you should also note what major
revivals were done of this play; for classic plays, you should note why this particular revival is significant. The
Internet might have all of this information, but there are dramaturgical yearbooks like Theatre World that collect
this information specifically, and often even include reviews. Use the reference librarians – that’s what they are
there for! The synthesis of the evidence is your original contribution to this document – you must make meaning
out of the data you discover in your research.

In the end, you will produce a document that looks like this, for a contemporary play:

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 8

 PRODUCTION HISTORY

WHAT = A RAISIN IN THE SUN

WHEN = 1959 – MARCH – 10
WHERE = U.S.A. – NEW YORK – ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATRE (BROADWAY)
WHO = LORRAINE HANSBERRY (AUTHOR)
LLOYD RICHARDS (DIRECTOR)
RALPH ALSWANG (SETS AND LIGHTING)
VIRGINIA VOLLAND (COSTUMES)
SIDNEY POITIER (ACTOR – “WALTER”)
RUBY DEE (ACTOR – “RUTH”)
IVAN DIXON (ACTOR – “JOSEPH”)
LONNE ELDER III (ACTOR – “BOBO”)
JOHN FIEDLER (ACTOR – “KARL”)
LOUIS GOSSETT (ACTOR – “GEORGE”)
ED HALL (ACTOR – “MOVING MAN”)
CLAUDIA MCNEIL (ACTOR – “LENA”)
DIANA SANDS (ACTOR – “BENEATHA”)
GLYNN TURMAN (ACTOR – “TRAVIS”)
DOUGLAS TURNER (ACTOR – “MOVING MAN”)

CRITICAL RECEPTION
Considered the first naturalistic play featuring African-American themes and characters, Hansberry’s
semi-autobiographical Raisin is still acknowledged as a stunningly ground-breaking play in American
theatre history. It’s content, a social-realist telling of the story of a upwardly-mobile black family moving
into a white middle-class neighborhood, was historically striking. In light of a growing discontent and
radicalism in the marginalized and disenfranchised black community of the era, who felt they were being
excluded from the postwar prosperity the country enjoyed, Raisin was hailed as a play that broke the
“color barrier” (it was popular among mainstream white audiences and brought new black audiences into
the theatre) and shattered not only the stereotype of black people as socially inferior to whites, but as
incapable of producing realistic, psychologically-deep, and powerfully literary drama. Taking its title and
themes of black social immobility and frustration from a famous Langston Hughes poem “Harlem”
(1951), the play (like the poem) became (and remains) a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. The
production was honored by the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award for Best Play of the Year
(Hansberry would be the youngest person, and the first African-American, to receive this prize). Its
director (Richards) and many of its stars (Poitier, Dee, and Gossett in particular) were already pillars of
the black theatre, but this play would make them iconic figures in American theatre history. Upon closing
in October of 1959, the production moved immediately to the Belasco, where it played until June 25,
1960. It was adapted into a 1961 Columbia Pictures film scripted by Hansberry and including the
Broadway cast, and into a 1973 musical called Raisin, which won the 1974 Tony for Best Musical.

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 9

 For a significant modern production of a much older text, it might look like this:

PRODUCTION HISTORY

WHAT = NATHAN THE WISE

WHEN = 2003 – MAY – 1
WHERE = UK – CHICHESTER – MINERVA THEATRE
WHO = G.E. LESSING (AUTHOR)
EDWARD KEMP (ADAPTOR)
STEVEN PIMLOTT (DIRECTOR)
ANTHONY MACDONALD (DESIGN)
HUGH VANSTONE (LIGHTING)
GREGORY CLARKE (SOUND)
MICHAEL FEAST (ACTOR – “NATHAN”)
JEFFERY KISSOON (ACTOR – “SALADIN”)
GEOFFREY STREATFIELD (ACTOR – “TEMPLAR”)
NOMA DUMEZWENI (ACTOR – “SITTAH”)
JONATHAN CULLEN (ACTOR – “AL-HAFI”)
ALFRED BURKE (ACTOR – “PATRIARCH”)
KAY CURRAM (ACTOR – “RACHEL”)
DARLENE JOHNSON (ACTOR – “DAYA”)
STEVEN BEARD (ACTOR – “LAY BROTHER”)

