Spring 2026 Course Search

Beginning Guitar — MIN2247.02, section 2

Instructor: Hui Cox
Days & Time:
Credits: 2

Correct posture for playing the guitar Several approaches to tuning the guitar

Twelve week study of twelve different guitarists of varying styles for awareness of the history of the guitar and the various styles the instrument is capable of. Enhances listening skills.

Finger independence and strength exercises. Attaching finger skills and independence to the brain.

Mandolin — MIN2229.01

Instructor: John Kirk
Days & Time: W 2:00PM-2:50PM
Credits: 2

Beginning, intermediate and advanced group lessons on the mandolin will be offered. Students will learn classical technique on the mandolin and start to develop a repertoire of classical and traditional folk pieces. Simple song sheets with chords, tablature, and standard notation, chord theory, and scale work will all be used to further skills. History of the Italian origins of mandolin and its introduction to the western world will be discussed as well as past and present practices.

Beginning Guitar — MIN2247.01, section 1

Instructor: John Kirk
Days & Time: Th 10:00AM-10:50AM
Credits: 2

Introduces the fundamentals of guitar playing, including: posture, hand positions, tuning, chords, strumming, finger-picking, songs and tunes, major scales, and beginning to read music. History of the guitar and its past and current artists will be shared.

Ukulele Comprehensive — MIN2230.01

Instructor: John Kirk
Days & Time: W 11:00AM-11:50AM
Credits: 2

A comprehensive course in learning musical skills on the ukulele. We will learn the history of the uke, from its Portuguese and Indigenous Hawaiian origins, and both traditional and contemporary styles. Music theory and playing techniques will be learned and practiced. Awareness of traditional styles of playing the instrument will be furthered through a listening component and ensemble playing with other instrumentalists. Repertoire will be drawn from traditional and original Hawaiian songs, as well as contemporary music from the past 60 years.

Piano Lab: Piano Improv for Beginners — MIN2361.01

Instructor: Chris Rose
Days & Time: TU 4:10pm-6:00pm
Credits: 2

Instructor will provide musical prompts such as chordal patterns, melodic fragments, and rhythms as a basis for evocative and expressive improvisation. While we will learn some music theory terminology, the class will de-emphasize sheet music in order to focus on navigating the keyboard itself. All experience levels are welcome.

Brass Lessons — MIN2245.01

Instructor: Chris Rose
Days & Time:
Credits: 2

Lessons offered one on one or in small groups. All experience levels welcome. Trumpet, Cornet, Horn, Trombone, Tuba. Some instruments available to borrow. Students should plan to practice daily for ten minutes.

Mutually agreed upon lesson time to be arranged following registration.

 

 

 

 

 

Camera and the Body: Peculiar Ways of Knowing — DAN2208.01

Instructor: Elena Demyanenko
Days & Time: TU 2:10pm-4:00pm
Credits: 2

This course delves into the interdisciplinary art of screendance, examining the mediatization of the moving body within cinematic and site-specific contexts. By exploring the dynamic collaboration between camera, body, and environment, students will study a range of methods used by film and video artists—both historical and contemporary—while also developing their own experimental approaches.

Drumming: An Extension of Language — MIN2120.01, section 1

Instructor: Michael Wimberly
Days & Time: WE 10:00am-11:50am
Credits: 2

This course serves as an introduction to rhythms, songs, and musical practices from Africa and the African Diaspora, including Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Students will learn these traditional folkloric rhythms using indigenous percussion instruments from these territories and provinces. Class discussions will convey history, culture, language, and dance from these regions. Students will also have opportunities to create rhythms and arrangements in collaboration in our “break-out” segments.

Drumming: An Extension of Language — MIN2120.02, section 2

Instructor: Michael Wimberly
Days & Time: TU 10:30am-12:20pm
Credits: 2

This course serves as an introduction to rhythms, songs, and musical practices from Africa and the African Diaspora, including Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Students will learn these traditional folkloric rhythms using indigenous percussion instruments from these territories and provinces. Class discussions will convey history, culture, language, and dance from these regions. Students will also have opportunities to create rhythms and arrangements in collaboration in our “break-out” segments.

