Detailed Information
Programs of Study
The Department of Theater at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) blends scholarship and practice in an academically based theater experience. The Department offers an M.F.A. in Theater with concentrations in directing, playwriting, costume, lighting, scenic design, and technical direction. The interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, with emphasis on theater history or playwriting, is administered through the Department of Speech Communication. The doctoral program allows students to explore a broad range of course work in the theater/speech communication arts, including American theater history, theory and criticism, dramaturgy, playwriting, intercultural communication, and pedagogy. Methodology classes are drawn from departments across the campus. Classes are small, providing many opportunities to work closely with faculty on a one-to-one basis. Courses of study are tailor made for each student.
The Department maintains two theaters. The McLeod Theater, a proscenium stage seating 520, was recently renovated with new rigging, sound and lighting control, and inventories. The Christian H. Moe Laboratory Theater, a flexible studio space seating up to 110, was also recently renovated with new lighting and sound systems, risers, and seating. The academic season in both theaters is designed to highlight contemporary theater and original works as well as the major historical periods of theater. Musicals and operas are fully produced and orchestrated in conjunction with the School of Music. The professional summer stock company (McLeod Summer Playhouse) offers a variety of plays and musicals. All of these productions provide opportunities for hands-on experience in all graduate programs.
Members of the Department of Theater faculty embrace both the academic and professional theater communities, regularly writing, performing, directing, designing for professional regional theaters, publishing articles and books, and presenting papers at national and international conferences. The faculty are members of their respective professional unions and associations. Faculty members actively prepare students for academic and professional careers through internships, conferences, and summer theater experiences.
Research Facilities
Southern Illinois University Carbondale offers outstanding research facilities. In addition to containing more than 2 million volumes, nearly 3 million microforms, and 12,000 current periodicals, Morris Library is also at the forefront of providing electronic access to information via its own network, the University’s network, and the Internet. Multiple computer stations on each floor allow patrons to obtain information, often in full text, from local, state, national, and international sources. The library is a member of Illinet Online (IO), the statewide library automated catalog, circulation, and interlibrary loan system, and the national Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), the world’s largest bibliographic network. Library holdings include a variety of special collections, including the papers of Erwin Piscator, Kathryn Dunham, the Abbey Theater, Marjorie Lawrence, Mordecai Gorelik, John Howard Lawson, and others.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is available in many forms. The Department offers assistantships, fellowships, scholarships, and a variety of work-study programs. Fellowships for promising minority students are available through the Proactive Recruitment of Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow (PROMPT) Program, the Graduate Dean’s Fellowship (GDF), the Illinois Minority Graduate Incentive Program (IMGIP), and the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunity Program (ICEOP). Assistantships and fellowships carry tuition scholarships. Student employment, loans, and other tuition scholarships are also available. About 70 percent of all graduate students receive some form of SIUC financial aid.
Cost of Study
In-state graduate tuition is $328 per credit hour in 2009–10. Out-of-state tuition is 2.5 times the in-state tuition rate ($820 per credit hour). Graduate students with at least a 25 percent appointment as a graduate assistant receive a tuition scholarship. Fees vary from $589.03 (1 credit hour) to $1557.50 (12 credit hours). Students with a graduate assistantship receive a 50 percent reduction in the primary care medical fee. New graduate students from Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee qualify for the alternate tuition rate, which is equivalent to the in-state graduate tuition rate.
Living and Housing Costs
For married couples, students with families, and single graduate students, the University has 690 efficiency and one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments that rent for $499 to $720 per month in 2009–10. Residence halls for single graduate students are also available, as are accessible residence hall rooms and apartments for students with disabilities.
Student Group
The University’s total enrollment exceeds 21,000, including more than 4,000 graduate students. Men and women come from all fifty states and more than 100 other countries. About 53 percent of the graduate students are women, 23 percent are international, and 13 percent are American minorities.
Location
SIUC is 350 miles south of Chicago and 100 miles southeast of St. Louis. Nestled in rolling hills bordered by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and enhanced by a mild climate, the area has state parks, national forests and wildlife refuges, and large lakes for outdoor recreation. Cultural offerings include theater, opera, concerts, art exhibits, and cinema. Educational facilities for the families of students are excellent.
The University and The Department
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a comprehensive public university with a variety of general and professional education programs. The University offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and the J.D. and M.D. degrees. The University is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Graduate School has an essential role in the development and coordination of graduate instruction and research programs. The Graduate Council has academic responsibility for determining graduate standards, recommending new graduate programs and research centers, and establishing policies to facilitate the research effort. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a state-funded university founded in 1869. The Theater Department is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Theater (NAST).
Applying
Applications should be requested from the address given in the Correspondence and Information section. Each application must include a completed Departmental and Graduate School application form, three letters of recommendation, official transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended, a personal statement of career goals, and GRE scores as well as a portfolio of theater work in the student’s area of interest. The deadline for application is February 1 for the following fall. All materials should be sent directly to the Department of Theater.
The Faculty and Their Research
- Susan Patrick Benson, Assistant Professor; M.F.A. (acting), Rutgers. Acting and voice.
- Mary Bogumil, Associate Professor; Ph.D. (English), South Florida. Dramatic literature.
- Joseph A. Brown, Director; Ph.D. (American studies), Yale. Black American studies.
- Tim Fink, Associate Professor; M.F.A. (directing), Southern Illinois Carbondale; M.M. (voice), Arizona. Opera and musical theater.
- Anne Fletcher, Associate Professor; Ph.D. (theater history), Tufts. History and dramaturgy.
- Robert Holcombe, Associate Professor and Technical Director; M.F.A. (technical direction), Ohio. Theater health and safety.
- Tom Kidd, Assistant Professor; M.F.A. (directing), Southern Illinois Carbondale. Acting and voice.
- Lori Merrill-Fink, Associate Professor and Director of the University Honors Program; M.F.A. (acting), Arizona. Movement and acting.
- Ronald Naversen, Professor; M.F.A. (scenic design), Carnegie-Mellon; Ph.D. (theater history), Southern Illinois Carbondale. Scene design painting and properties.
- Olusegun Ojewuyi, Assistant Professor; M.F.A. (directing), Yale. Acting and directing.
- David Rush, Professor; Ph.D., Illinois. Playwriting and analysis.
- Mark K. Varns, Professor and Chair; M.F.A. (technical direction), Kansas. Lighting design and technical direction.
- Wendi Zea, Assistant Professor; M.F.A. (costume design), Kent State. Costume design and technology.
Correspondence and Information
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Dr. Ronald Naversen, Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Theater
Mail Code 6608
Carbondale, Illinois 62901
Telephone:
618-453-5741
Fax:
618-453-7582
Email:
rnav@siu.edu
