Humanities

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of oil painting. Working from direct observation, students will learn to translate the three dimensional into two and acquire the tools necessary to decode the appearance of things. Emphasis will be placed on discovering how truly unexpected and different from preconceptions these appearances can be. Students will work on projects that will progressively develop their abilities to determine value and color relationships while at the same time improving their drawing and compositional skills. Prerequisite: ART 101 and 104 or permission of the instructor.

Introduction to various techniques in watercolor painting. Prerequisite: ART 101 and 104 or permission of the instructor. Spring, odd-numbered years.

Intermediate-level problems in objective drawing techniques with a focus on the human figure. Prerequisite: ART 101.

A study of both sacred and secular art in Europe from about 1300 to 1580, the development of individualistic spirit, the beginnings of scientific naturalism and classical revival, and the impact of the Age of Discovery on artforms during an era that laid the foundation of modern Western civilization. 

An exploration of the profusion of the international Baroque style across Europe from about 1580 to 1750, focusing on Baroque art’s central role in legitimizing the beliefs and values of the triumphalist Catholic Church and European monarchies, as well as capturing Protestant ideals and the everyday experiences of a more and more secular society.

This course studies art created outside of the Western tradition, including China, India, Japan, Africa, and across the Americas. Additionally, the course considers issues ranging from the cross-fertilization of Eastern and Western artforms to the anthropologic understanding of the importance of art-making.

The course will focus on further developing the perceptual painting techniques explored in Oil Painting I. Students will experiment with subject matter, technique, and scale. 

Intermediate-level approaches in watercolor painting. Studio problems will provide opportunities for more personal development.

This course will focus on further developing the painting techniques explored in Oil Painting II. Students will work on developing a cohesive body of work that explores more self-directed goals and stylistic choices. 

Further work in sculpting the complete figure in clay, along with experiencing other techniques and materials in sculpture. More human anatomy for artists will be emphasized beyond what is taught in ART 120. 

Exploring the subtractive method using various media and encouraging the student's individual expression. 

Exploration of human anatomy for the emerging artist. Skeletal and muscular structure will be studied in the clay medium.

Additional experience in figure drawing with an emphasis on anatomy and development of graphic proficiency.

Continued mastery of figure drawing. 

Continued mastery of figure drawing. 

Introduction to visual design and conceptual thinking using Adobe Creative Suite and Apple hardware. 

This course examines the fundamentals of typographic form and history. Students study the characteristics of letterforms and explore the relationship between illustration and typographic design. Projects integrate type and image utilizing hierarchal principles and spatial organization to produce effective typographic communication. Digital and hand lettering techniques will be explored. 

Explores principles, terminology and theories of color perception from Chevreul through Albers. Taught with computer applications. 

Introduction to the techniques and aesthetics of digital photography. Emphasis will be placed on understanding photographic principles and digital imagery workflow. 

Continued exploration of technical processes in shooting and printing digital photographs. Students are challenged to develop greater artistic expression and impact in creating original images. 

A course exploring the roots and development of these two areas, from Gutenberg to webpages, and daguerreotype to digital, and the interrelationship between them and the world of fine arts. 

An examination of both revolutionary and traditional styles of art and architecture during the 19th and 20th centuries. 

A study of art and architecture of the geographic region of the United States from older Indian cultures through European colonial to modern American art. 

Developing competent likenesses and personal style in both drawing and painting media. Concerns range from anatomical structure to characterization through lighting, pose and media handling. 

Emphasis on developing multi-figured composition. 

Emphasis on developing multi-figured composition. 

This course addresses the designer's role in the strategic development of brand identity and visualization of complex graphic systems utilizing the Adobe Creative Suite software and other visual media. 

Preparation and installation of an exhibit featuring one's best studio artwork from the undergraduate period. Preparation of a photographic portfolio featuring such artwork. 

An elementary course concentrating on the grammar, reading, and translation of Classical Latin.

The continuation of CLS 101, focusing on the grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and idioms of Classical Latin.

The continuation of CLS 103, focusing on the grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and idioms of Classical Greek.

A study of Greek and Roman literature and culture and its influences on the Western tradition

Students complete their study of basic grammar and spend the rest of the semester reading selections from Latin authors.

Students often complete their study of basic grammar and spend the rest of the semester reading selections from Xenophon, Plato, the New Testament, or other ancient Greek texts.

A study of the syntax, style, and content of Christian texts of the second through the sixth centuries (e.g., works by Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostom). This course may be repeated for credit if the reading is different. 

