COMMUNICATION · Communication Century Scholars, a pro-gram to recognize and mentor undergrad-uates...

COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION at Northwestern

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ARE YOU READY TO LEAD?

Communication Studies | 2

Performance Studies | 10

Theatre | 16

Communication Sciences and Disorders | 28

Radio/Television/Film | 34

School-wide Opportunities | 42

In its more than 130-year history North-

western’s School of Communication has

prepared many generations of leaders in

the com munication arts and sciences. The

school encourages students to follow their

passions through an exciting curriculum.

Working with faculty both in and out of

class, students benefit from being part of

a community of artists and scholars that

is both challenging and nurturing.

Our programs are distinctive in several

important ways. First, we offer a great

liberal arts education that is grounded in

performance. Every program has an interest

in improving the practice of communica-

tion, whether by creating new ways to

convey our humanity through artistic

expression, finding new therapies for dis-

orders of communication, or developing

new technologies or systems for human

interaction. Each of the school’s five depart-

ments ranks at the top of its discipline,

and each curriculum provides opportuni-

ties for students to apply theory, criticism,

station, and produce plays and musicals.

We see students as partners in the life of

the University, and we take their work and

their aspirations seriously.

This kind of community attracts the most

talented and creative students and faculty

and provides them with the opportunity

to find and follow their passions. Our goal

is to give all members of the community

what they need to develop fully, no matter

what career goals they choose. Initiatives

to help further that objective include the

Communication Century Scholars, a pro-

gram to recognize and mentor undergrad-

uates who are predicted to make a direct

impact on the new information age, the

“communication century.” The school

also has a chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the

national honor society for college students

in communication-related disciplines; our

Pi Theta chapter is dedicated to fostering

and supporting student-driven projects.

Northwestern offers a wide range of high-

quality academic programs, valuing and

nurturing intellectual diversity. And it is

and research in performance and practice.

Theory and performance enrich each other,

lending relevance to abstract concepts and

universalizing individual experiences.

Second, the program is comprehensive

and interdisciplinary. Across the five

departments, and in partnership with other

Northwestern schools, the School of Com-

munication offers instruction in the whole

range of communication arts and sciences,

from studies of hearing, voice, and cognition

to acting, music theatre, and dance. A stu-

dent can combine study of the entertain-

ment industry or telecommunications policy

with directing, screenwriting, or acting—or

combine mastery of dance, filmmaking, or

interactive media with studies of children’s

growth or community organizations.

Finally, we give students many opportunities

to do exciting and meaningful work, and we

value the contributions they make. We sup-

port a wide variety of cocurricular activities,

from internships and research assistantships

to intercollegiate forensics. Students run the

campus film society, organize their own film

productions, manage and program the radio

located just north of Chicago, a city that

both welcomes newcomers and challenges

them to explore and grow. Our school

encourages students to take advantage of

both the city and the University and asks

them to be fully engaged in the most excit-

ing and innovative work being done in the

communication disciplines.

Communication at Northwestern describes

our undergraduate programs, faculty, and

cocurricular opportunities. If you need

further information, please feel free to

contact me by letter or e-mail.

Barbara J. O’Keefe

Dean, School of Communication

2240 Campus Drive

Evanston, Illinois 60208-3580

[email protected]

Northwestern UniversitySchool of Communication

Studies in the Arts andSciences of Communication

COMMUNICATION STUYou may see yourself as a business

executive, an attorney specializing in

international law, an entrepreneur, or a

senator from your home state. In these

and numerous other careers, mastering

the tools and techniques of effective

communication will serve you well.

With a major in communication studies

from Northwestern, your resumé will

show that you have both a great liberal

arts education and superb career

qualifications.

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The communication studies program represents the rich history of the entire school. As a student in the program, you’ll find that the field of communication studies encompasses not just a storied past but a bright future and a wide, varied, and universally valuable program of study. which houses the media lab. The adjacent

Hardy House is the home of the debate

and speech teams. The Marjorie Iglow

Mitchell Multimedia Center in University

Library makes available recent communi-

cation technology, and the digital media

studies lab in Kresge Hall features state-of-

the-art equipment.

COCURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

DEBATE PROGRAM

Through the Northwestern Debate Soci-

ety, students from across the University

can participate in intercollegiate debate at

any level. Northwestern’s team, the oldest

active collegiate debate team in the coun-

try, has won the National Debate Tourna-

ment 14 times, far surpassing the record of

any other school in the country. For more

information stop by Hardy House at 1809

Chicago Avenue on the Evanston campus.

Northwestern also offers debate experience

through the model United Nations team

and the Undergraduate Law Society’s com-

petitive Mock Trial Association.

SPEECH TEAM

The school also sponsors Northwestern’s

successful speech team, which participates

locally, regionally, and nationally in indi-

vidual events ranging from informative

and impromptu speaking to the oral inter-

pretation of literature. Consistently a top

contender in its division, the team has

taken home several national champion-

ships over the last few seasons.

CURRICULUMThe following sample curriculum demon-

strates the array of courses typically avail-

able. It does not include classes outside the

department, which account for more than

half the course load.

As a student in the Department of Commu-

nication Studies, you’ll explore the social,

political, and cultural functions of commu-

nication as it occurs in diverse settings

ranging from interpersonal interaction to

global media. You’ll study communication

practices, media, institutions, and arts as

they shape agreement and dissent, com-

petition and cooperation.

Our faculty are leaders in the study of new

media, public culture, social networking,

technology and social behavior, and more

—and teach a curriculum reflecting the

nature of our fast-paced world and how

we live, work, and create today.

That curriculum allows for a broad core

introduction to theory, tools, and techniques

for communication study, followed by self-

guided study that meets your intellectual

and professional goals. You choose the path

that makes the most sense for the future

you envision for yourself.

If that vision for your future is unclear,

you may have found the perfect major.

Your varied interests and skills are welcome

—encouraged—here. Our core courses in

speaking, persuasion, argumentation,

decision making, and media provide founda-

tional knowledge you’ll need for analyzing,

managing, and improving communication

in any arena of professional and personal

interaction.

Skilled communicators are vital to almost

any professional field. Our alumni work in

advertising, marketing, and public relations

as well as in law, medicine, business, and

education. They run for office, start entrepre-

neurial ventures, and blaze their own paths.

No matter what career you might choose,

a background in communication studies

means that you’ll be ready to take your place

in your community: a responsible leader,

an engaged citizen, a pioneering problem

solver, a highly sought professional.

FACILITIESThe departmental office, professional educa-

tion center, and other offices are located

in the Frances Searle Building. Additional

offices are found at 1815 Chicago Avenue,

FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE YEARS

Public Speaking

Theories of Persuasion

Theories of Argumentation

Theories of Mediated Communication

Collaborative Leadership and Decision Making

Speech Writing

Freshman Seminar

JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEARS

Theories of Organizational Communication

Bargaining and Negotiation

Family Communication Behavior

Contemporary Problems in Freedom

of Speech

Rhetoric of Social Movements

Marketing of Popular Culture

Audience Analysis

Current Issues in Privacy

New Media as Popular Culture

Global Media and International Affairs

Science, Technology, and Society

Research Seminar

For more information on departmental

programs, contact

Department of Communication Studies

Frances Searle Building

2240 Campus Drive

[email protected]

847/491-7530

www.communication.northwestern.edu

/departments/communicationstudies

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FROM MY CALENDAR

Wednesday

8:00 a.m.

SPANISH 121-3

Intermediate Spanish

9:00 a.m.

Breakfast at Norris and

studying for COMM ST 270

Theories of Mediated

Communication and

LING 250 Sound Patterns

of Human Language

11:00 a.m.

Meet with supervisor at

SONIC lab about tutorial

videos I’m scripting

2:00 p.m.

COMM ST 377

Development and Marketing

of Popular Culture

5:00 p.m.

Make advertising calls for

the Daily Northwestern

8:00 p.m.

A&O media group meeting

Later at night

Publicity planning for

Student Theatre Coalition

show

Saturday

Delta Chi formal

ALUMNI CAREERS

ZACHARY JOHNSON (C10) is the CEO and

cofounder of Syndio Social, a consultancy

that helps businesses leverage social

networks.

MICHELLE ZHANG (C10) was hired by

Groupon China in Beijing—her first job

after graduation.

HENRY WEBSTER (C07) is the manager

of business planning and digital analytics

for Mindshare, a global media company

specializing in strategic media planning,

negotiation, and execution.

JENNY TOPOLOSKY (C04) is a senior

account executive at Carol Fox & Associ-

ates, a marketing and public relations com-

pany specializing in the performing arts,

special events, and entertainment clients.

JOSEPH STATEN (C94), director of cine-

matics for Bungie Studios, is a video game

developer, author, and voice actor for the

successful Halo game series.

GARRY MATHIASON (C68) is a leading

authority on employment law trends in

the United States and senior shareholder

and board chair at Littler Mendelson, a

worldwide employment and labor law firm.

COCURRICULAR OPPORTUNITY

FORENSICSSpeak up.

Northwestern’s forensics groups are

renowned. The debate team (above) has

won more National Debate Tournament

championships than any other university

in the nation—14 and counting—and in

recent years the speech team has taken

home multiple individual events champion-

ships and team titles in its division.

Forensics team members develop skills

in logic and quick thinking, experience in

public speaking—and friendships to last

a lifetime.

If you want to be a part of the team, just

say so.


/learn/student_activities

You may also like • Mock Trial • Associated

Student Government • A&O Productions •

Daily Northwestern • more at northwestern

.collegiatelink.net

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

ALEJANDRO VALDIVIESOClass of 2014

Hometown Chicago, Illinois

Major Communication Studies

When Alejandro was visiting colleges, he looked for a solid

education, good people, and opportunities to grow. After

one tour of the Northwestern campus, he was hooked. Since

then Alejandro hasn’t turned down many opportunities. “My

experience has been excellent: I’ve already learned about how

to persuade people, I’ve made a piece of performance art,

and I’m currently studying branding and imaging of children’s

marketing. It’s so cool telling people how much I get to do

in one quarter.”

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FROM MY CALENDAR

Tuesday

11:00 a.m.

COMM ST 395 Voice,

Violence, and Democracy

12:30 p.m

COMM ST 344 Interpersonal

Conflict

2:00 p.m.

COMM ST 395 Rhetoric

of Superheroes

5:00 p.m.

Speech team meeting and

practice at Hardy House

8:00 p.m.

Homework and research

on the World University

Debating Championships

—I want to compete for

Northwestern!

and cultural impact of mass media and new

communication technologies.

