Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Dance major, students will have demonstrated that they are able to:
- Engage in close analysis of dance practices. Students will be able to describe movement effectively; address the conceptual, thematic, and formal concerns of dance practices; connect dance practices to broader historical/cultural contexts; and analyze intersections with issues of nation, interculturalism, race, gender, class, politics, sexuality, and ability.
- Develop and deepen practice and creation methods in more than one dance form. Students will be able to execute complex movement phrases; demonstrate technical and stylistic accuracy; communicate ideas or themes in original work; move in coherent, complex and inventive ways; and clearly conceive, articulate, develop, and carry out choreographic processes.
- Execute and present sustained creative or scholarly research projects. Students will be able to:
- Identify and clearly articulate the research question and central argument in written formats and practice/performance-based formats;
- Select and execute creative and/or scholarly methodologies to answer the central research question;
- Identify and analyze the creative and/or scholarly production with which the project engages;
- Effectively organize/design the research and/or creative process;
- Successfully incorporate feedback and revisions;
- Present, discuss and defend work orally.
The primary assessment tool for learning in the major at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and the level of student achievement in the major area is the senior thesis. The Junior Qualifying Examination, which assesses a student's readiness for thesis, provides a second assessment tool. For more information on the Thesis and the Junior Qualifying Exam, see the section on each in About the Major.