A study of the evolution of the concepts of justice and of the legal systems of the Greeks and Romans and their legacy to the Western tradition.

A study of the various interrelationships of the non-Christian and Christian in the ancient world, with readings from primary sources.

Selections of Latin prose and poetry from major classical authors.

Selections from Plautus, Terence, Lucretius, Caesar, Cicero, and Sallust.

Selections from authors such as Horace, Vergil, Livy, Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid.

Readings from authors such as Xenophon, Plato, and Lysias.

Readings from authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Thucydides.

This course is meant to provide students with pedagogical skills and knowledge of resources available for Latin teachers. As such, most meetings are conducted in Latin. Occasional meetings in English allow for discussion of popular Latin textbooks, online resources, and apps, as well as historical approaches to teaching Latin. No prior experience speaking Latin is required, although a good grasp of Latin grammar is assumed. Those who have passed CLS 201 or higher are encouraged to enroll. Students currently taking 201 may enroll with the permission of the instructor.

A study of the epic and lyric genres of Latin poetry. Epic authors include Ennius and Vergil; lyric authors include Propertius, Tibullus, Catullus, Horace, and Ovid.

Readings from authors such as Livy and Tacitus.

Readings from authors such as Plautus, Terence, Seneca, Horace, and Juvenal.

Intensive work in composing Latin prose. The course devotes special attention to Latin syntax and prose style and may also include treatment of Latin pragmatics and comparative grammar, as well as ex tempore, oral composition in class. Permission of instructor is required for enrollment.

The continuation of CLS 411. Like CLS 411, the course devotes special attention to Latin syntax and prose style. It may also treat of Latin verse composition, as well as ex tempore, oral composition in class. Permission of the instructor is required for enrollment.

A close study of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon.

Readings from authors such as Homer, Archaic Lyric, Pindar.

This course provides hands-on experience in the classroom for students interested in improving their pedagogical skills and/or considering a career as a Latin teacher. There are two possible tracks for this program: (A) teaching 3^rd-8^th grade 2 hours/week at Hillsdale Preparatory School, or (B) observing and student-teaching 3^rd-12^th grade 2 hours/week at Hillsdale Academy. Students are expected to communicate with their classroom lead teacher, create and submit lesson plans (when applicable), and attend teacher development seminars. Any interested students may register for this course, but they must complete an application and interview process to remain enrolled. Students may repeat CLS 450 for up to 6 credit hours; such hours count towards the overall maximum allowable internship and practicum credit (6).

Beginning Spring 2025: CLS 400 or permission of the instructor will be required for enrollment.

This course is designed for those students who are part of the dance company for any given year. Class time will be given to choreographing and rehearsing pieces for the annual Dance Concert. Students will learn and rehearse choreographic works of both Hillsdale faculty members and guest artists, culminating in a fully produced performance. Students will also learn basic principles of dance theatrical staging and production values as related to the production of this concert. 

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

This course is an introduction to improvisation and its use as a basis for dance choreography. Students will be taught the fundamentals of spontaneous movement and learn how to craft this material into set choreography. Students will explore improvisations based on the principles of Laban Movement Analysis and the effects of shape, space, rhythms, props and other stimuli upon movement. 

Building on the basics learned in Social Dance, the student will learn new dances and combinations, building confidence, rhythm and musicality. 

A continuation of Pilates I, this class will focus on mastery of the essential matwork exercises learned in Pilates I, and then add new skills and intermediate matwork exercises. 

Building on the skills learned in DNC 220, students will be challenged with more complex improvisations and will use improvisational material to create solo and group choreography. Students will continue to explore a variety of internal and external stimuli as the basis for their artistic expression. 

A continuation of Pilates II, this class will focus on mastery of the intermediate matwork exercises learned in Pilates II, and then add new skills and advanced matwork exercises. 

This course is an advanced level modern dance technique class, designed to build upon the skills learned in DNC 290. Movement dynamics and qualities, rhythmic and spatial patterns, and personal expression will be explored in depth. Traditional modern dance techniques as well as contemporary and cutting-edge dance techniques will be utilized. 

This course will introduce the student to representative Great Books of the Western World from Antiquity to the Middle Ages and will teach the principles of close reading and literary analysis. Selections may include the Bible and works by authors such as Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Vergil, Ovid, Augustine, and Dante. The writing content includes a variety of writing exercises that incorporate traditional rhetorical and research skills.