KATHLEEN GALVIN studies communica-

tion within families, especially relating

to health decision making, nontraditional

family structures, and adoption.

DILIP GAONKAR is director of North-

western’s Center for Global Culture and

Communication, an interdepartmental

forum for bringing together faculty and

students to address the emerging importance

of globalization in communication studies.

Although established in the school, the

CGCC offers the opportunity for inter-

disciplinary scholarly exchanges across

the Northwestern campus.

DARREN GERGLE studies and teaches in

human-computer interaction and computer-

supported cooperative work. In particular, he

is interested in furthering theoretical under-

standing of how technological mediation

affects communication and its applications

to the design, development, and evaluation

of novel collaboration technologies.

ROBERT HARIMAN is interested in

the role of style in human affairs, particu-

larly with regard to political judgment

and photojournalism’s role in a vital

democratic society. He maintains the blog

nocaptionneeded.com.

PAUL LEONARDI studies how organiza-

tions can employ advanced information

technologies to create and share knowledge

more effectively.

DANIEL O’KEEFE focuses on organizing

and synthesizing the substantial body of

work derived from persuasion studies—

the effects of messages on persuasion and

the distinctive problems associated with

developing dependable generalizations

about persuasive message effects.

ANGELA RAY focuses on rhetorical criticism

and history. Special interests include popular

lecturing in the 19th-century United States

and women’s rhetoric. Her 2005 book The

Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth-

Century United States received five national

awards. Ray’s next book will examine how

19th-century feminists used popular media

of the day to influence public opinion.

IRVING REIN pursues research and teach-

ing interests in popular culture, crisis

management, and place marketing. He is

currently researching the distribution and

content changes affecting popular culture.

C. RILEY SNORTON pursues academic

and teaching interests in transgender and

queer theory, media anthropology, Africana

studies, cultural studies, performance

studies, and popular culture.

ELLEN WARTELLA, a leading scholar on

the role of media in children’s health and

development, studies the intersection of

media, televised violence and marketing,

childhood, and race. She participates on a

number of national boards—including the

Sesame Workshop, the not-for-profit orga-

nization behind television’s Sesame Street.

JAMES WEBSTER focuses on audience

measurement, the behavior of media

audiences, and media industries.

FACULTY FOCUS

For a full list of department faculty

and information on their teaching

interests, see www.communication

.northwestern.edu/faculty.

PABLO BOCZOWSKI researches the

transition from print to digital media, focus-

ing on the organizational and occupational

dynamics of contemporary journalism. He

is the author of Digitizing the News: Innova-

tion in Online Newspapers and News at Work:

Imitation in an Age of Information Abundance,

winner of the American Sociological Associ-

ation’s 2011 Best Book Award.

JASMINE NICHOLE COBB focuses on

both historical and contemporary represen-

tations of race, class, gender, and sexuality

in visual cultures through published works

on sexuality in popular music, black film-

making, and race on television.

NOSHIR CONTRACTOR investigates fac-

tors that lead to the formation, maintenance,

and dissolution of dynamically linked social

and knowledge networks in communities.

He directs the Science of Networks in Com-

munities (SONIC) laboratory, where his

research team is developing and testing

theories and methods of network science.

JAMES ETTEMA focuses his teaching

and research on the social organization

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

JOSHUA HIEWClass of 2013

Hometown Singapore, Singapore

Major Communication Studies

Joshua chose the School of Commu-

nication because of the school’s com-

mitment to forensics, which he’d

practiced and coached in his home

country. “Although speech and foren-

sics can be incredibly intense and

time-consuming—we pretty much

lose almost all our weekends—it’s also

really rewarding because of how many

meaningful friendships we get to

make. Importantly, it also allows me to

take the communication lessons I’ve

learned in the classroom and apply

them in the real world.” Joshua’s com-

mitment to the team has paid off. In

his second year he became the national

champ in both extemporaneous

speaking and editorial impromptu.

All professors need to keep their class syllabi

up to date from year to year. But when your

subject matter is the ever-evolving, ever-

changing world of online media—as it is

for communication studies faculty member

ESZTER HARGITTAI—you might be updating

your syllabus by the minute. Hargittai studies

the social and policy implications of informa-

tion technologies and, in particular, how

digital media may contribute to or alleviate

social inequalities. As the syllabi for her courses (including Internet and Society and

Search in a Digital Age) include both academic readings and popular articles, Hargittai

must stay up to speed with what’s going on. Her of-the-moment classes pay off for her

students, who leave Northwestern plugged in to what’s happening right now. Hargittai’s

work was recognized by the International Communication Association, which named her

the 2010 Outstanding Young Scholar.

FROM LEFT: DILIP GAONKAR, ESZTER HARGITTAI, JASMINE NICHOLE COBB

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PERFORMANCE STUDIES As a performance studies major, you’ll join a community of scholars and artists who are

using performance to open up and grab hold of real-world experiences. Performance

studies majors are performers, directors, writers, visual artists, and musicians. They are

creative and inquisitive; they work independently and collaboratively. As part of this

unique group, you’ll enter a cutting-edge academic discipline that seeks to understand

performance as central to the human condition.

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Majoring in performance studies, you’ll study literature by adapting, staging, and performing poetic, narrative, and nonfiction written texts. You’ll explore intercultural performance, cultural studies, and performance ethnography by observing public rituals and festivals as well as the performances of people in everyday life. You’ll also take courses where you perform original works and acquire a language for theorizing and finding new insights into performance.

Performance studies has

at its center the written

and spoken word, gesture

and image, text and body,

performance and analy-

sis. Historically grounded

in the oral interpretation

of poetry and fiction, per-

formance studies seeks to

engage performance at

every front, to open and

broaden the definition of performance and

texts, and to explore performance practices

and test their foundations.

FACILITIESThe Department of Performance Studies

is housed in Annie May Swift Hall, which

includes seminar rooms, a video screening

room, the Peggy Dow Helmerich Audito-

rium, the Alvina Krause Studio, and faculty

offices. The department’s performances and

performance-based classes take place in the

Theatre and Interpretation Center, which

contains four theaters, costume and scene

shops, dance studios, and rehearsal spaces.

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIESOutside the classroom, you’ll have additional

opportunities to develop performance work

and bring it to a wider audience. Each aca-

demic year the department presents a season

of events, including performance hours

presented in connection with classes and

productions directed by doctoral students

and faculty. You may also be interested in

performing in productions staged indepen-

dently by groups or your peers on campus—

or in staging your own work.

CURRICULUMThe undergraduate program begins with

the introductory course Analysis and Perfor-

mance of Literature. Your subsequent classes

In performance studies you’ll look at

performance in all its diversity, studying

it as an object to be documented and ana-

lyzed as well as engaging in it as a living

phenomenon—a thing to be experienced,

practiced, enacted. In course work and

performances you’ll learn the techniques

of close, critical examination of the texts

you study and perform. You’ll also look for

new ways of understanding and perform-

ing, whether the subject is a literary text

or a real-world event. You’ll write, perform,

and explore ideas using both traditional

and experimental media.

Performance studies graduates pursue

a wide range of careers. Several have

founded innovative Chicago theatre com-

panies, including Lookingglass, Redmoon,

and Lifeline. Many pursue graduate study

in performance studies or other academic

disciplines or go on to successful careers

as theatre and film actors, directors, and

producers. Other graduates emerge from

the department’s performance-based

course of study to use their critical think-

ing in fields as diverse as psychology, law,

business, and advertising.

will focus on the performance of literary

texts and on performance and culture.

You’ll expand these perspectives in courses

that investigate the adaptation and staging

of texts, fieldwork and performance studies,

performance of various literary genres, and

performance art.

The following sample curriculum demon-


able in an undergraduate’s major. It does

not include classes outside the department,

which account for more than half the

course load.


Analysis and Performance of Literature

Performance of Poetry

Performance of Narrative Fiction

Performance of Drama

Performance and Culture

Adapting Narrative for Group Performance

Freshman Seminar


Studies in Gender and Performance

Performing Modern and Contemporary

Poetry

Performance of Black Literature

ALUMNI CAREERS

ATLEY LOUGHRIDGE (C07) is a

filmmaker and actress who works

as a copywriter at OgilvyEntertain-

ment, where she focuses on digital

media, gaming, technology, and

sustainability.

LYDIA DIAMOND (C92) is a playwright

whose work has been staged at

Chicago’s Goodman and Steppenwolf

Theatres.

ERICA DANIELS (C91) is the associate

artistic director at Chicago’s Steppen-

wolf Theatre. She was previously the

company’s casting director.

MARTHA LAVEY (C79, GC86, GC94,

H10) is the artistic director of Chicago’s

Tony Award–winning Steppenwolf

Theatre.

FRANK GALATI (C65, GC67, GC71)

is a two-time Tony Award winner as

director and writer. He is a member

of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, an

associate at Goodman Theatre, and

professor emeritus at Northwestern.

Performance studies alumni are

among the founders and the current

ensemble of Chicago’s Tony Award–

winning Lookingglass Theatre and

the artistic collective of Chicago’s Tony

Award–winning Goodman Theatre.

Performance in Everyday Life

Nonfiction Studies

Folklore and Oral Traditions

Shakespeare: Adaptations

Performing the American Fifties

Staging the Novel

Presentational Aesthetics

Performance Art

Field Methods in Performance Studies

Studies in James Joyce

Performing Individual Poetic Styles

Human Rights and Radical Performance

Performance of Latina/o Literature

Family Stories, Memoirs, and Diaries

Topics in Performance Studies

Field Study in Performance Studies

Urban Festivity


programs, contact

Department of Performance Studies

Annie May Swift Hall

1920 Campus Drive

[email protected]

847/491-3171


/departments/performancestudies

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

GRACE WRIGHTClass of 2014

Hometown Wheaton, Illinois

Major Performance Studies

Grace first saw Northwestern with her

mother, an alumna, years ago. When she

visited again during her college search,

she found her match. “For a former high

school speech competitor and avid performer

and reader, the performance studies major

seemed the perfect fit. Now I am constantly

surrounded by professors and students who

share my passions.” Her passions are many:

she’s looking at a double major in French,

coaching high school debate, setting up

blood drives, and serving as executive news

producer for WNUR (see page 45). “The

School of Communication has opened up

the world for me: where else would I be

able to broadcast the news, adapt literature

for the stage, and get a significant back-

ground in speech-language pathology that

will aid me in coaching debate?”

FROM MY CALENDAR

Thursday

10:00 a.m.

PERF ST 300 The Art of

the Clown

Noon

Lunch with friend in

downtown Evanston

1:30 p.m

Study for French exam

3:00 p.m.

WNUR News research

and broadcast

6:30 p.m.

