Since our program first launched in the English department, we have had many students enroll in the Minor or Concentration because they want the opportunity we provide to “Indulge in Your Dramatic Side”. With our focus on developing the critical skills of performance criticism and analysis, our students have gone on to pursue Graduate degrees that continue to help them hone these skills in a variety of programs. To see some of our student success stories, check out our Drama Studies page.

One of our greatest successes has been a pilot artist-in-residence opportunity for the first time in the winter of 2023. This project included a course that culminated in students writing their own 10-minute plays, under the direction of theatre designer, Roger Schultz. Students learned the craft of playwrighting from a designer’s perspective and their works were presented to an invited audience at the end of the term in April 2023. Feedback from students confirmed that this is an opportunity we should pursue again. As Roger Schultz, our first Artist noted, “the Artist-in-Residency is an important program: not just to the individual, or the University, but to the larger community and indeed the landscape of Canadian Culture itself.” With your generous support this Giving Tuesday, we can continue to provide such opportunities for students and artists to work together to their mutual benefit.

In recent years we have added new courses, such as an Indigenous Drama course and a practicum course aimed at developing and sustaining a children’s theatre. We have also been able to develop new projects for the benefit of students and our community, such as a new season of the podcast Next Stages supported by CKCU FM and the staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later which took place at CDCC because of the generosity of our donors. We hope to be able to sustain these efforts and develop new projects with your help. When we give students the opportunity to develop their knowledge and critical skills in the performing arts, they don’t just indulge in their passion, but they experience learning as a joyful endeavour. We want to make it possible for students to take their knowledge beyond the classroom, and into the world. Support from donors like you makes it possible for us to offer unique and exciting learning opportunities for our students. Thank you!