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Programme code | 1DRAM011U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Jan Wozniak
|
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of Theatre |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | Dance, drama and performance (2019) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 3 years (full time) |
This section sets out why studying this programme is important, both in terms of inspiring you as an individual and in considering the challenges we face. It describes how this degree programme contributes to:
This programme is a consequence of the new departmental grouping of Music, Film, Theatre, which for the first time acknowledges the distinct disciplinary areas of Film and Television, and Theatre and Performance Studies. The new programme builds on the best features of the highly successful and well respected Single Honours in Drama, which for decades has been held up nationally and internationally as a model of best practice and provision in undergraduate programmes. It will continue to integrate the best research-informed critical, historical and theoretical teaching with high-quality creative and production experience, both through teaching in discipline-specific and equipped facilities in the department and placement in a professional context. It also provides us with the opportunity to continue to respond to student and external-examiner feedback, as well as advice from the Faculty and ESU, in that we have slightly modified our assessment profile across the units as well as increased optionality by making some units available across levels 5 and 6. Interdisciplinarity will be possible within the new degree and an indicative list of relevant cross-departmental and cross-faculty units has been provided below; these units, which address the programme’s learning outcomes can form part of Single Honours Theatre and Performance Studies.
This new Single Honours programme will enable students to deepen and expand their skills, knowledge and understanding of theatre and performance studies. The programme develops students’ interest in practices, histories and theories of theatre and their understanding of the interrelationship between performance practice, theoretical study, historical, cultural and political contexts. The first year introduces students to histories, contexts, forms, and ways of analysing performance, and enables them to develop practical skills in theatre production. In addition, they will develop their ability to discuss issues and write critically about the arts in dialogue with film and music students. In the second and final years, optional units deepen students' analytical expertise, knowledge around particular performance contexts, periods and genres and expand their practical skills in theatre-making. In the final year, students also take two supervised independent study projects, chosen from: extended essay; written dissertation; practical performance project; work placement. Optionality increases through Years 2 and 3 so that students can specialise, and these self-initiated projects provide skills that prepare them for postgraduate study or professional contexts. Assessment is by a combination of essays, individual and group presentations, practice-based productions, vivas, documentation and critical analysis of creative work. Having gained a combination of specialised and transferable skills, students are well-equipped to pursue a range of careers relating to the contemporary creative industries and arts-related professions, and within academic, professional and managerial sectors.
The learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (1-7, 10) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1-8, 10, 12) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1-12) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (5, 6, 8-12) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (5, 6, 8-12) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (1-7, 10, 12) |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (1-7, 10) Individual and group presentations (1-8, 10, 12) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-12) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-12) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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|
Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (1, 2, 4-6, 9) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1, 2, 4-6) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1, 2, 4-10) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (1-3, 5, 6, 10-16) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (3, 9-14, 16) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (1, 2, 4-9) |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (1, 2, 4-9) Individual and group presentations (1-10,13,14,16) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-15) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-16) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (3, 7, 9) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (3, 4) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (2-7, 9) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (1-9) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (1-9) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (3-9) |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (2-5, 8) Individual and group presentations (1-9) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-9) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-9) |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 is introductory, providing a foundation for second and third year learning and for fulfilling the programme’s outcomes. Students gain familiarity with performance forms, key theories and concepts, contexts and ways of analysing theatre and performance. Through workshops, practical skills are acquired, in theatre production, reading a script for performance and staging a play for an audience. In addition, students develop their ability to discuss issues and write critically about the arts in a broader cultural context, in dialogue with film and music students on the Criticism in the Arts unit. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
In their second year students take two lecture and seminar units, which expand their contextual and historical, cultural and political frameworks for understanding theatre and performance. Students deepen their understanding of performance forms, genres or periods through optional units, which draw on expertise from staff research and enable a focus on particular theatre practices. In these options, which are taught across Level I/5 and H/6, students are expected to improve their skills in both creative, collaborative practice and their ability to reflect critically and theoretically. Students’ capacity for self-directed learning is also developed, which is necessary preparation for Level H/6 (e.g. through researching longer essays, devising and realising group performance projects). |