A continuation of English 104 but with a focus on Great Books in the British and American traditions.  English authors may include Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Swift, Wordsworth, Dickens, and Yeats; American authors may include Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, Frost, Hemingway, Faulkner, and O’Connor.  The writing emphasis continues with a variety of writing exercises that incorporate traditional rhetorical and research skills.

This course will introduce the student to Great Books of European literature from the Renaissance to modern times. Some emphasis will be placed on this literature in the context of general historical and artistic periods and movements: Renaissance Humanism, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and Modernism. When appropriate, the function and form of literary works (for instance, the lyric, the novel, the short story) will be discussed. Authors studied may include Petrarch, Erasmus, Montaigne, Cervantes, Voltaire, Racine, Goethe, Schiller, Rousseau, Flaubert, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Aleichem, Kafka, Camus, Bernanos, Sartre, Undset, and Solzhenitsyn. The writing requirement for the class will be at least one 5-page paper.

A literary survey of Old and Middle English literature in the context of its age. Readings may include authors such as Augustine, Boethius, Caedmon, Bede, Alfred the Great, the anonymous poets of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Marie de France, the medieval dramatists and mystics, Chaucer, Langland, Malory, and selections from the 15th century.

A literary survey of English Renaissance literature in the context of its age. Readings may include authors such as More, Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert, Marvell, and Milton.

A literary survey of Restoration and Romantic literature in the context of its age. Readings may include authors such as Dryden, Pope, Swift, Johnson, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, and Austen.

A literary survey of Victorian and Modern literature in the context of its age. Readings may include authors such as Brontë, Dickens, Tennyson, Browning, Newman, Eliot, Yeats, Woolf, Joyce, and Auden.

A survey of American literature from the Colonial period through 1865. Readings may include authors such as Bradford, Bradstreet, Franklin, Crèvecoeur, Emerson, Poe, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson.

A survey of American literature from 1865 to today. Readings may include authors such as Twain, James, Wharton, Eliot, Frost, Stevens, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, O'Connor, Ellison, and McCarthy.

ENG 401 provides an upper-division study of the particular authors, themes and periods initiated in the 300-level courses. Regular offerings include courses on major authors such as Chaucer, Spenser, Milton and Shakespeare, or special studies on subjects such as Old English language and literature, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, 18th-century literature, Romantic poetry, Victorian literature, 19th-century novel or 20th-century literature. Please consult the Departmental Bulletin for details.

ENG 403 provides an upper-division study of one of the following areas: the Western literary tradition (including courses on major authors from Italian, French, Spanish, German, Scandinavian, Yiddish, and Russian traditions); one or more of the traditional genres (epic, romance, lyric, tragedy, comedy, essay, novel, short story); literary criticism and theory; history of the English language; or advanced writing (creative, research, expository). Please consult the Departmental Bulletin for details.

Reading and discussion of representative works of French literature, with special attention to compositional skills.

A study of French life and culture from the Middle Ages to the Revolution of 1789. Conducted in French. 

A study of French life and culture from the Revolution of 1789 to the 20th century. Conducted in French. 

Faculty-led travel during summer, spring break, or January interterm in a French-speaking country. Organized, supervised, and evaluated by a member of the Hillsdale College French faculty.

A course designed to increase the student's range of self-expression in the speaking and writing of French. Grammar study is included. 

Practice in oral and written expression, with study of grammar to develop an acceptable prose style. Prerequisite: FRN 301 or 302 or permission of the instructor. Offered every third semester.

French using international business usage and terminology as points of departure. Prerequisite: FRN 301 or 302 or permission of the instructor. Conducted in French. Offered every third semester.

A study of representative plays from the French theatre of the 20th and 21st centuries.

A seminar dealing with a major theme, literary movement, genre, author or comparison of two or more authors. This course may be repeated for credit if the topic is different. Offered every spring.

An intensive language course whose reading segments place emphasis on themes in German culture and civilization.

Supervised and/or evaluated by a faculty member. This course may be repeated for credit if topic or study location is different. (Study location and topic noted on transcript, i.e. GRM 350 Advanced Grammar in Wurzburg, Germany.)

Topical courses for advanced students.

A survey of Classical German literature through the study of major works by Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller.

The student pursues individual projects through weekly private instruction focused on the development of compositional imagination and technique. With the supervision of the instructor, students will reinforce and extend their technical and expressive facility with all aspects of composition, as well as engaging practical and aesthetical issues of musical performance and reception.

Students who have completed MUS 324, Beginning Conducting, and MUS 424, Advanced Conducting, and who wish to continue the study of conducting may sign up for private conducting lessons. Permission of instructor required.

