Dr. Howard

Bachelor of Arts Degree Program
Performance Studies


         Developed and Supervised by Diane Howard, Ph.D.
Curriculum Vitae

       Department of Communication and Media Studies
College of Humanities
      University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
Belton, TX, USA



 
This program involves a leading, interdisciplinary, cutting-edge, practical approach to preparing marketable students for performance and technical work on radio, television, video, film, platform, and stage.  Our program and courses approach Performance Studies as communication art within complex, multi-cultural, contexts of communication performance. Not only is our program scholarly and research-based, but it has been a successful program with its practical approach to preparing students for substantive work in a broad range of communication fields. See http://www.dianehoward.com/alumni.htm.

The UMHB Performance Studies Major is a broad-based communication major made up of studies in communication, media, performance, and literature. Along with this research-based major, students can choose minors in mass communication (with studies in radio, television, and print journalism), film (see below), theatre, computer graphics, organizational management, visual arts, or in other related fields. In this major, performance communication in its multiple forms throughout history and currently around the world is studied basically as communication art. As such it takes into account various contexts that involve different performance communication styles and audiences.  

The UMHB Performance Studies Major requires 33 semester hours consisting of the following courses:
(These courses are also open to any UMHB students as electives.)
COMM 1340 (Intro. to Speech Performance)
COMM 2340 (Storytelling)
COMM 3380 (Voice and Diction)
COMM 4370 (Distance Communication and Performance)
THEA 2350 (Intro. to Theatre)
THEA 3310 (Acting)
THEA 4300 (Directing)
ENGL 3320 (Shakespeare)
ENGL 4340 (Literary Theory and Criticism)
COMM 3350 (Modern Forensics)
COMM 3390 (Film Studies)

Performance Studies Electives include the following:
COMM 3340 (Screenwriting) 
COMM 4391 (Acting for the Camera)
COMM 4391 (Cinematography)
COMM 4191-4491 (Seminars [May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])
COMM 4190-4490 (Independent Studies [May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])
COMM 4395 (Internships [May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])     
 

Performance Studies is a scholarly, interdisciplinary discipline. This interdisciplinary Performance Studies field (which is more about theories of performance practice) is different from theater and performing arts (which are more about applied performance skills). It is also different from the study of performance literature, because it involves the study of performance practices of everyday life in cultures and societies across the globe and throughout history. Performance Studies incorporates the critical and analytical study of a broad spectrum of performance theories and practices that includes the following: theatre, spectacle, and multi-media. This truly interdisciplinary program also incorporates the study of traditional rites, rituals, conventions, and events, which are studied in other academic disciplines such as Christian studies, religion, cultural studies, fine arts and communication.

The UMHB Performance Studies Program is based on a Christian world-view. It takes a broad-spectrum approach to the study of performance as communication art. It provides studies of performance communication that take a critical look at interpretive, analytic, compositional, and design principles across communication and performing arts disciplines. This interdisciplinary and dynamic major is broad, deep, and multi-cultural. This program serves the Christian world-view well in its multi-cultural, global, and historical scope, depth, and breath. It effectively equips Christian students for viable, cutting-edge, contemporary work and ministry around the world. It provides knowledge and skills in inter-cultural communication and ministry.

The UMHB Cru Film Program is going into its fourth year. Dr. Diane Howard (Director of Performance Studies in the Dept of Communication and Media Studies in the College of Humanities) and Professor Donna Teel (Director of Computer Graphics Design in the Dept. of Business Information Technology and Systems in the College of Business) have designed, produced, and supervised these programs.

UMHB students, alumni, and faculty have been cast in feature films. See involvement in movies such as the HBO Temple Grandin film. See the resumes of
our students, alumni, and faculty.  For four years, screenplays for short films have been written in the fall and selected for production in the spring. UMHB students have also participated in producing short films through the national 48 Hour Project. See

Original Cru Film Productions- Fairytail & Map Thieves, '05

Original Cru Film Productions- Bullets at Twilight & Dumb Love, '06

48 Hour Project, Big Plume Productions, Hidden Places, Summer '06


Original Cru Film Productions, Fly Away, Split Ends, '07


Original Cru Film Productions, Runaway, The Good Wife, '08

UMHB Performance Studies, Film, and Computer Graphics Design (CGD) Students have been producing original short films and Public Service Commercials on campus. They have worked together with area businesses and organizations to produce training videos. Performance Studies students have provided on camera and voice-over talent for UMHB commercials and other projects.