Level H/6 - Honours |
In the final year, students choose two supervised independent study options: written dissertation, practical performance project, extended essay and/or work placement. They develop their individual interests, and conceive self-directed projects that prepare them for professional contexts or postgraduate study. Students produce longer essays, are expected to formulate more nuanced and sophisticated arguments, refine their ability to gather and assimilate information, and should be confident using more advanced theory. Their knowledge of forms, genres and practices becomes deeper and they are expected to produce more professional, conceptually-informed creative practice. Their knowledge and understanding (15A) should be in depth and advanced, they should show a mastery of intellectual and creative attributes (15B), demonstrate self-motivation, effective collaborative working, independent thinking and a range of other transferable skills (15C). |
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
As noted above, this programme emerges from the highly successful Single Honours in Drama, which has effectively in recent years delivered a balanced curriculum across both film/television and theatre/performance studies. We wish to maintain a degree of cross-disciplinary optionality in this programme, as well as become open to the provision that becomes available from across the Faculty within Project Arts. Theatre and Performance Studies by its very nature is eclectic and hybrid, developing out of both language and literature studies; and we intend to maintain and develop that porosity. Furthermore, this programme will build on the unique and distinctive strengths of Drama as was, namely the combination of internationally recognized scholarship and innovative practice-as-research, conducted in professional contexts, with the unique resource of the UOB’s Theatre Collection and the active partnerships at all levels with leading local and national arts-organizations. Including teaching fellows offering practical production skills training working alongside scholars to deliver performance projects to public audiences, these strengths in combination infuse and inform all the Department’s teaching, and provide its students with a highly distinctive provision: for instance, in terms of opportunities for engagement with archives and primary source materials, and industrial placements with leading organisations in their field, such as Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol Old Vic, Mayfest and In Between Festival of Live Art.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A | |||||
Introduction to Design for Performance | THTR10010 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Introduction to Performance Practices | THTR10011 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List B | |||||
Introduction to Performance Studies | THTR10008 | 20 | Mandatory | A,B | TB-1 |
List C | |||||
Performance Contexts | THTR10003 | 20 | Mandatory | C | TB-2 |
List D - not applicable | |||||
List E | |||||
Staging the Text | THTR10006 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
List F Select 20 credit points from: | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A | |||||
Performance Histories | THTR20010 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List B - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
Interpreting Plays | THTR20011 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Popular Performance | THTR20018 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Revenge Tragedy | ENGL29008 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List C - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
Applied Theatre | THTR20002 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Choreography for Theatre | THTR20004 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Interpreting Plays | THTR20011 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Performing the Archive: Re-use, Re-enactment and Adaptation | THTR20012 | 20 | Optional | C,E | TB-2 |
Early Modern Theatre Practice | THTR20013 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Clowning Through History | THTR20014 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Shakespeare | ENGL20068 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D | |||||
Politics of Performance | THTR20005 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
List E - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
Performing the Archive: Re-use, Re-enactment and Adaptation | THTR20012 | 20 | Optional | C,E | TB-2 |
Early Modern Theatre Practice | THTR20013 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Applied Theatre | THTR20002 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Gender, Desire and the Renaissance Stage | ENGL20206 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
List F | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units – OR choose an additional 20 CP from lists B, C or E above | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Performance- you may choose 20 CP from this list (students must take at least 40 credits in either Performance Project, Practice as Research project or Research Project) | |||||
Performance Project | THTR30025 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Practice as Research - you may choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Practice-as-Research Project | THTR30027 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Practice as Research - you may choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Research Project | THTR30026 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Research- choose either 20 or 40 CP from the list below | |||||
Professional Development in Theatre and Performance | THTR30023 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
Independent Study: Extended Essay | THTR30017 | 20 | Optional | B,E | TB-1,TB-2 |
Independent Study TB4- choose no more than 40 CP from this list | |||||
Independent Study: Practice-as-Research Project | THTR30024 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Independent Study: Dissertation | THTR30018 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Independent Study: Performance Project | THTR30015 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Other- choose no more than 20 CP from this list | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Shakespearean Tragedy: Textual and Literary Criticism | ENGL39027 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Theatre and Theatricality in Russian Society | RUSS30085 | 20 | Optional | B,C | TB-1 |
Theatre and Performance Studies (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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