Makeup crew meeting for

Student Theatre Coalition

production of Urinetown

9:00 p.m.

French Ciné Club film event

Weekend

Prepare for next peer adviser

training session and next

week’s audition

Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the

Politics of Authenticity deals with cultural,

social, and political battles over origin,

ownership, circulation, and performance.

Johnson has also earned accolades and

applause as a performer of solo shows such

as Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South

Tell Their Tales, based on the narratives in

his book Sweet Tea.

D. SOYINI MADISON also teaches in the

departments of anthropology and African

American studies. Madison has lived and

worked in Ghana as a Senior Fulbright

Scholar conducting field research on the

interconnections between traditional reli-

gion, political economy, and indigenous per-

formance tactics. She has authored several

books, most recently Acts of Activism: Human

Rights as Radical Performance.

CAROL SIMPSON STERN researches

and teaches courses on modern and contem-

porary American and British writers and

their performance personae. She is associate

editor of Text and Performance Quarterly.

MARY ZIMMERMAN, a School of Commu-

nication alumna, is a member of Chicago’s

Lookingglass Theatre Company and an artis-

tic associate of the city’s Goodman Theatre.

Zimmerman won a Tony Award for directing

Metamorphoses, a play developed at North-

western and honored in 2010 by Time maga-

zine as one of the best stage works of the

previous decade. She has also been awarded

a MacArthur “Genius” grant.

RAMÓN H. RIVERA-SERVERA focuses on contemporary per-

formance in the United States, with special emphasis on how

categories of race, gender, and sexuality are negotiated in

the process of migration. His work documents US Latina/o,

Mexican, and Caribbean performance practices ranging from

theatre and concert dance to social dance, fashion, and speech.

“A significant part of my research takes place in nightclubs,”

he said. “Oftentimes, if I’m not in the office and it’s after 9 p.m.,

it’s likely I’m in the midst of fieldwork in Chicago nightclubs—

mostly observing choreographic strategies on dance floors,

what music is popular.” His interests have led him to study

musicians and choreographers of Latin American descent living and working in Canada

and to bring together artistic directors, playwrights, actors, directors, and designers as

organizer of a daylong symposium on the history, current practice, and future of Latino

theatre and performance in Chicago. He’s also completing a book-length study on

Latina/o queer performance. Where does he get his energy? Music—any kind. “Pursuing

the sound waves of the Americas gets me attuned to my work.”

FACULTY FOCUS





JOSHUA TAKANO CHAMBERS-

LETSON pursues interests in performance

studies, Asian American diasporic and eth-

nic American performance, contemporary

dramatic literature, critical race studies, and

legal, Marxist, queer of color, and feminist

theory.

PAUL EDWARDS focuses on Shakespeare

in performance, stage and screen adapta-

tions of narrative fiction, and postwar

American popular culture.

E. PATRICK JOHNSON has published

widely in the areas of race, class and gender,

and performance. His award-winning book

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FROM TOP: RAMÓN H. RIVERA-SERVERA, E. PATRICK JOHNSON, MARY ZIMMERMAN

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THEATRE

To paraphrase Boswell, as a student of

the theatre you will take as your subject

the entire system of human life. As an actor

interpreting a character, you must know

human psychology and be a shrewd

observer of the varieties and nuances of

the human condition. To create an onstage

world as director or designer, you’ll need

to know history and science so as to

understand the social forces that affect

human behavior. Of all the performing arts,

theatre draws most fully on the rich variety

of human experience and communicates the

real or imagined drama of life as it was or

might have been, as it is or might become.

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and workshops for stage design and

lighting. Productions are also presented in

the University’s nearby Cahn Auditorium,

a 1,000-seat proscenium theater.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES

MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS

The Theatre and Interpretation Center

presents as many as 40 productions each

year. Approximately 12 productions—

directed by faculty, graduate students, and

guest artists—are staged in the Barber and

Louis Theaters. The Mussetter-Struble and

Wallis Theaters host additional productions,

both one-act and full-length, as well as

multi media presentations, special projects,

the Agnes Nixon Playwriting Festival, and

student theatre productions.

UNDERGRADUATE DIRECTING

PROJECTS

Students may apply to direct project pro-

ductions, held quarterly. Each production

requires a faculty sponsor as well as an

application describing the project’s scope,

budget, and number of performances.

As a theatre major, you’ll also have many

opportunities to sample the rich and varied

offerings in other University schools. The

Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College

of Arts and Sciences, in particular, offers

courses that are vital to theatre study, espe-

cially in the fields of African American

studies, comparative literature, English

literature, languages, history, philosophy,

and the social sciences.

The School of Communication’s flourishing

visiting artists program brings artists

from many fields to campus to share their

knowledge and professional experience.

Some visitors are alumni who have gained

national prominence as actors, directors,

producers, dancers, or musicians. Others

are outstanding artists who are drawn to

North western because of its excellent repu-

tation. Visitors have included actor Meryl

Streep, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright

Tony Kushner, acclaimed lighting designer

Jennifer Tipton, and James Jimirro, creator

and president of the Disney Channel.

For graduates pursuing careers in the

broad field of entertainment, the North-

western University Entertainment Alliance

(NUEA) provides valuable opportunities

for networking and making connections

through its two chapters, based in New York

and Los Angeles.

FACILITIESThe Theatre and Interpretation Center

offers a number of performance spaces

under one roof. These include the 369-seat

proscenium-stage Josephine Louis Theater

and the 439-seat thrust-stage Ethel M. Barber

Theater. Two black-box spaces, the Hal

and Martha Hyer Wallis Theater and the

Mussetter-Struble Theater, provide an ideal

environment for students to develop their

craft and express their love of theatre. The

Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center has

two large spaces for performances or classes

plus rehearsal rooms for dance or theatre.

The center’s professional-level production

facilities include a central costume shop

A theatre major from Northwestern is one

of the most comprehensive a student can

pursue. Like a classic liberal arts major, it

demands that a student be well read and

well versed in a wide variety of literature,

drama, languages, and communication arts.

Theatre students also learn to prioritize as

they juggle stage pursuits with their class

work. Although a major in theatre is not

a pre professional program, a significant

number of graduates seek and find work

in theatre, television, and film. The School

of Communication’s requirements for a

bachelor’s degree guarantee that a theatre

major is a well-rounded, well-educated

individual whose talents can be applied to

a career or graduate study in almost any

field. Because the department offers a liberal

arts degree with a theatre major, admission

does not require an audition.

Theatre study at Northwestern will show

you how to approach theoretical and practi-

cal problems from the perspective of many

intellectual disciplines. The School of Com-

munication’s other four departments offer

courses profoundly relevant to the study of

theatre. Classes available in all the school’s

departments will give you a distinctive per-

spective on the process of human communi-

cation, helping you develop skills in research

and writing, laboratory work, group discus-

sion, oral presentation, performance, and

theatre production.

CHILDREN’S THEATRE

Each year a touring children’s theatre pro-

duction gives 25 to 40 performances over a

nine-week period, challenging actors to keep

their performances fresh over an extended

run. All students are welcome to audition,

and those who are cast receive a credit in

Theatre Practicum. The show is produced

or directed by a faculty member with the

support of the design faculty and shop staff.

WAA-MU SHOW

This nationally famous music revue (see

page 25), written and performed by students

from throughout the University, is presented

each spring in Cahn Auditorium by the

Music Theatre Program.

OTHER UNIVERSITY

THEATRE ACTIVITIES

Opportunities to participate in productions

are also made available through student

organizations outside the theatre depart-

ment. These include Arts Alliance Produc-

tions, African American Theatre Ensemble,

Jewish Theatre Ensemble, Wave Productions,

and Vertigo Productions. Overall, student

organizations put on between 50 and 80

If theatre is your passion, you’ll find that Northwestern’s theatre curriculum combines the depth of specialization in the theatre arts with the breadth of a liberal arts education. You’ll acquire the knowledge and skills required for a career in the theatre, whether on stage or off. From the beginning of your studies, you’ll discover that the training you acquire applies to other professions as well, from law to business to politics.

THEATRE MAJOR


AMERICAN MUSIC THEATRE PROJECT

Light up the stage with new work.

The American Music Theatre Project

brings developing music theatre works

to campus—where you can help bring

them to life.

AMTP hosts leading music theatre

artists to work in collaboration with

students and faculty on tomorrow’s

hottest shows. After staged readings

and productions on campus, shows

developed through AMTP have gone on

to other stages in Chicago and beyond.

Start something big.

www.amtp.northwestern.edu

You may also like • Dance Marathon •

Dolphin Show–Arts Alliance • a cappella

groups • Student Theatre Coalition •

more at northwestern.collegiatelink.net

FROM MY CALENDAR

Monday

8:15 a.m.

Coffee at “Norbucks”

8:30 a.m.

Work-study job at Pick-

Staiger Concert Hall

11:00 a.m.

COMM ST 205 Theories

of Persuasion

Noon

Lunch with friends at Willard

Residential College

2:00 p.m.

Voice lesson

3:00 p.m.

THEATRE 352 Musical

Theatre Techniques

7:30 p.m.

See my friends in their first

mainstage show

10:00 p.m.

Late-night snack with friends

at Fran’s Café in Willard

ALUMNI CAREERS

ERICA BETHE LEVIN (C05) cofounded

www.cheekychicago.com, an online

magazine for Chicago women.

ZACH GILFORD (C04) starred in

the acclaimed TV series Friday

Night Lights.

CHRIS MEADOR (C02) is the vice

president of consumer marketing

for the History Channel.

DAMONA RESNICK HOFFMAN (C00)

is the vice president of alternative

programming at Syfy Channel, where

she helped develop the highly popular

series Ghost Hunters.

MICHAEL KNOBLOCH (C92) is presi-

dent of film music and publishing for

Universal Pictures.

STEPHEN COLBERT (C86, H11) is the

Emmy and Peabody Award–winning

writer, producer, and star of Comedy

Central’s The Colbert Report.

Playwright BRUCE NORRIS (C82) won

the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in drama for his

play Clybourne Park.

Theatre alumni are among the found-

ers of Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre,

About Face Theatre, and Barrel of

Monkeys as well as New York City’s

Second Stage Theatre.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

AUSTIN JAMESClass of 2013

Hometown Kent Island, Maryland

Major Communication Studies;

Music Theatre Certificate Program

Austin is a man of many talents—and

he wants to use them all. His major is

communication studies, and his passion

is music theatre. “At Northwestern I could

do both,” he said. In his first year on

campus, Austin appeared on stage in two

Theatre and Interpretation Center main-

stage shows, the Dolphin Show’s Ragtime,

and several short plays staged during a

weekend festival curated by actor-writer

Regina Taylor. He also stays busy support-

ing his friends as an audience member.