The student pursues individual projects through weekly private instruction focused on the development of compositional imagination and technique. With the supervision of the instructor, students will reinforce and extend their technical and expressive facility with all aspects of composition, as well as engaging practical and aesthetical issues of musical performance and reception.

Students who have completed MUS 324, Beginning Conducting, and MUS 424, Advanced Conducting, and who wish to continue the study of conducting may sign up for private conducting lessons. Permission of instructor required.

Opera Workshop focuses on either a full production or individual scenes. 

A full instrumentation college symphony orchestra performing advanced standard repertoire. Any student with sufficient performing skill may become a member by audition or recommendation of the studio teachers. Public performances.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Open to all students desiring a choral ensemble experience. Music of various historical periods is performed both on and off campus and is sung in the original languages. Promoting musical excellence is the choir's chief purpose.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

An auditioned group of 28 voices that focuses on challenging a cappella repertoire. Multiple performances in various venues are presented on and off campus each year.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Introduces students to principles of diatonic function through studies of melody, harmony, voice-leading, and basic components of form. Through exercises in analysis and composition, students will gain a greater understanding of the expressive and structural significances of diatonic material as well as a greater facility with musical notation. Students will also develop their abilities in critical listening and reasoning through discussion and writing activities, leading to well-supported interpretations of musical works and excerpts. 

Gives students constant practice in hearing, internalizing, and performing aspects of musical material, function, and structure presented in Music Theory I. Through exercises in singing, rhythmic drills, contextual listening, dictation, and basic keyboard skills, students will gain a greater familiarity with the expressive and structural qualities of diatonic harmony, as well as greater fluency with musical notation. 

For students with limited experience with notated music, provides guidance in basic listening skills, an introduction to the repertoire of Western music, and practice in writing about music. Fulfills the Fine Arts Core requirement. Not intended for music majors, music minors, or those with skill in reading music.

Provides students with prior experience in music, including the ability to read notation, with the foundational skills in aural and written music theory, an introduction to the repertoire of Western music, and practice in writing about music. Fulfills the Fine Arts Core requirement.

Extends the subjects and practices of Music Theory I to include chromatic function. Through exercises in analysis and composition, students will gain a greater understanding of the expressive and structural significances of chromatic harmony, including altered chords, tonal modulations, and larger components of form. Students will also continue to develop their abilities in critical listening and reasoning through discussion and writing activities, leading to well-supported interpretations of musical works culminating in a major analysis project. 

Gives students constant practice in hearing, internalizing, and performing aspects of musical material, function, and structure presented in Music Theory II. Through exercises in singing, rhythmic drills, contextual listening, dictation, and basic keyboard skills, students will gain a greater familiarity with the expressive and structural qualities of chromatic harmony, as well as greater fluency with musical notation. 

An analysis and performance of the standard chamber music repertoire selected from string quartets and piano quintets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, Faure, Grieg and other romantic and twentieth century repertoire at the discretion of the instructor. May be repeated for credit.

An elective course dedicated to studies in the art and technique of musical composition, with a particular focus on melodic writing, texture, and development. Students will also learn how to write idiomatically for instruments, develop good notational practices, and prepare readings and performances of their compositions. 

A study of large-scale musical form, including elemental building blocks of material, long-term structural relationships, and a survey of formal paradigms. This is the final course in the basic music theory sequence, with a focus on independent research, writing, presentation, and the cultivation of critical reasoning, listening, and discussion skills in forming creative, rigorous, and well-designed interpretations of complete works. 

Gives students constant practice in hearing, internalizing, and performing aspects of musical material, function, and structure. Through exercises in singing, rhythmic drills, contextual listening, dictation, and basic keyboard skills, students will continue to practice and refine skills developed in Labs I & II while extended their abilities to include large-scale trajectories, greater nuance and detail, and atypical methods of pitch and rhythmic organization. 

The history of Western music from its beginnings in ancient Greece to about 1600. An introduction to the main styles, genres, composers, and musical concepts situated in historical context. 

The history of Western music from about 1600 to 1800. An introduction to the main styles, genres, composers, and musical concepts situated in historical context. 

The history of conducting, and the basics of baton and rehearsal technique. A workshop course in the fundamental theory and practice of conducting for students with little or no experience. 

The history of Western music from about 1800 to the present. An introduction to the main styles, genres, composers, and musical concepts situated in historical context. 

