Guiding Educational
Philosophies and Goals

Our Vision:

The UW-Parkside Theatre Arts Department will become and gain recognition as a premier public liberal arts undergraduate theatre program in the state of Wisconsin and upper Midwest. Exceptional academic and artistic educational theatre programming, successful community engagement projects, active partnerships with acclaimed professional theatres, and high levels of graduate satisfaction and success will be the hallmarks of our program.

Our Educational and Artistic Mission:

The Theatre Arts Department at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside endeavors to provide students with the skills necessary to excel as developing artists and citizens in a contemporary world, combining professional theatrical training with a strong liberal arts curriculum. A comprehensive combination of classroom training, company engagement, and realized production work allows for a well-rounded collegiate learning experience with an emphasis on critical thinking, effective communication, engaged collaboration, problem solving, and creative process.

Our commitment to community engagement is expressed through the development and presentation of high quality, accessible theatrical programming which has artistic and educational relevance and value for the diverse communities and audiences whom we serve. Our academic and production programming exists to providing a viable forum for constructive communication and a means of better understanding and appreciating global human societies, diverse cultures, and the rapidly changing world we share.

Our Core Values and Beliefs :

As a collaborative company of students, faculty, and staff our "touchstone" for teaching and learning is rooted firmly in a number of articulated values and beliefs:  

•  We believe that artistic expression, creative process, and critical thinking and problem solving can be taught through theatrical production and that the products of our artistic expression are necessary to a vibrant, diverse culture. We believe that the creation of performance experiences requires vision, knowledge, discipline, and that practicing our art is an ideal model of experiential learning in the context of a solid liberal arts education.  

•  We believe that the history of theatre is a mirror of various cultures and societies throughout the ages. We believe that theatre is always socially and politically relevant because it speaks of the world that made it and speaks to the world that sees it.

•  We believe that making and experiencing performance offers opportunities to reflect on what it means to be human and a member of a global society. 

•  We believe that theatre as an academic field is interdisciplinary, and that as an artistic practice it is collaborative.  

•  We believe that all who engage with theatre as scholars, artists, and audiences learn to appreciation the coexistence of multiple ways of knowing and the complexities of bringing different perspectives together into productive collaboration which culminates in a performance. The live performance experience unities the artists with their audience, providing an invaluable forum for dialogue, discovery, and assessment related to diverse human stories and cultures.  

Departmental Objectives and Targeted Learning Outcomes:

The Theatre Arts Department at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside strives to:  

A. Offer students a comprehensive liberal arts baccalaureate degree (BA) in theatre arts, in addition to providing professional theatre training concentrations in the areas of performance, design and technology, management and direction, theatre education , and arts administration;  

B. Serve as an artistic, educational, and cultural forum which engages and increases campus and community engagement by offering diverse, relevant academic and artistic programs, courses, and theatrical presentations that educate, entertain, and inspire;

C. Promote the importance of a solid liberal arts education for all students while instilling in them a strong respect for the collaborative theatrical art form, critical thinking skills, creative problem solving, personal responsibility, the value of service and leadership, and a commitment to life-long learning;

D. Utilize various proactive and multifaceted recruitment, assessment, and peer mentor models and procedures which allow us to further develop and strengthen a collaborative "company-based" training system which provides a reasonable number of exceptional theatre students the best possible training for life and careers after graduation;

E. Build upon our program's outstanding local, state, and regional recognition as a program of academic and artistic excellence and distinction as we continue to raise our standards and program quality through active engagement with recognized education and theatre education associations and accreditation agencies.

F. Continue to utilize and integrate new technology, methodologies, and techniques creatively and effectively into theatre courses and productions as we continue to plan, design, construct, and transition into state-of-the-art theatre production and performance facilities and labs.

G. Actively utilize professionally trained faculty and staff members, guest artists, and active partnerships with regional professional theatres and artists to further expand and enhance our educational programming and production opportunities, encouraging students to engage in supervised professional theatre internships and apprenticeships prior to graduation;

H. Embrace and achieve our diversity initiative (below) by attracting and retaining a diverse population of students, staff, faculty, and audiences as we present academic and artistic programming and performances that reflect the true diversity of our community, state, country, and world;

I. Continue to develop and promote our theatre education program, recruiting and supporting the training of highly skilled and employable future theatre educator/artists who will communicate the value and importance of the arts to future generations;

J. Remain viable, productive, and healthy through the effective and reasonable management of our human and financial resources and facilities, striving to balance production budgets while increasing ticket sales and monies received through other funding sources including grants and donations.

Our Diversity Initiative

UW-Parkside's commitment to diversity is reflected in a curriculum that prepares students from both genders and all racial, ethnic, national, religious, and other marginalized groups to live in a pluralistic society.

The UW-Parkside Theatre Arts Department fully embraces the University's multicultural mission and vision, and strives to provide academic and production opportunities that reflect the full diversity of ideas and individuals that exist in our greater community and culture.

We endeavor to create a diverse department of students and staff, allowing us to better reflect the demographics of our community in the theatrical works which we produce. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in all aspects of our academic and production programming. Except in plays were race or gender is an issue, casting is decided on the basis of ability.