“As a member of the theatre community,

I spend a lot of time seeing shows—both

on campus and in Chicago.”

all areas of the field, while the junior and

senior years allow students to focus on their

areas of choice. Courses beyond the first year

offer concentrated work in every aspect of

theatre study, including a three-year acting

sequence, voice classes (covering everything

from fundamental principles to dialects), a

two-quarter directing sequence, comparable

sequences of design and production courses,

children’s theatre and creative dramatics,

playwriting, dramatic literature, theatre

history, and stage management.

The following sample curriculum demon-


able in an undergraduate’s major. It does

not include classes outside the department,

which may account for more than half the

course load.


Theatre in Context

Analysis and Performance of Literature

Voice for Performance

Acting I

Training the Actor’s Voice

Stagecraft

Design Process

Stage Makeup

shows a year. More information on student

organizations is available at northwestern

.collegiatelink.net/organizations.

SENIOR-YEAR SHOWCASES

Every spring, seniors in the acting and music

theatre programs have an opportunity to

perform monologues, scenes, and songs for

an invited audience of artistic directors, cast-

ing directors, talent agents, and managers in

Chicago. In addition, acting and music the-

atre seniors may audition for the honor of

performing in a similar showcase for agents

and casting directors that the theatre depart-

ment presents each spring in New York.

MUSIC THEATRE PROGRAMThe Certificate Program in Music Theatre

allows theatre majors to pursue a second

area of specialization. This program is also

an option if you’re interested in related arts

of the lyric theatre—choreography, dance,

composition, lyric writing, and directing.

Acceptance into the program is by audition

in the spring quarter of the first or second

year. A special related program, the Ameri-

can Music Theatre Project (see page 19),

gives students the opportunity to work with

nationally known directors, writers, and

composers in developing original musicals

that are produced on campus. Numerous

music theatre program alumni have gone

on to appear in Broadway and off-Broadway

productions and national tours.

CURRICULUMThe department’s curriculum covers the

broad range of theatre study. First- and

second-year courses challenge students in

Production in Context

Introduction to Design for Theatre

Introduction to Stage Management

Theatre Sound

Freshman Seminar


Acting II, III

Stage Directing

Creative Drama

Playwriting

The Art of Storytelling

Theatre for Young Audiences

Dialects for the Stage

Lighting, Scene, and Costume Design

Theatre Sound

History of Costume and Décor

Production Management

Music Theatre Techniques

Theatre and Performance in the Americas

African Theatre and Drama

Computer Graphics for the Theatre Artist


programs, contact

Department of Theatre

Theatre and Interpretation Center

1949 Campus Drive

theatre@ northwestern.edu

847/491-3170


/departments/theatre

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

JESSICA KAHKOSKAClass of 2013

Hometown Black Forest, Colorado

Major Theatre and Asian and Middle East

Studies; Music Theatre Certificate Program

Jess wanted to do it all, so she chose North-

western. “I felt torn between auditioning for

conservatory programs in musical theatre

and pursuing an academic degree through

a liberal arts school. I immediately felt con-

nected to Northwestern because I can do

both. I can explore everything and grow in

many directions.” She’s taken a startling array

of classes: classical Japanese poetry, Islamic

history, dance classes, theatre design. “For

my theatre major I enrolled in the three-year

acting sequence, which already has revealed

itself as one of the most formative and chal-

lenging experiences of my life thus far. The

track is structured so that I will have the

same classmates and teacher for the rest

of my time at Northwestern, which really

creates an intimate ensemble atmosphere.”

where he was artistic director for 15 years.

Nominated for London’s Laurence Olivier

Award for Hot Mikado, he has been nomi-

nated for 34 Joseph Jefferson Awards (win-

ning 11) in Chicago and three Helen Hayes

Awards (winning one) in Washington, DC.

RIVES COLLINS is the department’s spe-

cialist in theatre and drama for young audi-

ences. His campus directorial credits include

The Secret Garden, How Can You Run with a

Shell on Your Back?, The Orphan Train, Lilly’s

Purple Plastic Purse, Children of Eden, and To

Kill a Mockingbird. Named a Charles Deering

McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

at Northwestern, he was also honored with

the American Alliance for Theatre and

Education’s Creative Drama Award.

TRACY DAVIS is a specialist in perfor-

mance theory, theatre historiography, and

research methodology. She edits the book

series Cambridge Studies in Theatre and

Performance Theory.

HENRY GODINEZ is the resident artistic

associate at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre

and director of its biennial Latino Theatre

Festival, featuring international, national,

and local Latino theatre companies. His

Chicago-area directorial credits include Anna

in the Tropics at Victory Gardens Theatre and

Two Sisters and a Piano for Apple Tree Theatre

in a coproduction with Teatro Vista, which

he cofounded.

CINDY GOLD is the head of the acting pro-

gram and an active director and actor. She

has been seen in TV shows and commercials

and off-Broadway as well as regionally at

Cape Rep Theatre in Massachusetts, Madison

Repertory Theatre and the Peninsula Players

in Wisconsin, Shakespeare Sedona in

Arizona, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival,

the Boston Shakespeare Company, and

several professional improvisation groups.

DASSIA N. POSNER pursues interests in

dramaturgy, the history of directing, women

in theatre, Russian and European avant-

garde theatre, popular entertainment, and

world puppetry history and performance.

FACULTY FOCUS





As a teacher of lighting design, JOSEPH

APPELT is interested in experimenting

with ideas and images and working with

directors and design teams prior to imple-

menting them, especially in nonproscenium

stagings. In the Chicago area Appelt has

designed for the Goodman Theatre, Court

Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Victory Gardens

Theatre, and Pegasus Players.

DAVID H. BELL teaches music theatre.

He is a professional director who has worked

all over the world, including Broadway, off-

Broadway, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Cen-

ter, the National Theatre, London’s West End,

the Royal Albert Hall, and Ford’s Theatre,

LINDA ROETHKE teaches costume

design, freehand drawing, and fabric

modi fication. She maintains a freelance

career as studio artist and as a professional

costume designer with regional and

national theatre credits.

TODD ROSENTHAL is a Tony Award–

winning scenic designer whose work is seen

at regional theatres across the country and

abroad, including Steppenwolf Theatre,

Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Guthrie

Theater, Centerstage, Alley Theatre, Oregon

Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory, Paper

Mill Playhouse, and Chicago Shakespeare

Theater.

HARVEY YOUNG is the author of

Embodying Black Experience: Stillness, Critical

Memory, and the Black Body and coeditor of

the anthology Performance in the Borderlands.

His current research projects include a

study on the operation of race within

virtual and online communities and a

comprehensive study of post-1968 theatre

in Chicago.

FROM MY CALENDAR

Wednesday

11:00 a.m.

THEATRE 243 Acting I

Noon

HISTORY 370 History of

the Islamic Middle East,

1789–Present

1:00 p.m.

DSGN 395 Theatre design

interdisciplinary seminar

2:00 p.m.

Circus arts class at the

Actors Gymnasium

5:00 p.m.

Dinner with friends

6:30 p.m.

Rehearsal for Waa-Mu

Weekend

Four Waa-Mu performances

and a take-home exam

ANNA SHAPIRO has received one of the

industry’s highest accolades: the 2008 Tony

Award for best direction of a play, for staging

Tracy Letts’s Pulitzer Prize–winning August:

Osage County, which premiered at Chicago’s

Steppenwolf Theatre. Affiliated with Steppen-

wolf since 1995, she served as the original

director of its New Plays Initiative before

joining its artistic staff as resident director;

currently she is an associate artist. Other recent

Steppenwolf directing credits include I Never

Sang for My Father with John Mahoney and

the world premieres of Man from Nebraska,

also by Letts; Until We Find Each Other by

Brooke Berman; The Infidel and Purple Heart by Bruce Norris; and The Ordi-

nary Yearning of Miriam Buddwing by Alexandra Gersten. Recently named

the inaugural recipient of the school’s Marjorie Hoffman Hagan, Class of 1934,

Chair in Theatre, Shapiro said, “Teaching at Northwestern has been the most

rewarding experience of my professional life.”

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ANNA SHAPIRO, HARVEY YOUNG, RIVES COLLINS (CENTER, IN CLASS)

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At Northwestern you’ll receive a broad and

deep liberal arts education that includes the

study of dance history and theory as well as

performance and creative opportunities. As a

dance major you’ll have many opportunities

to perform; at the same time, you will study

choreographic processes in depth and will

be challenged to research, analyze, and write

about dance and related subjects.

Throughout your years at Northwestern,

you’ll be guided by dance faculty who are

active professional dancers and choreogra-

phers as well as productive researchers and

scholars. In addition, you’ll attend master

classes taught by guest faculty with success-

ful professional careers.

The dance program, part of the Department

of Theatre, offers a major in dance. Auditions

are not required, but a placement class is

required at the beginning of the first year.

FACILITIESThe Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center,

the dance program’s dedicated teaching

and performance facility, is home to master

classes, student dance concerts, and perfor-

mances by alumni and visiting artists. The

Marshall Dance Center is part of Northwest-

ern’s Theatre and Interpretation Center,

which houses the Department of Theatre.

Dance program concerts are also held in

the 369-seat Josephine Louis Theater and

the 1,000-seat Cahn Auditorium.

Dancing and performing might be your passion right now, but have you considered the many other ways dance can be a part of your life? Northwestern’s dance program helps you take the broad view—giving you the academic background, training, and experience you’ll need for lifetime involvement in dance as a performer, choreographer, teacher, or scholar.

OTHER DANCE OPPORTUNITIES

The Music Theatre Program (see page 20),

which produces the annual Waa-Mu Show,

offers many opportunities for students

to perform and choreograph. The dance

program presents an annual dance major

concert and senior dance major concert.

In addition, students produce their own

concerts in conjunction with course work or

independent projects. Student organizations

that produce musical theatre and concert

dance offer further performance and choreo-

graphic opportunities.

Also offering activities of interest to

dancers are such student groups as

Boomshaka, Graffiti Dancers, Dance

Marathon, Tonik Tap, and the Ballroom,

Latin, and Swing Team (BLAST). Many

of their presentations are well known

on campus and off and are open to the

public, with tickets hard to come by.