CRITICAL RECEPTION
Written by Lessing in 1779, the play dramatizes Lessing’s own life-altering conflict with Johann
Melchior Goeze, a powerful anti-Semitic clergyman in Hamburg, who objected to Lessing’s publication
of a book on theology that denied the divinity of Christ and the reality of miracles (this book would
become popular among many prominent Enlightenment thinkers, like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin
Franklin). In response to the controversy, the Duke of Brunswick (Lessing’s employer) forbade him to
write theology. Lessing turned to the theatre, and transferred the ideological quarrel to 12th-century
Jerusalem, where the character Nathan the Jew must navigate the perilous religious politics of Sultan
Saladin’s post-Crusade Judea. The character of “Nathan” is modeled on Lessing’s friend and collaborator,
Moses Mendelssohn, who was one of Europe’s most celebrated philosophers but, being Jewish, was
denied civil rights and basic human dignity in Germany. The play’s powerful indictment of blind faith,
theological racism, and reactionary politics made it a beacon of the Enlightenment. Banned by the Nazis,
it became the first play performed in Germany after the fall of Hitler and is now required reading for
German schoolchildren. However, it has fared poorly in English translations, because it had invariably
emerged as dense, long, and intolerably didactic (in Bentley’s words, “preachy”), and Lessing’s
masterpiece has been largely uncelebrated in the English-speaking world except by scholars. Edward
Kemp’s new adaptation, originally considered very risky, is streamlined, funny, and full of action, and
was hailed by critics as “superb,” “deeply moving,” and “excellent.” Less than two years after the
destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists and in the midst of an explosion of anti-Muslim
sentiment in the West, Kemp’s play was a voice of tolerance, reason, and the vital necessity of finding a
way to live in harmony with those of different beliefs. These events give Lessing’s play a profound new
relevance, and Kemp’s adaptation makes the drama widely accessible to a popular audience.

Along with this document, your production history should include copies of the relevant reviews, any scholarly
articles you employed or intend to employ, and if possible, production stills or other images (you can find
woodcuts and other records of classic productions in historical archive).

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 10

 Course Policies
UC POLICY ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT / RESOURCES

UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating and maintaining a community where all individuals can work and learn together in an
atmosphere free of sexual harassment and sexual violence. The sexual harassment of students and employees, including
sexual violence, interferes with their right to work and learn in a safe environment and is a form of sex discrimination prohibited
by Title IX of the Education Act. Title IX prohibits gender discrimination, including sexual harassment, domestic and dating
violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

If you have experienced sexual harassment or sexual violence, it is important that you know:

1. You can receive confidential support and advocacy at the Campus Advocacy Resources & Education
(CARE) Office (care.ucsc.edu) by calling (831) 502-2273. The CARE office supports UC Santa Cruz
students, faculty and staff affected by sexual harassment or sexual violence.
2. Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) Office (caps.ucsc.edu, 831-459-2628) can provide
confidential, counseling support.
3. Faculty, Teaching Assistants and Advisers are required under the UC Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual
Harassment* to inform the Title IX Office should they become aware that you or any other student has
experienced sexual violence or sexual harassment. If you are not comfortable with this, please contact
CARE or CAPS instead (info above).
To Report a Possible Title IX Violation directly to the University’s Title IX Office, students, faculty or staff can use this
online reporting form at https://titleix.ucsc.edu/reporting/index.html or call (831) 459-2462.

Reports to law enforcement can be made to the UC Santa Cruz Police Department (police.ucsc.edu): 831-459-2231,
ext. 1.

For emergencies, call 911.

Other resources are listed on the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response website: safe.ucsc.edu.

*The UC Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment is online here:

https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000385/SVSH

Questions or concerns regarding the Policy or related procedures and requirements, can be directed to the Title IX
Office: 831-459-2462 or [email protected].

