School of fine arts department of theatre studies study programme

The Department of Theatre Studies of the School of Fine Arts of the University of the Peloponnese aims at the theoretical and practical training of students in the art of theatre. Combining theatre practice with scientific methodology it supplies students with the necessary qualifications for an artistic or scholarly career in theatre (Ministerial decree 118, Article Ι, paragraph 3ζ, GGI/Φ.Ε.Κ. 102-5.5.2003).

The Department offers a four-year Study Programme organized in eight semesters. During the first two years the students acquire basic background in theatre studies, while in the final two years they choose a specialization and attend courses of more focused interests. The specializations offered in the Department are as follows:

1. Theatre Studies

2. Theatre Practice

The Programme of Studies consists of 48 courses, each of which is taught three hours per week. Additionally, the Final Year Thesis corresponds to four (4) elective courses. Students not undertaking a Final Year Thesis should pass fifty-two (52) courses in total. Courses are distinguished into compulsory, specialization elective courses and free elective courses.

Students are required to take fifty-two (52) courses or fourty-eight (48), the thesis included. The diploma’s grades are calculated students, according to the Article 25, paragraph 12 of the Law 1268/82, in conjunction with the Gazette 308 / 18.06.87. The ECTS distribution is the following:

1. 1st and 2nd year courses: the courses Introduction to Acting: Theory and Practice, Introduction to the Direction: Theory and Practice, Introduction to Dance: Theory and Practice, Introduction to Scenic and Costume Design: Theory and Practice, Acting: The Six Senses in space, Introduction to directing: Theory and Applications, Research Methodology & Writing and Editing the Text of an Essay, Ancient Theatre correspond to four (4) ECTS. All the other courses of the 1st and 2nd year correspond to three (3) ECTS.

2. 3rd and 4th year courses (Specialization elective courses and free elective courses) : each course correspond to four (4) ECTS.

3. Thesis: Thesis corresponds to four (4) free elective courses and therefore to sixteen (16) ECTS.

In the first two years the Department offers 28 compulsory courses, which provide basic training in theatre theory and practice. During the first two years students, may, if they so desire, take up to four (4) free elective courses of the third and fourth years (two free elective during the first and two during the second year), so as to prepare in advance for the specialization of the final two years.

In the third and fourth years students take twenty (20) courses, six (6) of which are specialization elective courses and fourteen (14) are free electives (or 18 electives if a student does not opt to write a Final Year Thesis). Students may choose free elective courses either from the pool of free electives of the third and fourth years or from the specialization electives of the other specialization or even from the remaining electives of their own specialization (those courses which they have not chosen). Students are required to take two (2) more courses of Theatre Pedagogy: Theatre Pedagogy IV and Theatre Pedagogy VII. Finally, in the third and fourth years, students also undertake “practical training” which is organized in collaboration with cultural or educational institutions outside the university (as part of our internship or work-placement programme). Practical training is equivalent to two (2) elective courses and corresponds to ten (10) ECTS credits.

On the basis of the student work load, each of the theory courses of the first two years carries 4 ECTS credits. The introductory courses to theatre practice carry 5 ECTS credits, on account of the combination of theory with artistic practice. The bipartite course ‘Research Methodology & Writing and Editing the Text of an Essay’ carries 6 ECTS, as it teaches the methodology of scholarly research, of the investigation of sources and the analysis of data, as well as the method of writing and editing the text of an essay (matters of structure, style, language rules and bibliographical citation). As part of the basic education and training programme of the first two years, students are also required to take two semesters of language courses (French, Italian or Spanish) which correspond to 8 ECTS credits.

The specialization courses of the final two years (3^rd and 4^th year specialization electives and free electives) carry 5 ECTS credits each, as they require challenging paper assignments or the undertaking of artistic work.

In sum, the undergraduate degree in Theatre Studies totals two hundred and fourty (240) ECTS, (30 ECTS credits per semester). Therefore the department’s Programme of Studies is on a par with all other European undergraduate study programmes of four years.