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- https://sou.edu/academics/theatre/programs/master-theatre-studies/coursework/
- https://sou.edu/academics/theatre/programs/master-theatre-studies/coursework/
Master of Theatre Studies Coursework
Main Session Dates: July 11 – July 26, 2025
Third Year Thesis Defense: Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Theatre Teacher Training program for middle school, high school and community college teachers is a rigorous experience that requires three summers with two intensive weeks in residence in July and considerable individual effort before and after each summer. The program requires practical implementation and documentation of applied design and production projects executed in your own school. Each year of your program will focus on a different type of theatre: first summer – representational, second summer – musical theatre and 3rd summer – presentational. The program leads to a Master of Theatre Studies in Production and Design.
*Please note: The SOU Master’s program candidates must complete 9 credits of elective coursework in addition to the main session intensive coursework to fulfill their degree requirements.
What our students say:
“There are things that I will take back to use in my classroom from the very first week and ideas that I will be able to use in my productions immediately.”
“The information learned will be invaluable to me and my program. I have more tools to create richer productions at my school.”
“The coursework was challenging and it has been exciting to learn many new skills.”
See Coursework Details
Please view the SOU Catalog for course information.
Assignments and Projects
The Master of Theatre Studies in Production and Design offers you the opportunity to learn from theatre professionals in a creative environment while you earn your 45-credit degree over three years.
You earn 11 quarter credits in years one and two and 14 quarter credits in year three through the summer residency plus the applied projects in your own school. Each summer will require two plus weeks in residence on the SOU campus. The curriculum also includes required projects before and after each two-week residency period. This work includes play reading, analysis papers, and theoretical designs, as well as research, curriculum, design, and production projects executed in your own school.
Completion of the Master of Theatre Studies degree requires 9 additional theatre elective credits for a total of 45 graduate quarter credits. Nine of the additional graduate-level credits are taken at SOU (week-long ‘elective’ courses in the summer or online courses during the school year). You may petition to have 6 credits accepted from a previously completed graduate degree in an appropriate discipline.
The final four credits of the Master’s Program are fulfilled through a Thesis Project (TA 503) in which students submit a portfolio reflecting best work samples, a detailed self-evaluation paper, and an oral defense of these documents.
See Assignment and Project Details
Incoming First year students will begin a significant Theoretical Project prior to arrival in Ashland and complete the project during the Main Intensive Session.
Second and Third year students will complete their Theoretical Project prior to their arrival in Ashland. These students will also complete an Applied Design Project, an Applied Technology Project and a Research Project during each academic year that will be due prior to their arrival each July.
Second and Third year students will also participate in a Peer Review Process and complete the documentation of this prior to their arrival in Ashland.
Third year students will also be required to write a self-evaluation and assemble a digital portfolio prior to their Thesis Defense Interviews at the close of their third year.
Details, instructions and examples of these projects will be sent out soon after a student’s admittance to the Program.
Master of Theatre Studies Elective Courses
Each year, MoTS offers one winter quarter online elective and three different five-day electives before and after the Main Intensive session. The topics of these classes change each year.
MoTS alumni and students not enrolled in the MoTS program (non-admitted students) may enroll in these electives if there is space.
Note: To complete a MoTS degree, students will need to complete at least three electives throughout their time in the MoTS program.
See Past Elective Course Samples
Choreography for Musical Theatre
Costume Crafts: Patternmaking
Costuming Crafts: Millinery
Directing
Intelligent Use of Automated Lighting
Mask Making and Movement
Puppetry; Design, Construction, and Performance
Scene Painting Intensive
Shadow Puppetry: Writing, Design, Performance
Stage Combat
Staging the Musical
The Director and the Rehearsal Process
The Wonderful World of Dramaturgy
Transforming the Ordinary
Vectorworks
Master Degree Requirements
The Master of Theatre Studies in Production and Design offers students the opportunity to learn from theatre professionals in a creative environment while they earn their 45-credit degree over three years.
Students will earn 10-11 quarter credits each year. First and Second year students complete 11 quarter credits. Third year students complete 14 quarter credits, which include four credits for the Thesis project.
All students must complete at least three Elective classes for an additional nine credits towards degree completion.
Note: Students may petition to have six Elective credits accepted from a previously completed graduate degree in an appropriate discipline.
Contact the Theatre Program
SOU Theatre Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6690
Contact Deborah Rosenberg at mots@sou.edu
– Questions About Theatre? –