GENERAL CONDUCT

In this class we abide by the UCSC Principles of Community, so please familiarize yourself with these:
https://www.ucsc.edu/about/principles-community.html.

ACCOMMODATIONS

UCSC is committed to creating an academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you are a student with a
disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access in this course, please submit your Accommodation
Authorization Letter from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to your instructor privately during office hours or by
appointment, preferably within the first week of the quarter. At this time, you may discuss ways to ensure your full participation
in the course. All students who may benefit from learning more about DRC services are strongly encouraged to contact the
DRC by phone at 831-459-2089 or email at [email protected].

• DRC online: https://drc.ucsc.edu

• DRC Frequently Asked Questions for prospective and current DRC Students, faculty and Staff, and parents:
https://drc.ucsc.edu/resources-and-forms/faqs.html
• Frequently Asked Questions regarding Service and Support animals: https://drc.ucsc.edu/services-and-
accommodations/sa-overview/other-accommodations/service-animals-faqs.html
• UC Santa Cruz Service/Support Animal Policy: https://policy.ucsc.edu/policies/student-affairs/dss-0003.html

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 11

 MATURE COURSE CONTENT

In university courses you may be assigned images, films or other material that could contain difficult ideas, uncomfortable
language, or graphic depictions of sex or violence. You will be asked to treat these portrayals critically, to consider what is
being expressed by the maker, or to examine the potential social impact, and to evaluate the works in a given context.
Instructors are always happy to speak with you about the course content and/or your work, and might direct you to CAPS
(Counseling and Psychological Services) at 831-459-2628 or the Disability Resource Center ([email protected], 831-459-2089)
should you need additional support in order to participate and do your best work.

GRADE DISPUTES

If you have questions about the grading of your work, please make arrangements to meet with your teaching assistant (TA) if
the course has one. If the course does not have a TA, or if your questions are not resolved, please see the course instructor
during office hours. If the matter still remains unresolved, you will be advised on further options.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT POLICY

Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, or facilitating academic dishonesty. Acts
of academic misconduct during the course, including plagiarism, can and usually do result in failure of the course, at the sole
discretion of the instructor of record. Your case will be reported to the College Provost as per the Academic Integrity guidelines
found on the web at: https://www.ue.ucsc.edu/academic_misconduct

ONLINE COURSE EVALUATIONS (OCEs)

The Theater Arts Department collects feedback from students at the end of each course in the form of Online Course
Evaluations (OCEs):

You will receive an email when the evaluation/survey is available. The email will provide information about the evaluation as
well as a link to it online. When you receive the email, please click the link, log in, and complete the evaluation. You will also
be able log in to the evaluations site by going directly to http://evaluations.ucsc.edu. Student submissions are anonymous and
confidential. Instructors cannot identify which submissions belong to which students and will only be able to review the data
collected after all grades have been submitted. Please give serious thought to your comments. This evaluation will become
part of the faculty member's personnel file to be reviewed by colleagues and administration when considering the instructor's
future teaching assignments and promotions. Your comments will be studied by the instructor only after grading your work and
may be used to improve future offerings of the course.

LAPTOP COMPUTERS AND MOBILE DEVICES:

Laptops can be a useful tool in the service of teaching and learning when used productively and respectfully.

A few common sense rules:

1. Always set up your laptop before the beginning of class. Setting up the computer and booting it up can take a few
minutes depending on what applications are set to open at startup. Turn off all other mobile devices before lecture
begins.
2. Disable sound.
3. During lecture and classroom discussion, you should not be connected to network resources. Being online invites
many distractions - web surfing, email, chats, etc. Chatting or emailing during class is no more acceptable than
talking on a cell phone during class time. Additionally, your networked screens are distracting to those sitting near
and behind you.
If you are found to be doing anything other than note-taking (or sanctioned network activity) you will be asked to leave the
class immediately and will be marked as absent for that day. Your instructors reserves the right to further limit laptop use in
their classes. For example, you may be asked to close your computer during screenings or be asked to sit in a certain area of
the room if you are actively using your laptop.

THEA 61A Fall 2017 Page 12