CURRICULUMThe dance program offers a compre-

hensive curriculum dedicated to your

intellectual, artistic, and professional

growth. You’ll create your own

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES

DANCEWORKS

DanceWorks gives students an oppor-

tunity to work with faculty and guest

choreographers as performers and in cre-

ating new works. All students enrolled in

dance classes are eligible for fall-quarter

DanceWorks auditions. Rehearsals start

at the beginning of winter quarter, with

performances at the end of that quarter

in the Josephine Louis Theater. Profes-

sionals from the Chicago theatre commu-

nity design costumes and lighting.

NEW MOVEMENT PROJECT

The New Movement Project is a group of

student dancers who investigate, create,

and perform with the guidance and men-

torship of a faculty adviser. Performances

are held in the Ballroom Studio Theater

of the Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance

Center and at other Chicago-area dance

venues. Members also occasionally create

site-specific works and structured impro-

visations for locations such as the sculp-

ture garden or the Lake Michigan shore.

DANCE MAJOR

ALUMNI CAREERS

A group of young alumni—including

MICHAELA FEDERSPIEL (C10), ANNIE

KAHANE (C10), MONICA THOMAS (C10),

GENEVIEVE GARCIA (C09), ADAM

GAUZZA (C09), SIMONE BAECHLE (C07),

and CHRISTINA CHEN (C07)—are founding

members of the NU Group, a collaboration

of dance artists with Northwestern ties.

ADRIANA MARCIAL (C08) dances with

Chicago’s Mordine & Company Dance The-

ater and serves as its marketing director.

ANTONETTE BALESTRERI (C06) performs

with the national tour of the hit musical

Wicked.

MEGHANN WILKINSON (C03) dances with

Chicago’s Lucky Plush Productions and

teaches at Columbia College Chicago.

ERIC EATHERLY (C01), a performer for

many years, is account supervisor at

the Silverman Group, a public relations

boutique that specializes in the arts and

leisure fields, including dance.

CENTER AND ABOVE: WAA-MU


WAA-MU

Take center stage.

Northwestern’s Waa-Mu Show, the

musical revue that has helped launch

the careers of dozens of Broadway and

Hollywood performers, has been called

“the greatest college show in America.”

The annual show—80 years strong—

celebrates all aspects of music theatre

and highlights the talents of undergrad-

uate student performers.

Students build the show from the ground

up, so there’s always room for one more,

on stage or behind the scenes.

Let’s put on a show.

www.waamu.northwestern.edu

You may also like • Griffin’s Tale

• Dolphin Show–Arts Alliance •

Boomshaka • Purple Crayon Players •


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FROM MY CALENDAR

Wednesday

9:00 a.m.

New Movement Project

meeting

10:30 a.m.

Voice lesson

Noon

Lunch with friends

at Norris Center

1:30 p.m.

THEATRE 370 Ballet III

4:30 p.m.

THEATRE 260 Jazz III

7:00 p.m.

Dance Concert rehearsal

9:00 p.m.

Study for psychology exam

10:30 p.m.

Production meeting

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

PARKER MURPHYClass of 2013

Hometown Evergreen, Colorado

Major Dance and Psychology

Parker wanted more than a dance pro-

gram. He wanted a place where he could

stretch as a person. “I was looking for a

small, intimate dance program, and

Northwestern has just that,” he said. “Also,

Northwestern is the perfect size and loca-

tion. It has a small-city feel but is close to

Chicago and has just enough students so

you can meet new people every day.” It

also means that he’s found a thousand

ways to get involved. “I perform, design

sets, technical direct, and produce. I love

exploring all aspects of the performing

arts world, and Northwestern is the

perfect place to do so.” Being close to

Chicago has also helped him connect with

a local dance company, where he’s intern-

ing and dancing.

FACULTY FOCUS





SUSAN LEE is the founding director of the

dance program at Northwestern, where she

was also the founding director of the Center

for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts.

Founder of the American Dance Guild jour-

nal American Dance, she cosponsored the Jazz

Dance World Congress and the First Inter-

national Argentine Tango Congress. Lee has

served on the boards of the Rehabilitation

Institute of Chicago’s Medical Program for

Performing Artists, the Chicago Dance

Coalition, the American Dance Guild, and

other national dance organizations.

academic program by selecting courses

from three core areas: performance and

choreography; dance history, theory, and

criticism; and professional studies. Courses

in the program also include dance writing,

education, and therapy as well as dance

company administration and related

subjects.

The program’s core technique training

is in modern and jazz, with ballet as a

complement. In addition, you’ll have an

opportunity to explore a variety of dance

forms and styles, including cultural forms

such as African and classical Indian dance,

musical theatre dance styles, and tap.

INTRODUCTORY AND

CORE COURSES

Introduction to Dance Experience

Production in Context

Production Laboratory

Experiential Anatomy for Performers

Dance Composition

Freshman Seminar

Senior Seminar

DANCE TECHNIQUES

Movement for the Stage

Modern Dance

Jazz Dance

Ballet

Cultural Forms

Tap

Music Theatre Dance

Jump Rhythm Technique

PERFORMANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY

Dance Composition

Choreography for Music Theatre

Improvisation

Studies in Collaboration

Studies in Dance

HISTORY, THEORY, AND CRITICISM

Cultural Studies in Dance

Dance History

Dance Criticism

American Rhythm Dancing and the

African American Performance Aesthetic

History of Lyric Theatre

BILLY SIEGENFELD is the founder, artistic director,

and principal choreographer as well as a perform-

ing member of the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project. This

national and international touring company of

dancer-singers is known for its percussive musical-

ity and its rhythm-driven story dances performed

to jazz, blues, funk, hip-hop, and boundary-crossing

world music. Siegenfeld is the creator of the

company’s style, a unique system of movement

learning that transforms the dancing body, accom-

panied by the scat-singing voice, into a dynamically

expressive, rhythm-accurate percussion instrument.

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Dance in Education

Theories of Dance and Expressive Arts

Therapies

Dance Research

Internship in Theatre Practice


programs, contact

Dance Program

Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center

10 Arts Circle Drive

[email protected]

847/491-3147


/programs/major-dance

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28 29

The School of Communication’s

programs focus on performance,

including the performance of

intimate daily communication—

with friends or family, in school

or at work. As a student in commu-

nication sciences and disorders,

you can use your passion for

communication to help children

and adults overcome difficulties

in hearing, speech, language,

and learning.

COMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS

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SPECIAL BS-MD PROGRAMEach year a limited number of entering

Northwestern undergraduates are accepted

for the Honors Program in Medical Educa-

tion. As undergraduates, HPME students

may choose a concentration in human com-

munication sciences. After completing their

undergraduate course work in three

or four years, HPME students join the

incoming class of the Feinberg School of

Medicine, receiving a bachelor of science

degree at the end of that year and an MD

degree three or four years later. Admission

is selective, and a special application is

required. Contact the Office of Undergrad-

uate Admission for more information.

CURRICULUMThe undergraduate program in human

communication sciences will give you a

thorough background in human communi-

cation and its disorders, with an emphasis

on underlying scientific principles. Under

the supervision of faculty members, you’ll

learn about the field’s practical applications

through guided observations of patient test-

ing and evaluation. You’ll also be introduced

to clinical issues and aspects of patient care.

The curriculum is designed to prepare

you for advanced study in a professional,

grad uate, or medical school. Many students

go on to graduate school in communication

sciences, linguistics, psychology, music

cognition, and other related fields. Others

pursue clinical degrees in audiology, learn-

ing disabilities, or speech and language

pathology. Many premed students major

in communication sciences and disorders

because this provides preparation in basic

premed science requirements in addition

to the department’s clinical and science

courses.

The following sample curriculum shows

a representative array of courses required

for an undergraduate major. It does not

include classes outside the department,

which account for more than half the

course load.


The Scientific Exploration of

Communication

Communication Disorders

Language Development and Usage

Introduction to Learning Disabilities

Introduction to Audiology

The Field of Special Education

Neurobiology of Communication

FACILITIESThe Frances Searle Building is home to all of

the department’s undergraduate activities.

Classrooms incorporate technical equip-

ment necessary for research, and faculty

research laboratories boast some of the most

advanced equipment available. Clinics are

equipped with sophisticated diagnostic and

rehabilitative devices. The department’s

outpatient clinic offers a centrally located

observation area surrounded by diagnostic,

therapy, and counseling rooms. The Fein-

berg School of Medicine at North western’s

Chicago campus offers additional clinics,

and off-site locations for clinical practica

include hospitals, nursing homes, and

schools in Chicago and its suburbs.

A preprofessional

course of study in

the department will

prepare you to pursue

an advanced degree

in many related fields:

audiology, hearing

science, speech and

language pathology,

speech science, lan-

guage science, learning disabilities, learn-

ing science, medicine, physical therapy,

psy chology, the neurosciences, and others.

You’ll find that professional opportunities

abound and include a wide range of career

specializations, including child develop-

ment, geriatrics, bioengineering, private

practice, health professions, and academia.

For a major in human communication

sciences, students take at least 13 courses

in the department. For students planning

to attend graduate or medical school,

additional courses are recommended.

Students develop a plan of studies with

their advisers. For a minor in human

communication sciences, students take

at least 7 courses in the department

(courses offered are listed on page 31).


Anatomy and Physiology of the

Vocal Mechanism

Anatomy and Physiology of the

Hearing Mechanism

Brain and Cognition

Early Communication Intervention with

Infants and Toddlers

Typical and Atypical Development

in Infants and Toddlers

Diagnostics and Remedial Approaches

for Children with Learning Problems

Biological Foundations of Speech and Music

Phonetics

Psychoacoustics

Independent Study


programs, contact

Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department

of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Frances Searle Building

2240 Campus Drive

[email protected]

847/491-3066


/departments/csd


RESEARCH

Advance knowledge, advance your career.

No matter your Northwestern major, you

can find resumé-building—and highly

meaningful—experience working with

faculty members in their labs or on their

creative projects.

School of Communication faculty are

active members of their professional

communities, and they often engage

students to help complete projects.

Interested? Simple: contact a professor

whose research interests you.

You may also like • student cultural

organizations • National Student Speech

Language Hearing Association • more

at northwestern.collegiatelink.net

The Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is Northwestern’s center for basic science and research in human communication and its disorders. The department offers clinical training in audiology and hearing sciences, learning disabilities, and speech and language pathology. Undergraduate and graduate cur-ricula emphasize the study of normal human communication and cognition, thereby pro-viding a foundation for the study of disorders of hearing, speech, language, and learning.

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FACULTY FOCUS

For a full list of department

faculty and information on

their teaching interests, see www

.communication.northwestern

.edu/faculty.

AMY BOOTH studies how infants

and young children learn. Specifi-

cally, she explores the remarkable

capabilities of young children for

organizing their perceptual experience

into meaningful categories and learning

words to refer to those categories.