A capstone music course focusing on a specialized topic within musicology. Students will develop several key skills: working with primary sources, music analysis, and engaging with notable scholarship and issues in musicology. 

Extends the essential foundation of the music theory sequence by pursuing detailed studies in a designated topic. The purpose of the course is to acquire theoretical experience with a specific selection of musical repertoire, a particular aspect of musical material and form, and/or methodologies of musical analysis, but also to develop students' technical and expressive vocabularies in ways that reinforce and enrich their music-making more broadly. The course may draw from a fixed collection of topics, including counterpoint, orchestration, and post-tonal theory, but additional topics may be introduced on an individual or recurring basis. 

A detailed course in baton technique, score reading, rehearsal technique, and conducting larger ensembles. 

This course introduces students to Western reflections on God by attending to the nature of theology and to the origin, development, and enactment of both basic and contested theological claims. As such, it aims to develop a student’s capacities for theological inquiry and judgment. Representative texts are drawn from across the various Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant theological traditions of the last three millennia, with the claims of scripture playing a foundational role.

An introduction to the special grammar and vocabulary of the Jewish Bible (Old Testament) in Greek, with an emphasis upon acquiring proficiency in reading selected texts. 

An introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of Koine Greek with emphasis upon building proficiency in reading the Greek New Testament. 

Open to all students interested in learning or polishing skills in communication and advocacy. Mock Trial, as sanctioned by the American Mock Trial Association, is a co-curricular activity intended to foster the development of undergraduate students in the areas of leadership, public speaking, rhetoric, and persuasion through a legal forum. Currently, approximately 600 teams from over 350 universities and colleges compete in AMTA sponsored tournaments. Students may repeat the course for credit each semester during their four-year course of study. Students must be active members of the competitive team or have the permission of the instructor and department chairman.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Open to all students interested in learning or in polishing and employing existing skills in the fundamentals of debate. The Hillsdale College Debate Team is nationally recognized as one of the finest in the country. The course includes instruction in debate technique and style, and participation in both on- and off-campus tournaments. Students may repeat the course for credit each semester during their four-year course of study. Students must be active members of the competitive team or have the permission of the instructor and department chairman.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Open to all students interested in learning the fundamentals of competitive public speaking, or in polishing and employing existing skills. The Hillsdale College Individual Events Team actively and aggressively pursues regional excellence. The course includes instruction in Individual Events techniques in the areas of informative, persuasive, extemporaneous, and impromptu speaking, as well as in the oral interpretation of prose, poetry and drama. Students participate in an active season of on- and off-campus tournaments. Students may repeat the course for credit each semester during their four-year course of study. Students must be active members of the competitive team or have the permission of the instructor and department chairman.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

A survey of the major developments in the theory and practice of rhetoric in Western Civilization, beginning with the Renaissance. The Belles Lettres, Enlightenment and Modern Periods in the Western Tradition are explored. This course continues to explore the relationship between rhetoric and truth, knowledge and the political order that began with the Greek and Roman traditions of public persuasion. Readings and lectures are designed to encourage students to engage rhetorical theory at the levels of theory building, philosophy, application and analysis. Students will examine the works of such figures as Erasmus, Ramus, Campbell, Whately, Blair, Burke, Vico and Richards. 

The theory and process of preparing and delivering specialized forms of public speeches. Emphasis is placed on a variety of types of persuasive and ceremonial speeches. Students are provided the opportunity to develop a personal rhetorical style appropriate for impromptu, extemporaneous and manuscript speaking. Prerequisite: RHM 201 or permission of the instructor.

A consideration of the elements necessary to effective speech writing. Through the study of rhetorical masterpieces, students learn elements of style and arrangement especially suitable for discourse written for oral communication. Emphasis is on student production of original speech manuscripts. Prerequisite: RHM 201 or permission of instructor. RHM 320 preferred.

Media ecology is the study of media environments, of how technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value. It is a deeply historical, meta-disciplinary, and robust qualitative approach to understanding both communication and the human condition. Some core ideas within media ecology are wrapped up in aphoristic statements such as "The medium is the message" and "Media are environments, and environments are media," and "the user is the content of any medium." This course looks closely at canonical figures within the tradition—Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong, and Jacques Ellul—as well as its major analytic-theoretical tributaries—orality literacy studies, technology studies, and bias studies. Specific recent figures will vary.

A seminar concerned with the interrelation of rhetorical theory and practice: questions of theory, politics, philosophy and cultural history. Offered as needed, specific topics vary, and the course may be taken for credit more than once.