As well as producing two original film shorts with Performance Studies Students, CGD students have been filming events at UMHB. They have been producing DVDs documentaries, films of and for UMHB Events, and Health PSA's  (using scripts written by David Koontz, a UMHB, Performance Studies, Screenwriting Student). Film of special events have included special national speakers, such as Former President George H. B. Bush Sr. and
Mrs. Barbara Bush on separate occasions. Students in the Multimedia and Film Production Course study project management of filming. (They study this in each of the Digital Video Editing and Post Production courses but get more in depth in the MFP course.) Further, they study camera operation, lighting, sound, script breakdown, shot sheets...

Two original Cru screenplays have been produced Spring '08. They are Runaway by Steve Nelson and The Good Wife by Jillian Stook.
These films have been made for public screenings and for use by UMHB graduate counseling faculty, who teach marriage and family counseling courses,
especially for U.S. military chaplains who are being trained in graduate work at UMHB in this field. Once the chaplains complete master’s degrees in
marriage and family chaplains, they train other chaplains on
military posts around the world to enable them to better serve military families,
especially those stressed by multiple deployments to war zones. Dr. David Howard, director for the Graduate Marriage and Family Counseling Program
at UMHB, has served as a consultant to UMHB student screenwriters. 

Dr. Tabarlet is the advisor in the Communication and Media Studies Dept. in the College of Humanities for the Film Minor. Mrs. Teel is the advisor for the Film Minor in Computer Graphics Design in the Dept. of Business Information Technology and Systems in the College of Business.   

The Film Minor is listed under Business Information Technology and Systems (BITS) and Performance Studies.

The UMHB Film Minor consists of 18 semester hours and must include the following requisites:
BCIS 3335  (Digital Video [Prerequisite - Non-CGD majors: BCIS 1301 and approval of Course Instructor; CGD majors: BCIS 2315 and ARTS 3375] )
BCIS 4335  (Post Production [Prerequisite - BCIS 3335; May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])
COMM 3340 (Screenwriting) 
COMM 4391 (Acting for the Camera)

Further it includes two electives from the following:
BCIS 3370 (3D Modeling [Prerequisite for CGD Majors- BCIS 2315; Prerequisite for Non-CGD majors: BCIS 1301 and approval of Course Instructor]). 
BCIS 3391 (Animation, Film and Multimedia Production [Prerequisite - In concurrence with either BCIS 3335 or BCIS 4335 or with approval of Course Instructor])
BCIS 4370  (Applied Systems Development [Last semester senior-this is meant to be a capstone course])
BCIS 4395 (Internship)
COMM 3390 (Film Studies)
COMM 4370 (Distance Communication and Performance )
COMM 4391 (Cinematography)
COMM 4191-4491 (Seminars [May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])
COMM 4190-4490 (Independent Studies [May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])
COMM 4395 (Internships [May be repeated for credit with approval of Course Instructor])                   

  The UMHB Theater Minor is offered by the College of Visual and Performing Arts

Dr. Howard's Performance Studies Textbooks and Publications
 
Performance Studies courses involve inquiry, research, and investigation into how performance communication on stage and off facilitates understanding of human action and interaction. They incorporate learning that is student-centered, constructivist, problem-solving, critical in thinking, inductive in approach, empathetic, active, and authentic. They, therefore, engender in students a love for learning and an independent joy of discovery. They cultivate excitement and anticipation in investigation and inquiry. Real-world, practical, resume-building projects are produced in each course. The UMHB Performance Studies Major has at its heart student-centered, experiential, practical, project-based learning with technology integration. At a time when best practice teaching and learning strategies are marked by these elements in the most effective, contemporary educational settings, the trademarks of this major make it especially relevant and on the cutting-edge.

The UMHB Performance Studies Division is involved with a network of regional, state, national, and international, on-site and distance, communication and performing arts organizations, networks, and facilities. Performance Studies students have served as performers, presenters, and as project designers for  Apple Learning Interchange; BellNet (see peer-mentoring/substance abuse reduction project); U.S. Army Equal Opportunity offices;  Austin Singers; Austin, Texas Nafas Poetry Television Channel; Temple Independent School District; the Cultural Activities Center of Temple, TX ....  Performance Studies students and alumni are actively involved with cutting-edge, performance, industry professionals in fields of theater, film, television, radio, and performance via e-technologies. From 2003 to the present, UMHB Performance Studies students and graduates have been trained and employed by Walt Disney World. Performance Studies Alumni are communication, marketing, advertising, pr specialists/talent; camp, youth, drama, music, ministry staff/talent; instructors, directors, producers, performers; audio-visual/media, radio/tv broadcasting, film staff/talent...