Examining typical populations and those

with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder,

or other learning disabilities, JAMES

BOOTH studies the mechanisms of brain

development to devise better diagnostics

and treatments.

SUMITRAJIT DHAR studies the sounds

created within the inner ear, then examines

their behavior under a variety of conditions.

He hopes that better understanding of the

ear’s physiology may lead to improved

diagnostic tests for hearing loss.

NINA KRAUS investigates the neuro-

biology underlying speech and music

perception and learning-associated

brain plasticity.

CHARLES LARSON studies the neural

mechanisms controlling the voice and

the larynx.

MOLLY LOSH focuses on delineating the

nature and basis of language impairment

in autism, fragile X syndrome, and other

neurogenetic disorders.

MARIO RUGGERO studies all aspects of

the ear, from the external ear to the auditory

nerve, shedding light not only on how the

normal ear works but also on what causes

deafness and how it might be treated.

PAMELA SOUZA directs a long-standing

research program on the effects of hearing

aids, particularly for older adults and those

with severe hearing loss. Her research is

driven by and focused on clinical questions:

why do two people with the same hearing

loss, fit with the same hearing aid tech-

nology, have such different outcomes?

CYNTHIA THOMPSON focuses on normal

and disordered language and how people

with brain damage—for instance, from a

stroke—recover the use of language.

BEVERLY WRIGHT explores the general

principles of auditory learning, a process

that leads to dramatic improvements in

perceptual skills. She seeks to identify the

circumstances that are necessary for learn-

ing to occur as well as those that disrupt

learning.

STEVEN ZECKER studies the role of

attention and auditory processing skills

in learning.

T

PATRICK WONG researches central auditory processing and neuro-

physiology, especially speech perception and learning, auditory skill

levels and deficits, and interactions between speech and music. His work

on brain-mechanism differences between younger and older adults won

a prestigious Independent Scientist Award from the National Institute

on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Said Wong, “This

research will hopefully guide the design of treatments for older adults

who suffer from communication disorders.”

The National Institutes of Health also recently awarded a $1.4 million,

five-year grant for studying bilingualism to a research team led by

faculty member VIORICA MARIAN. “The project focuses on cognitive

architecture of bilingualism and examines consequences of bilingualism

for cognitive and linguistic processing

and language learning,” said Marian.

Her work in bilingualism is increasingly

important in a country where a fifth of

US residents speak a language other

than English at home.

FROM LEFT: PATRICK WONG, VIORICA MARIAN

FROM MY CALENDAR

Tuesday

9:30 a.m.

Breakfast in Allison Hall

10:00 a.m.

CHEM 210 Organic

Chemistry

11:00 a.m.

HINDI 111 Hindi I

12:30 p.m.

Tutor science at the

Evanston Township High

School study center

1:45 p.m.

Lunch at Norris Center

4:00 p.m.

CSD 336 The Field of

Special Education

7:00 p.m.

Introduce Lambda Pi Eta

speaker at Annie May

Swift Hall

8:30 p.m.

Work out at Henry Crown

Sports Pavilion

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

RUPIN PARIKHClass of 2013

Hometown Livingston, New Jersey

Major Human Communication Sciences

(premed)

Rupin knew about Northwestern because

his older sister had already chosen the

School of Communication and was having

a great time. Rupin’s experience has been

no different. “Throughout my time at North-

western, I have been surrounded by faculty

who actually take a genuine interest in a

student’s life beyond the classroom, as well

as friends who are always ready to be by

your side.” Rupin has become a true Wild-

cat, and an active one. Invited into both

the Communication Century Scholars and

Lambda Pi Eta, he’s open to whatever life

brings. “I am constantly trying to take advan-

tage of all the activities, events, and student

groups Northwestern has to offer in order

to never miss out on anything worthwhile.

From advance movie screenings with direc-

tor Q & As to scientific presentations, I try to

use everything Northwestern throws at me.”

ALUMNI CAREERS

NAVEEN MALIK (C05), formerly

the Illinois new media director

of the Obama for America 2008

Presidential Campaign, is the US

Department of Defense’s deputy

director for Qatar, Bahrain, and the

United Arab Emirates.

TIM LOUIS (C86) is an active venture

capitalist who helped found the

Desert Voices Oral Learning Center,

Arizona’s first oral-curriculum school

for deaf children.

DEBORAH HAYES (C71, GC73) is

professor of physical medicine and

rehabilitation and of pediatrics at the

University of Colorado School of

Medicine and the chair of audiology

at Denver’s Children’s Hospital.

Swallowing-disorder specialist

JERILYN LOGEMANN (C63, GC64,

GC68) is the Ralph and Jean Sundin

Professor of Communication Sciences

and Disorders at Northwestern. The

modified barium swallow test she

developed has become the standard

diagnostic test in many clinical

environments.

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RADIO/TELEVISION/FILMAs a student in the Department of Radio/Television/Film, you’ll look closely at media history, theory, and production.

You’ll acquire insight into these subjects while learning the skills to use media theory, practice, and technology

to persuade and inspire. The department’s curriculum and research emphasize that media are social and cultural

practices affecting, and affected by, the broader context of the humanities. The school’s emphasis on the liberal arts

is clearly evident in the department’s program of study and course offerings. For example, subjects might include

the real science behind a sci-fi classic or a cultural analysis of a groundbreaking television series.

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FACILITIESJohn J. Louis Hall is equipped with some of

the most sophisticated media arts produc-

tion and postproduction tools available. This

multimillion-dollar facility houses two pro-

duction studios as well as a series of industry-

standard editing suites. Louis Hall is also

home to the “cage,” where you’ll be able to

check out professional-quality equipment

for your class projects’ location shoots.

A computer lab in Fisk Hall and a digital

media studio in Kresge Hall, shared with

other schools on campus, provide opportuni-

ties for advanced work in computer imaging

and interactive media production.

Our students learn from traditional tech-

niques and state-of-the-industry technologies,

working within a full gamut of styles and

genres in a wide range of media. Through

your classes and your own projects—with

other students and on your own—you won’t

spend much time on the sidelines. Here,

you’ll start making work right away that

you’ll be proud to call your own: narratives,

documentaries, computer animation, experi-

mental work, interactive media, and more.

AREAS OF STUDYDepartment courses integrate theory and

practice, create intersections with other

disciplines, and provide opportunities for

cutting-edge media production. The depart-

ment offers classes in three main areas: his-

tory, theory, and criticism; media industry

studies; and production and writing for the

media. You’ll want to sample classes from

all areas. If your goal is to shed new light

on how media affect individuals or world

culture, production experience will expand

your understanding. Likewise, if you are

interested in production, then classes in

history, theory, and criticism, as well as

media industry studies, will give your

work broader context.

All of our faculty

members are accom-

plished practicing

media artists, and

many of them have

backgrounds in all

these areas.

HISTORY, THEORY,

AND CRITICISM

Courses cover the

history of film and broadcasting from the

nickelodeon to Nickelodeon, from the dawn

of radio and television to today’s mix of

cable, broadcast, streaming, and online media.

MEDIA INDUSTRY STUDIES

Courses examine the organization of the

television and film industries, including

government regulations, programming

trends, audience behavior, and the effect

of media on society.

PRODUCTION AND WRITING

Courses prepare you for a broad range

of creative opportunities in media arts.

Through hands-on experience with equip-

ment and software, you’ll learn all aspects

of media production.

Louis Hall studios around the clock.

WNUR reaches the three million-plus

people living in the Chicago area as

well as a worldwide audience online

(www.wnur.org). More than 250 North-

western students participate every year,

gaining experience in station management,

live broadcasting, sports coverage, and news

and public affairs programming.

BLOCK CINEMA

Dedicated to providing the campus, the

North Shore, and Chicago with a quality

venue for repertory cinema, Block Cinema

screens classic and contemporary films

throughout the year at the Mary and Leigh

Block Museum of Art. The film series

is curated by students, and admission is

often free.

STUDIO 22

Studio 22 creates video and film productions,

sponsors workshops with industry profes-

sionals, offers small grants for independent

student productions, and hosts an annual

on-campus premiere for student work.

The department owns copies of hundreds

of motion pictures as well as film and tele-

vision scripts, all available to check out.

Additional materials are available through

University Library’s Marjorie Iglow Mitchell

Multimedia Center.

Our community is rich in resources for

students interested in media viewing,

production, and research. A prime spot for

movie sneak previews, Chicago is also the

home of the Gene Siskel Film Center, a

downtown venue that presents diverse series

of independent, international, and classic

films. Chicago is also a desirable location

for film locations, opening up internship

opportunities for students. The Museum of

Broadcast Communications houses early

tele vision and radio materials, while the

School of the Art Institute’s Video Data Bank

collects and works with experimental video

production and art forms.

COCURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

WNUR-FM

The nation’s largest student-run radio

station broadcasts an eclectic blend of music

and programming from its state-of-the-art


VISUAL MEDIA

Channel your efforts into entertainment.

If you’re looking for a way to get

seen on campus, look no further than

Northwestern’s thriving programs and

organizations for creating visual media.

Are you the next Scorcese? Get experi-

ence as a film producer at Studio 22. Is

music in your heart? Learn to produce

and market musical acts through Nite-

skool. If you’re looking for laughs, check

out the work of NSTV, Northwestern’s

Emmy-winning sketch comedy group.

Just look at what you can do.

• groups.northwestern.edu/niteskool •

studio22nu.com • nstvcomedy.com •


The Department of Radio/Television/Film’s orientation is interdisciplinary and broadly based. Courses offer a range of perspectives on media forms from cinema to broadcast tele-vision, from alternative media to emerging tech-nologies. The department’s goals are to show you how to interpret contemporary media criti-cally and how to develop new approaches to theory and practice using critical analysis and originality. Along the way, you may envision a way to reinvent the media of the future.

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The following sample curriculum dem-

onstrates the array of courses typically

available in an undergraduate’s major.

It does not include classes outside the

department, which account for more

than half the course load.

