Theatre and Dance

UT Collaborations

The Department of Theatre and Dance partners with several colleges and academic units within The University of Texas at Austin to create educational and research opportunities for our students and faculty. Many of these partnerships have a community engagement mission, reaching out to positively impact the Austin community and beyond.

The most prominent on–campus Theatre and Dance collaborations are with the UT Humanities Institute and the Harry Ransom Center. Click on the links below for more information about the following programs:

  • The Humanities Institute
    • The Living Newspaper Project
      An innovative program designed to reinvigorate civic engagement in Austin–area high schools through the research and dramatization of current human rights issues.
    • Free Minds Project
      An introductory college–level humanities survey seminar in which Travis County adults are able to “jumpstart” their college education.
  • Harry Ransom Center
    • Museum Theatre Project
      Held at the UT Harry Ransom Center, this performance series brings the art exhibitions to life as Theatre and Dance students and faculty perform original narratives related to the work. In the spring of 2007, Theatre and Dance students and faculty participated in the Voices of the American Twenties performance series, which included three character–driven pieces and one piece that explored the histories of items in the exhibition. Currently, Professors Lucien Douglas and Charlotte Canning, along with five graduate acting students weave together critical commentary and scenes from the plays of Arthur Miller in Up Against the American Dream, October 25 at 7:00 pm. at the HRC's Prothro Theater.
    • Current Exhibition: Rehearsing the American Dream: Arthur Miller's Theatre, September 4 – December 3

    The American playwright Arthur Miller (1915–2005) articulated an unparalleled engagement with his historical moment through such plays as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. He remained committed throughout his life to a politics of freedom. This engagement was never simplistic or topical, one of the reasons that his work has remained such a significant part of the staged canon. He compellingly married the emotional and psychological elements of character with concerns about public and political responsibility. The idea of theater providing the conscience for a nation—Miller's intellect and artistry were forged by his US citizenship—pulls his disparate works together into a whole. The exhibition uses Miller's plays to explore conscience in its theatrical expression: as an intertwined and interdependent political and emotional life.

    See the Department's calendar to see the HRC events in which our faculty and students are involved