Performance Studies students may perform in main stage productions on or off campus. UMHB Performance Studies majors perform via stages, radio, television, professional videotapes, educational simulations, videoconferencing to multiple sites at once, and videostreaming over the Internet. Each Performance Studies student writes, performs, and produces a solo production of a fascinating, historical figure. These pieces are performed on-site and/or via distance technologies. UMHB Performance Studies students are writing screenplays under the guidance of Mr. Eric Shepard; performing in them under the direction of Mr. Shepard and Mr. Michael Fox; and producing CRU films with Dr. Howard and in collaboration with the Computer Graphics and Design program at UMHB led by Professor Donna Teel.  They are involved in creating and designing distance communication projects, which are serving the globe. Further, Performance Studies students are involved in performance research.

Students majoring in Performance Studies also have opportunities to intern regionally with television or radio stations, pr/media offices, or with performance communication  organizations. They are paid interns for the Disney Corp in their College Program. They have interned in L.A. in film production and NYC in stage production. Performance Studies students and alumni have talent agents and have performed in professional commercials and films. They have served as paid talent for businesses and organizations such as the McLane company, Scott and White Hospital, Texas Dept. of Transportation, and Equal Opportunity military departments. They have worked on industrial, health, and educational projects with companies, social services, and educational institututions such the Temple, TX, Police Dept.; Personnel Decisions International (PDI) companies; regional school districts; and BellNet (TX educational videoconferencing system). 

Performance Studies students and alumni are professionally involved with Dr. Howard in writing for professional publications and in presenting at professional conferences. Dr. Howard, who directs the UMHB Performance Studies Division, is actively involved with national and international cutting-edge leaders in Performance Studies work. She and her students regularly participate in local, state, national, and international communication and performance studies conferences. Performance Studies students and alumni have participated, presented, performed, and published in the international, scholarly NAAAS organization ( National Association of African American Studies, National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies,  National Association of Native American Studies, International Association of Asian Studies)They have had the privilege of hosting Dr. Rod Paige, recent national education secretary at a NAAAS conference. (See vitaeresume, presentations and publications.)

Goals for personnel involved in this program include facilitating the development of artistic scholars, researchers, instructors, designers, presenters, and directors, who are highly marketable with a wide range of instructing, performing, communicating, directing, and producing skills. Content goals include producing projects that are edifying and enlightening (as well as entertaining). The desire is to produce art that is uplifting, inspirational, positive, and redemptive (as well as educational). (See what UMHB Performance Studies Students are doing with their degrees.)

The Performance Studies program at UMHB provides training in classes and workshops for theater, film, radio, television, and distance communication technologies. Performance Studies students are taught how to prepare for different kinds of auditions; how to adjust performance styles for commercials, film, stage, and distance technologies; and how to market and manage performance professions. Performance Studies students, alumni, and faculty are represented by various talent agencies and regularly participate in auditions and interviews for work in radio; television; voice-overs for animation, narration, and films; videostreaming, Web casting, videoconferencing; industrial videos; and video games. Dr. Howard sends regular e-mails about performance and employment opportunities. She regularly arranges workshops in personal marketing and up-to-date training for students and alumni. 

The UMHB Performance Studies program provides ongoing performance workshops that are also open to the public. It critical that Performance Studies students meet and work with professionals who are in cutting-edge work in their fields of interest and preparation (such as in theater, radio, television, film, and distance e-technology industries). UMHB Performance Studies workshops provide students and the public opportunities to meet and receive training from leading industry professionals. In each of the workshops, the participants are able to work with successful, accomplished, currently working professionals in theater, radio, television, e-technology fields. These presenters are delightful, excellent instructors, whose presentations are in line with UMHB's mission and strategic plans.

UMHB Performance Studies faculty keep current in new developments in theater, radio, television, film and e-technology fields. They look for and meet professionals who can assist UMHB students and alumni to keep up with cutting-edge skills and techniques to enable them to interface with new opportunities. Advanced Performance Studies students and alumni (who are successful in Performance Studies fields, who are good role models, and who can share with students the secrets of their success) are also invited to present in these workshops.