FRESHMAN AND

SOPHOMORE YEARS

Media Construction

Analyzing Media Texts

Media in Context

Foundations of Screenwriting

Studies in Media Topics

Lighting and Cinematography

Production Topics courses

Screenwriting Topics courses

Issues in Radio/Television/Film

Freshman Seminar


History, Theory, Criticism

Race and Ethnicity in Film and TV

Television History

History of Film

Documentary Film and Video

Authorship

Genre

Experimental Film and Video

Film, Media, and Gender

Film and TV Criticism

History of Hollywood Cinema

National Cinema

Media Industry Studies

Culture Industries

Regulation of Broadcasting

Media Arts and Visual Culture

Technological Innovations

Program Planning and Programming

Film, Media, and Globalization

Production and Writing for the Media

Topics in Media Writing

Editing

Designing for the Internet

Interactive Media

Topics in Film/Video/Audio Production

Sound Production

Foundations of Sound Design

Directing Actors

Documentary Production

2-D and 3-D Computer Animation

Experimental Media Production

Advanced Production, Advanced

Postproduction

HD Cinematography


programs, contact

Department of Radio/Television/Film

Annie May Swift Hall

1920 Campus Drive

rtf@ northwestern.edu

847/491-7315


/departments/rtf

ALUMNI CAREERS

Filmmaker YONG SHU LING (C09) is

a producer, director, and editor for the

Chicago-based educational nonprofit

Innovations for Learning.

LAUREN GUSSIS (C00) is a supervising

producer for the popular Showtime series

Dexter.

Actor, playwright, and screenwriter

ZACH BRAFF (C97) is best known for

his Emmy-nominated role on TV’s Scrubs

and for writing, directing, and starring in

the film Garden State.

GREG BERLANTI (C94) was writer and

executive producer for TV’s Everwood

and Brothers & Sisters. His film credits

as writer, director, and producer include

Life As We Know It and Green Lantern.

DANITA PATTERSON (C90) leads Destiny

Unlimited, a family entertainment com-

pany that produces film, TV, and new

media content.

MICHELE GANELESS (C87) is the president

of Comedy Central.

Rock radio pioneer ALLEN SHAW (C66)

is the director of the Library of American

Broadcasting and vice chair of the board

for Florida’s Beasley Broadcast Group.

FROM MY CALENDAR

Tuesday

9:00 a.m.

RTVF 260 Screenwriting

2:00 p.m.

SLAVIC 310 Tolstoy

4:00 p.m.

Reading for ANTHRO 105

Evolution and Social

Behavior

5:00 p.m.

Meet to help friend with

horror movie project

8:00 p.m.

Asterik a cappella rehearsal

Friday

Pick up gear at Louis for the

weekend shoot and study for

Italian quiz

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

JON FRAAZAClass of 2014

Hometown Mequon, Wisconsin

Major Radio/Television/Film

Jon knew what he wanted to study, and

he found the right place at Northwestern.

“The School of Communication was one

of the only schools that offered the radio/

television/film major. This was the holy

grail for me.” Since he’s been here, he’s

grabbed opportunities both behind and in

front of the camera, crewing films for his

classmates, making his own projects, and

starring in several of his friends’ films,

including a funny short about a sandwich

with some tricks between its bread slices.

“I have loved my experience in the school.

The professors are knowledgeable and

engaging, and the curriculum is what I’ve

always wanted to learn.”

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NITESKOOL

Niteskool produces and markets rock

albums and music videos, giving students

hands-on professional training for careers in

the recording and entertainment industries.

NORTHWESTERN STUDENT

TELEVISION (NSTV)

A joint venture of the School of Communica-

tion and the Medill School, NSTV produces

an ongoing sketch comedy show, comedy

shorts, and live comedy shows on campus.

NSTV projects have been seen on local cable

channels and include a winner of a Student

Emmy from the College Television Awards.

CURRICULUMDuring the first two years radio/television/

film students follow a curriculum within

the major while taking courses outside the

department to fulfill distribution require-

ments. Juniors and seniors choose from

a wide variety of departmental courses,

customizing their curricula with electives

reflecting their personal interests. Profi-

ciency in a modern foreign language equal

to four quarters of college study is required.

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other collaborative works have been exhib-

ited at numerous venues in Europe and the

United States.

JEFFREY SCONCE focuses on media

history and cultural theory. He is the author

of Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from

Telegraphy to Television and Sleaze Artists:

Cinema at the Margins of Taste, Style, and Politics.

LYNN SPIGEL writes and teaches about

the cultural history of media and media audi-

ences, with special focus on issues of gender,

technology, and media’s relation to everyday

life. She is the author of Welcome to the

Dreamhouse: Popular Media and Postwar

Suburbs and TV by Design: Modern Art and

the Rise of Network Television.

JACQUELINE STEWART’s research and

teaching focus is on moving image spectator-

ship and exhibition, the role of race in “orphan”

media in need of preservation, and African

American film, literature, and culture.

Marx, gender distress, adultery,

scandal, Freud, and the legacy of

the avant-garde.

HAMID NAFICY, a leading author-

ity on cinema and television in the

Middle East, has produced many

educational films and experimental

videos and has published exten-

sively about theories of exile and

displacement, exilic and diasporic

cinema and media, and Iranian and

Third World cinemas.

A specialist in animation and experimental

filmmaking, ERIC PATRICK has worked

as a commercial animator in Los Angeles

and New York. His animation for the

Nickelodeon series Blue’s Clues was nomi-

nated for several Emmy Awards and received

a Peabody Award. His own independent ani-

mated films include Stark Film and Ablution.

MIRIAM PETTY recently curated “Race.

Place.Space.,” a documentary film festival

in New Jersey. She is the author of Stealing

the Show: African American Performers and

Audiences in 1930s Hollywood, which looks

at the complex relationships between black

audiences and black performers in the

classic Hollywood era.

OZGE SAMANCI, a graphic artist and

published comics artist, has an extensive

background in comics and media arts. Her

interactive digital media installations and

FACULTY FOCUS





THOMAS BRADSHAW was featured as

one of Time Out New York’s 10 playwrights

to watch and as best provocative playwright

by the Village Voice. His plays include The

Ashes, Mary, and The Bereaved (named one of

the best plays of 2009 by Time Out New York).

He is the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim

Fellowship and the 2010 Prince Charitable

Trust Prize.

SCOTT CURTIS studies the history of

film, especially early and silent-era cinema.

He is particularly interested in the institu-

tional appropriation of motion pictures,

such as educational filmmaking or the use

of moving-image technology as a scientific

research tool or diagnostic instrument.

LAURA KIPNIS is a cultural theorist

and critic and former video artist. Her

current work focuses on the intersections

of American politics, the psyche, and

the body—with detours through love,

REBECCA GILMAN teaches playwriting of short and

full-length plays, including adaptations, docudramas,

romances, and utopian/dystopian narratives. Her

works include Spinning into Butter, Boy Gets Girl

(named one of the best plays of the decade by Time

magazine), The Crowd You’re In With, Dollhouse, A

True History of the Johnstown Flood, The Heart Is a

Lonely Hunter, Blue Surge, and The Glory of Living.

She is the recipient of many honors, including

a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was a finalist for

the 2001 Pulitzer Prize. Gilman is a member of the

Goodman Theatre Artistic Collective, the company’s

creative think tank of senior national theatre artists.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: REBECCA GILMAN, ERIC PATRICK, THOMAS BRADSHAW

DAVID TOLCHINSKY is a screenwriter

whose work has highlighted teen sub-

cultures, particularly in relation to social

decay; other projects relate to horror,

both psychological and physical. Also

interested in sound design, he has

designed the sound for interactive

computer environments and video

installations exhibited internationally.

DEBRA TOLCHINSKY is a media artist

with interests in video installation and

documentary filmmaking whose films,

videos, and installations have been

exhibited internationally. She has also

worked as an assistant film editor on

such Hollywood features as Searching

for Bobby Fischer and The Doctor. Recently

she completed Fast Talk, a documentary

about collegiate debate.

MIMI WHITE pursues research involv-

ing media theory and history, with

particular emphasis on contemporary

television, feminist-gender studies, and

cultural studies.

FROM MY CALENDAR

Tuesday

Noon

THEATRE 141 Introduction

to Design for the Theatre

2:00 p.m.

Work at Norris Marketing

4:00 p.m.

Meeting for group project

5:00 p.m.

Dinner at Norris Center

6:00 p.m.

RTVF 379 Production Design

9:00 p.m.

Film editing in Louis Studio

Saturday

My premiere!

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

JUDY SUHClass of 2013

Hometown Lake Forest, Illinois

Major Radio/Television/Film and

Art Theory and Practice

Judy didn’t wait long to get involved at North-

western, and getting involved took her a long

way off campus. A storyteller, Judy wanted to

tell a story she knew about Korea’s educational

system, so she set out to make—and fund—a

documentary filmed there. ExamiNation follows

the intense exam period that determines the

futures of Korean youth. She has found that the

School of Communication is set up for people

with their own ideas. “Northwestern has a

respected film program that gives students

enough resources but also the flexibility for us

to direct our own track. I liked that I was able to

balance production and theory in film as well

as liberal arts in the way I wanted.”

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WIDE OPPORTUNITIESSCHOOL-

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sciences. Combined with cocurricular oppor-

tunities on campus as well as internships,

practica, and other external opportunities,

modules are designed to provide School of

Communication students with an opportu-

nity for true interdisciplinary study and a

learning community with shared interests.

PROGRAM IN CREATIVE WRITING

FOR THE MEDIA

Designed for students seriously interested

in pursuing careers as writers for film, tele-

vision, or theatre, the Program in Creative

Writing for the Media includes courses in

playwriting, writing for film and television,

and other specialized areas taught by faculty

from performance studies, theatre, and

radio/television/film. Sophomores from all

departments of the school may apply; up

to 12 are accepted each year. The two-year

program’s mission is to train students to

negotiate their chosen paths as writers; to

prepare them to meet the creative, profes-

sional, and philosophical challenges of the

life work they’ve selected; and to assist them

in creating a strong portfolio of writing

samples. Classroom work is supplemented

by opportunities to meet and talk with

working writers, agents, and

producers, and participants are

encouraged to pur sue internships

in the entertainment industry.

MINORS

The School of Communication offers

five minors that are open to all Northwest-

ern undergraduates. A minor in human

communication sciences is an ideal comple-

ment for those seeking to understand the

physical and physiological principles under-

lying communication. The minor program

in film and media studies teaches rigorous

analysis of media within the broader context

of the humanities and social sciences. Our

minor in sound design focuses on the art and

technology of sound design in film and

video, new media, theatre, radio, and art

installations. A minor in theatre allows

nonmajors access to acting, movement,

playwriting, and directing classes as well as

courses in set, costume, and lighting design

and theatre history, literature, and criticism.

A minor in dance gives nonmajors insight

into the nature of performance and expres-

sion and their impact on human interactions.

STUDENT-ORGANIZED SEMINARS

A small group of students, under the spon-

sorship of one or more faculty members,

may explore a specific topic not covered in

the University curriculum. Typically, each

student prepares a written seminar paper

and makes an oral presentation at one of

the class meetings.