An extensive examination of contemporary ideas about the nature and function of rhetoric. Students will conduct in-depth readings into the works of such major figures as I.A. Richards, Jean-FranÁois Lyotard, Richard Weaver, Kenneth Burke, Jurgen Habermas, Stephen Toulmin, and Michel Foucault. Emphasis will be placed on the implications of rhetorical theory for notions of truth, ethics, knowledge, rationality, and the political order. Prerequisite: RHM 290 or permission of the instructor.

The study of speeches influential in shaping public life in America, especially within the political sphere. Primary emphasis is placed upon the textual analysis of selected speeches for the purpose of discovering the rhetorical dynamics, as well as linking each speech to its historical context. Special attention is paid to the changing nature and function of oratorical culture throughout American history.

An exploration of the major methodological approaches to the explanation of the persuasive dynamics of rhetoric. Students will learn to write analyses of specific instances of rhetoric from various theoretical bases, including neo-Aristotelian, ethical, dramatistic, ideological, and postmodern perspectives. 

Individual work on a topic or problem selected and supervised by the Rhetoric and Media staff. Prerequisites: second-semester junior standing and permission of the staff member selected to be in charge of the student's work. Enrollment in this course is limited to those who have chosen rhetoric as their field of concentration. Offered on demand.

Introduction to the study of Iberian and Latin American Literature with focus on poetry, theater, essay, and narrative.

Travel during summer, spring break or winter interterm in a Spanish-speaking country. Accompanied and evaluated by a member of the Hillsdale College Spanish faculty. 

Special topics course focusing on grammar, writing, or conversation

Reading and discussion of Latin American literature from Pre-Columbian times to 1820. 

Reading and discussion of Latin American literature from 1820 to the present. 

Reading and discussion of Iberian literature from medieval times through the Early Modern period.

Reading and discussion of Iberian literature from the Enlightenment and Romanticism to the present. 

A methods and materials course for the teaching of French, German and Spanish at the elementary and secondary levels. Taught in English. 

Open to all Hillsdale College students (including freshmen) interested in working on Hillsdale College theatre productions either as actors; as members of technical crews in set construction and painting, lighting, properties, costumes or makeup; or in promotion, ticket sales and house management. Students can earn one credit each semester that they are enrolled during the four-year course of study.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

The history of drama and theatre in Europe from approximately 1500 to approximately 1800. Renaissance, Neoclassical, Elizabethan, Spanish Golden Age, English Restoration, and early German Romantic periods are considered with particular emphasis on the relationship between dramatic literature and the social, political, religious, and theoretical thinking that is reflected in the plays. This course satisfies the general college core requirement for a second-tier literature course.

Practical works, readings, rehearsed scenes and discussion supply the basics of creating a character. Students learn techniques of character analysis and the interaction of roles in scenes. Attention is given to rehearsal techniques and to considering the choices made by the actor, emphasizing the techniques of psychological realism. 

The creative design process as it relates to a specific area of theatrical design, chosen from among the following types: scenic, lighting or costume. Students will build on the material from Design for the Theatre I to focus their learning in one of the three areas listed. Both artistic and practical drawings will be emphasized. Opportunities for realized designs or assisting faculty designers will be provided when possible. May be repeated for credit in each of the three design areas.

Intended for the serious performer, this class will prepare students to proceed from character analysis to finished performance makeup. Topics include understanding, emphasizing and changing basic facial structure; application of wigs and hairpieces; special-effects makeup; prosthetics and plastics; aging; and historical period effects. 

Provides an introduction to the techniques of directing for the theatre. Students will study the history of directing and the performance theories of several important directors. The course will provide discussion and practical experience in script analysis, conceptualization, use of the stage, derivation of ground plan, choosing and working with actors, and the development of a set design for a production.

This course will directly involve students in the research, conceptualization, and production of a main-stage play. Students will embark on a rigorous study of the author, the author's other works, the theatre history and the cultural history of the time period of the play. Students will be expected to incorporate their research into all aspects of the production and produce a substantial essay on some aspect of the play. This essay will be included in a dramaturgical pamphlet presented to each audience member. 

This course explores period styles of acting from ancient Greece, the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, the Restoration, and Neoclassical Europe. Students will engage in intensive verse work, period movement and manners, and character research methods.

Under faculty guidance, each student will choose, research, plan, cast and rehearse a sizable one-act play for public audiences. Throughout the projects, emphasis will be placed on the challenges of style: by period, genre or clearly projected experiment.