Major Code: PLAYWRT
BA degree awarded

41 hours to complete

For the Declaration of Major Form, contact the department(s):

Requirements

Admissions / Prerequisites

A visit with the Theater Studies Department and Creative Writing Program and attending classes or a production are all highly encouraged and welcomed. There are no admission requirements for Playwriting.

Advising

Joint playwriting majors will be assigned an advisor from either the Creative Writing or Theater Studies faculty.

See also Theater Studies major information and the Creative Writing program sections of the catalog.

Overview

Emory College of Arts and Science’s joint playwriting major brings together the disciplines of Theater Studies and Creative Writing in an innovative synthesis designed to educate playwrights both as writers and as theater professionals. A playwright must understand the workings of narrative and storytelling and have the opportunity to develop dramatic, fully realized narratives. The playwright also needs a strong grounding in the literature and mechanics of theater and in the collaborative process, since these are the worlds he or she seeks to inhabit, and the instrument for which the playwright composes.

 The joint major, which grew out of a unique team teaching model developed at Emory, will involve playwriting majors in the crucial writing and staging aspects of the field. Playwriting students at Emory are engaged in an endeavor that spans the full process, from conceiving an idea to opening night.

For the Playwriting joint major, students must complete the following courses and electives in Theater, English, and Creative Writing for a total of 41 hours. 

Cross-listed (ENG/THEA)

  • Playwriting (372)
  • Advanced Playwriting (375)
  • History of Drama and Theater 1 and 2 (215 & 216)
  • Honors/Senior Project (Pending)

Theater Studies (THEA) - 13 hours

  • Reading for Performance (201)
  • Two courses from Acting, Directing, or Design
  • Theater Colloquia (396R)

English/Creative Writing (ENG & ENGCW) - 12 hours

  • Two literature courses 300-level or above (at least one course must be focused on dramatic literature)
  • One Creative Writing workshop (Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Screenwriting, or repeat Advanced Playwriting)

300-Level ENG or THEA Course

One additional literature course, 300 level or above, in English or Theater Studies.