INDEPENDENT STUDY

Upperclass students in the department

may register for units of independent study

as an opportunity to work closely with

a faculty member on a topic of mutual

interest. Students interested in independent

study should select courses with faculty

permission that may lead to more advanced

pursuits.

UNDERGRADUATE

RESEARCH GRANTS

Undergraduate Research Grants fund inde-

pendent academic and creative work in all

fields of study. Under faculty supervision,

grant recipients immerse

themselves in novel scholarly

projects in the laboratory, the

library, or the studio, on cam-

pus or around the world. All

Northwestern undergraduates are

eligible to apply for either academic-

year or summer grants.

HONORS

LAMBDA PI ETA

The School of Communication is home

to a chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the official

communication studies honor society of

the National Communication Association

and the Association of College Honor

Societies. Juniors and seniors in the school

are encouraged to apply; students are admit-

ted on the basis of academic achievement,

intellectual commitment, and potential to

contribute to the communication disciplines

at Northwestern.

UNDERGRADUATE

HONORS PROGRAM

An honors program is available for seniors

who have maintained an outstanding under-

graduate record through their junior year.

Upon successful completion of an honors

project, they graduate with departmental

honors.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

FRESHMAN SEMINARS

Each year the School of Communication

offers a group of freshmen-only seminars

to encourage you to make immediate con-

nections with your faculty and peers. An

intimate group—no more than 15 students

per class—and the shared experience of

ongoing intellectual discussion can lead to

a powerful educational experience and to

friendships you’ll enjoy for the rest of your

Northwestern career.

SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

MODULES

The School of Communication offers a

focused, in-depth classroom experience

through modules. A module is built around

four to six courses that provide formal

instruction related to a learning goal—such

as Performing for Young Audiences, Political

Communication, Advocating for Persons

with Communication Disorders, or Staging

Live Performance Art. Each of the school’s

departments propose modules that answer

specific skills needs in their fields. The mod-

ule’s courses may be loosely sequenced to

take students from an entry point to mas-

tery of a significant skill or body of knowl-

edge within the communication arts and


WNUR-FM

Turn up the volume on your college

career.

WNUR 89.3 is Chicago’s Sound

Experiment—and the nation’s largest

student-run station, now with state-

of-the-art facilities. Get experience

running a station by running a station—

Northwestern students set the program-

ming, write and deliver the news, and

offer value to the community through

special programs.

The first step? Listen in at www.wnur.org.

You may also like • Northwestern

University Radio Drama • Niteskool

• Daily Northwestern • more at

northwestern.collegiatelink.net

In addition to the many curricular options within its five departments, the School of Communication offers a wide range of school-wide opportunities. Many of these special programs cross disciplinary boundaries, allowing you to supple-ment the degree program in your major with a certificate or project that involves other departments.

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EPICS

INTERNSHIPS

Expanding on the school’s extensive and

highly successful national internship pro-

gram, the External Programs, Internships,

and Career Services office serves as your

primary contact point with companies

that host and hire interns. Internships

provide you with opportunities to apply

theoretical knowledge to real-world situ-

ations. The EPICS staff helps facilitate

your efforts to seek out, apply for, and

obtain internships as preparation for life

after graduation—from the initial job-

search process, to networking and build-

ing relationships, to daily functioning in

communication-related fields. Most of

the available internships are in Chicago,

New York, and Los Angeles, but connec-

tions in other cities can be arranged.

The EPICS office also offers workshops,

seminars, career fairs, information sessions,

and guest-speaker events with alumni and

friends of the school.

LEADERSHIP JOURNEYS

The Leadership Journey series takes School

of Communication students to companies

and organizations across the Chicago

area, giving you the chance to hear from

professionals—often alumni of the school

—about the positions they hold and the

paths they took to get where they are.

Since the program began, students have

met with theatre professionals at Steppen-

wolf Theatre, speech-language pathologists

at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and

producers of a Chicago-based TV show.

At the United Center, students met with

Chicago Blackhawks human resources and

communication personnel—and, courtesy

of the organization, saw a sold-out game

from an executive suite high above the ice.

ARTS IN THE CITY

Offered exclusively to School of Communi-

cation students, the Arts in the City program

provides opportunities to experience the

best arts in Chicago for a nominal fee

covering the ticket and transportation. These

events often showcase the talents of those

connected with Northwestern—such as our

renowned faculty—and allow students to

socialize with their faculty and peers.

GUEST ARTISTS AND LECTURES

Throughout the academic year the School

of Communication is honored to welcome

guest artists and speakers, including alumni

and friends of the University, Chicago-area

professionals, and others who share their

work and experience with you. We’ve hosted

actors and stage directors, film directors pre-

miering new works, communication scien-

tists and researchers, and a TV show in need

of a live audience. As a School of Communi-

cation student, you’ll receive invitations to

hear from—and network with—some of the

best in the businesses you want to be in.

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIESYou’ll also want to explore your options

for adventures beyond campus, including

living and studying abroad.

Recognizing that our changing world

requires young people who are engaged

with the greater world, the School of Com-

munication offers many options for students

who hope to have a say in the world’s

conversation—including the bachelor of

arts program, a degree track that encourages

the study of the language, arts, and culture

of another nation. (The bachelor of science

track is still available to all students.)

STUDY ABROAD

The School of Communication maintains

long-standing partnerships with universities

in other nations that provide opportunities

for studying communications and media

abroad. These include programs in the

United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain, Egypt,

and India.

INDEPENDENT

TRAVEL

Of course, students often

make their own way to

live and study in places

that intrigue them. The

School of Communica-

tion encourages students to travel, whether

through Northwestern’s excellent Study

Abroad program or, less formally, by taking

their work to international venues. Perfor-

mance studies and theatre students have

taken a production to the Edinburgh Festival

Fringe, and many of the school’s students

have successfully applied for Fulbright

grants to fund postgraduate research travel.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

IN QATAR

On the other side of the planet lies the

University’s most far-flung campus:

Northwestern University in Qatar, part of

Education City in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Though more than 7,000 miles separate

NU-Q from (as it’s known in Doha) NU-E,

the campuses are closely linked and offer

many opportunities for collaboration. Stu-

dents from NU-Q have visited and studied

in Evanston, and groups of students from

Evanston have visited Qatar to share infor-

mation with the burgeoning Middle East

program and enjoy the cultural delights of

the sibling campus.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SEMINAR

If you have interests in media, news, and

international communication, you’ll want

to join the annual spring-break International

Media Seminar in Paris. The program allows

you to combine a weeklong trip to the City

of Lights with a unique chance to meet and

learn from prominent international media

figures.

FROM LEFT: A VISIT TO QATAR, LEADERSHIP JOURNEY TO STEPPENWOLF THEATRE, TONY WINNER SUTTON FOSTER VISITING CAMPUS,

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SEMINAR, LEADERSHIP JOURNEY TO CHANNEL 7 ABC-CHICAGO

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EVANSTON AND CHICAGOAs a student at Northwestern University,

you’ll have the best of both worlds. North-

western is located in Evanston, Illinois,

a small-city neighbor to one of the most

vibrant and exciting cities in the world.

The University is located on the shore of

Lake Michigan, just 12 miles north of down-

town Chicago, on a scenic campus in one of

the Midwest’s most livable communities.

Evanston offers an eclectic selection of res-

taurants, stadium-seating movie theaters,

and coffee shops. Best of all, students will

find many of Evanston’s best attractions

within walking distance of campus.

You’ll also want to explore Chicago, just a

short train ride from campus. There, you’ll

find a wide array of museums, libraries,

shops, theaters, and sporting events within

easy reach.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Northwestern University is a private institu-

tion founded in 1851. Approximately 12,000

students, including 8,000 undergraduates,

are enrolled in seven schools on the Evan-

ston campus. The University prides itself on

a level of academic excellence achieved by

only a few institutions in the world. The

campus is alive with innovative teaching

and learning and with pioneering research

and arts performance, all in a highly collab-

orative environment that transcends tradi-

tional academic boundaries.

Northwestern’s mix of historic and new

buildings on the lakefront campus offers

students a wonder ful place to live and study.

With its unique combination of suburban

and city living, the University offers a wealth

of learning opportunities both inside and

outside the classroom.

CONTACT US

For application information, contact

Office of Undergraduate Admission

Northwestern University

P.O. Box 3060

Evanston, Illinois 60204-3060

[email protected]

847/491-7271

www.ugadm.northwestern.edu

Northwestern University reserves the right to change without notice any statement in this publication concern-ing, but not limited to, rules, policies, tuition, fees, curricula, and courses. In exceptional circumstances, North-western University reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to waive any documentation normally required for admission. It also reserves the right to admit or deny a student admission whenever it believes that it has suffi-cient evidence for the decision.

Northwestern University does not dis-criminate or permit discrimination by any member of its community against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, marital status, age, disability, citizen-ship, veteran status, or genetic infor-mation in matters of admissions, employment, housing, or services or in the educational programs or activities it operates.

Harassment, whether verbal, physical, or visual, that is based on any of these characteristics is a form of dis-crimination. This includes harassing conduct affecting tangible job bene-fits, interfering unreasonably with an individual’s academic or work perfor-mance, or creating what a reasonable person would perceive is an intimidat-ing, hostile, or offensive environment. Prohibited sex discrimination includes sexual harassment and sexual violence.

While Northwestern University is committed to the principles of free inquiry and free expression, discrimi-nation and harassment identified in this policy are neither legally protected expression nor the proper exercise of academic freedom.

Any alleged violations of this policy or questions regarding the law with respect to nondiscrimination should be directed to the director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, 720 University Place, Evanston, Illinois 60208-1147, phone 847-491-7458; Office of the Provost, Rebecca Crown Center, Evanston, Illinois 60208-1101.

For advice or assistance regarding this policy, see www.northwestern .edu/hrleeo.

Primary photography by Sally Ryan Photography, Andrew Campbell Pho-tography, Justin Barbin (C11), and Paul Kruse (C08), David Lynch, Paul Riismandel, and Daniel Zox (GC08) for School of Communication Media Ser-vices. Photos also by Stephen Anzaldi (GC10), Chad Batka, Aaron Fuqua, FJ Gaylor Photography, Sharon Paravastu (J13), Margaux Pepper (C13), Jim Prisching, Lori Rader Day, Rob Runyeon (C10), Amanda Shepherd (C14), Anelly Vazquez,Kevin Weinstein, or provided by subject.

© 2011 Northwestern University All rights reserved. Produced by University Relations. 9-11/30M/KD-HC/1151-1

Northwestern UniversityOffice of Undergraduate AdmissionP.O. Box 3060Evanston, Illinois 60204-3060847/491-7271www.ugadm.northwestern.edu

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