AcademicsSample Plan Application Entries
Plan Objectives & Projects in the Arts
DANCE/French
Preliminary: To continue my study of dance and dance history with an emphasis on performance, dance theory, and esthetics. Dance history will focus on French ballet. I will continue my study of French.
DANCE/Anthropology
Final: An exploration of dance, race, and gender in Brazil drawing
on materials from an internship in Salvador, Bahia.
Project: Choreograph
and perform a major dance collaboration. The performance includes
influences of Brazilian dance, multi-media aspects such as film,
slides, and spoken word all intertwined together into original
choreographed pieces. Collaboraiton with other dancers, performer,
and musicians.
FILM/Screenwriting
Preliminary: Exploration of the subjective experience of the American soldier in the 20th century through screenplays and a paper, plus production of an original screenplay or play.
Final: Exploration of the subjective experience of soldiers in
Vietnam through the writings of a documentary research paper and
the development and production of an original play. Also the writing
of three screenplays exploring themes of violence, love, and hate
experienced by complex contemporary characters.
Project: Develop/write/produce
original play about soldiers in the field during Vietnam. Independent
film script. Two short screenplays.
MUSIC
Preliminary: (1) To gain the skills necessary to pursue graduate level studies in violin and viola performance and (2) to become familiar with various philosophies of music education, especially those methods pertaining to string instrument instruction.
MUSIC
Preliminary: A study of choral music with a focus on medieval
monophonic and polyphonic chant as a genre of vocal music.
Project will include the conducting of a men’s chorus.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Preliminary: A study of “non-art” visual images in the media and their effect on American society as a whole as well as on the individual person. This research will be accompanied by a series of my own photographs that will reflect the ideas above, in a “fine art” form.
VISUAL ARTS/painting & WRITING/fiction
Final: An exploration, in painting and writing, of conflict arising
in public vs. private perceptions of self and environment, which
a focus on spiritual/emotional tension inherent in such conflict.
Project: An exhibition of paintings. A collection of short fiction.
A paper examining the expression of private vs. public perceptions
in painting.
VISUAL ARTS & PHOTOGRAPHY/Book Arts
Preliminary: Create a body of photographs that conveys a visual narrative, supported by research papers.
Final: An examination of how image and format function within
the discipline of photography and the book arts.
Project: Create
a series of photographs and handmade books complimented by a paper
discussing a group of artists whose work has influenced the medium.
THEATER
Preliminary: Effective actors employ efficient, expressive codes of nonverbal communication to transmit meaning to an audience. What codes do they employ and how effective are they? The effects of physical disability(ies)?
Final: A study of theater arts with major focus on investigation
of physical theater methods. Papers will examine ideas and practices
of three theatricians. Special attention will be given to non-text-based
modes of generating “meaning.” A separate but related
paper on methodology, physical acting training offered in MFA programs
shall be submitted. Secondary studies will culminate in a paper
on a lighting designer and his or her use of light in small theaters.
Project: A theatrical demonstration of examples of physical theater
methods and meaning. Two lighting designs for Marlboro productions.
WRITING
Preliminary: The establishment of a framework for the poetry of Randall Jarrell, considering in particular intuitions and imaginations in language occurring in German fairy tales, German Romanticism and German culture, leading to a collection of original poems.
Final: (WRITING/poetry, LITERATURE & HISTORY): A study of
the American poet Randall Jarrell, considering him to be a romantic
poet profoundly influenced by things German and taking into account
the dramatic qualities of his poems, with supporting work in the
political history of German’s Weimar Republic, leading to
a collection of original poems.
Project: Two papers and a collection
of original poems. The larger paper will discuss the poetry of
Randall Jarrell, viewing him as a romantic poet, exploring the
worldview expressed in the poems and considering their dramatic
aspects. The other paper will discuss the political climate of
the Weimar Republic. The poems will reflect the themes explored
in the papers.