Other fundamental goals of the UMHB Performance Studies program involve encouraging attitudes and character qualities in students that enable them to be maximally effective and marketable as Christian artists and communicators. Performance Studies courses encourage talent that is well-suited for commercial and academic performance organizations and talent/casting agencies. This program supplies real-world needs and desires for talent that is trained but natural, honest, real, positive, willing to serve, heart-felt, and open to direction (with egos left at the door). Effective team skills are cultivated (and Prima Donna complexes are discouraged). Fundamentally, the goals of this program involve training talent in a broad range of styles that is honest, empathetic, believable, imaginative, confident, and edifying. Therefore, the UMHB Performance Studies Division is well-aligned with real-world opportunities to productively use talent in constructive venues and contexts, regionally to internationally.

The UMHB Performance Studies Division in the Dept. of Communication and Media Studies is a founding member of Performance Studies International. PSi is a professional association founded in 1997 to promote communication and exchange among scholars and practitioners working in the field of performance. We seek to create opportunities for dialogue among artists and academics in a variety of disciplines whose concerns converge in the still-evolving areas of live art and performance. PSi is actively committed to creating a membership base of artists and scholars from throughout the world.  (PSi, 2000)

The first university program was created at NYU. Since the '60s, Performance Studies has been established around to world in various academic, university contexts: Communication, Performing Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Media Studies. This interdisciplinary Performance Studies field (that is more about practice) supersedes theater and performing arts (that are more about place). It also supersedes performance of literature studies, as it also involves performance practices of everyday life in cultures and societies across the globe and throughout history.

Our Performance Studies program (with its global and historical scope, depth, and breath) is a good fit for a university with a Christian world-view. It effectively equips our students for viable work and ministry around the world.

Performance Studies Scholarships are available to ongoing Performance Studies students.
There are many other types of UMHB scholarships and financial aid available.
See http://www.dianehoward.com/umhb_performance_studies_scholarships.htm

Professional Memberships and Current Affiliations
(See further collaborations.)

Alpha Psi Omega

Austin Film Forum

Audio Services (Recommended)- Soundmine, Austin, L.A.

Austin Information Radio

The Beltonian Theatre

Big Plume Productions

Cove Theatre

Cultural Activities Center, Temple, TX

Film Austin

Headshot Photography (Recommended)- Fabrizio, Austin, TX

JavierCRivera.Com

Kappa Delta Pi (International Honor. Ed. Society)

Keene Studios

KPLE

NCA (National Communication Association, Presentations)

KNCT, Public Radio/TV Central TX

Reel Women  

Soundmine

TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association, Presentations)

T. Coet Talent

Texas Motion Picture Alliance

TX Nafas (Multi-Cultural, Poetry Organization; Board of Advisors,  Television Presentations/Performances)

Texas Motion Picture Alliance

VoiceWorks

 
 

 

Communication/Performance Studies Curriculum Vitae     

Current Performance Studies Projects

Current UMHB Performance Studies Programming and Research

Curriculum Design Philosophy

Distance Facilitation/Education Vitae

Distance Performance/Communication/Education, Projects/Papers 

Graduate Programs- Performance Studies

Internships

Professional Network

Recent Publications/Presentations

Resources & Tips in Effective Autobiographical Writing/Performing
and Effective, Distance Communication/Presentation/Performance


Statistics- Faculty & Students in National Communication


Study Abroad

Teaching Philosophy, Practice, and Contributions

Townsend Virtual Library- Performance, Theater, Communication Resources

UMHB Performance Studies/Communication Alumni

Well-Known, National, Communication Grads

What You Can Do with a Communication Degree
                           

For information contact Dr. Diane Howard, dhoward@vvm.com
Box 8012, UMHB, Belton, TX , USA 76513; (254) 295-4685

 
 
  Professional Resume | Professional Vitae | Performance Resume | Prof. Network  | Perf. St. Syllabi | Public Speaking/Presenting 
Professional Projects
 | Professional Communication Guidelines | Prof. Role Modeling | Publications/Presentations 
Performances of Autobio. & Lit.
 | Professional Programs|  Productions  | Performance Studies Students/Alum/Assoc. | Photos/Video/Audio | Home