Radio Plays: Making Theatre for Radio and Podcast — DRA2305.01

Instructor: Dina Janis
Days & Time: MO,TH 3:40pm-5:30pm
Credits: 4

A performance-based course for folks interested in this medium. It is not necessary to have elaborate skill in sound design and editing, though students with this interest are welcome to enroll. All students will perform as actors in each other’s projects. Each week the class will listen to examples of current Radio Play and Theatre Podcast content, and discussion of weekly listenings.

History of Theater II — DRA2282.01

Instructor: Maya Cantu
Days & Time: MO,TH 10:00am-11:50am
Credits: 4

This course offers a continuing introduction to the history and development of world theater and drama. We will experience the vibrant pageant of theater history through an exploration of its conventions and aesthetics, as well as its social and cultural functions. Starting in the nineteenth century, we will read representative plays ranging from the advent of stage Realism and Naturalism with Ibsen and Strindberg, through modern and contemporary drama (from the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa).

Actors Instrument — DRA2170.01

Instructor: Jennifer Rohn
Days & Time: MO,TH 10:00am-11:50am
Credits: 4

An actor honors and bears witness to humanity by embodying and giving voice to the human element in the landscape of theatrical collaboration. Investigating the impulses and intuitions that make us unique as individuals can also identify what constitutes our shared humanity. Through exploration of the fundamentals of performance, students address the actor’s body, voice, and imagination as instruments for creating drama, conflict, action, and story.

Coming of Age: The Open Road — DRA2384.01

Instructor: Jean Randich
Days & Time: TU,FR 10:30am-12:20pm
Credits: 2

Coming of Age: The Open Road

I inhale great draughts of space,

The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.

 

I am larger, better than I thought,

I did not know I held so much goodness.

 

Introduction to Viola — MIN2214.01

Instructor: Ariel Rudiakov
Days & Time:
Credits: 1

This course is designed for students with no prior string instrument experience. Admission is on a first come, first served basis. Classes will be one on one, individual lessons.

Daily practice  of 10 to 15 minutes is expected, in order for students to become familiar and comfortable with the basic mechanics of playing viola.

Experience with reading music, playing piano, singing or any instrument prior to taking this course is helpful.

 

Piano Lab I — MIN2362.01

Instructor: Benjamin April
Days & Time: TH 1:40pm-3:30pm
Credits: 2

Piano Lab I aims to introduce the piano to first-time musicians or first-time pianists. Over the course of the semester, basics in music theory, piano technique, and note reading will be taught, culminating in an end-of-term recital. Please note that this course is meant for beginners, not advanced pianists.

Intro to Scene Painting — DRA2168.01

Instructor: Seancolin Hankins
Days & Time: FR 2:10pm-5:50pm
Credits: 2

This class will introduce students to the fundamentals of scenic art, including terminology, and commonly used tools and techniques. Students will learn to create processes that will guide them from a rendering or scenic finish to a completed project. Skills we will develop include color mixing, surface preparation for soft goods and hard scenery, translating small renderings to fully realized pieces, analyzing and reproducing organic textures and architectural details.

Harp — MIN2347.01

Instructor: Rachel Clemente
Days & Time:
Credits: 2

This course will focus on the learning of traditional Scottish and Irish melodies on the harp as well as developing foundational technique. This will include looking at body posture, the importance of relaxation and its relationship to developing good tone, and finger placement. In group lessons, students will learn melodies and exercises the traditional aural way, by ear, and simple notation and recordings will be provided at the end of each class to use as a reference for practice during the week.

Later is Too Late: Dance Design & Production — DAN2425.01

Instructor: Davison Scandrett
Days & Time: WE 2:10pm-4:00pm
Credits: 2

Borrowed from the subtitle of Lois Ellfeldt & Edwin Carne's seminal 1971 Dance Production Handbook, "Later is Too Late" became a mantra for the course instructor after finding a well-worn copy of the paperback in his roadbox for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.  In this course we will examine the specific technical challenges and design opportunities presented in the production of dance performance, including the role that planning and management can play in overcoming the structural inequities and lack of resources endemic to the form.  Through readings,

The Living Play — DRA2387.01

Instructor: Abe Koogler
Days & Time: WE 2:10pm-5:50pm
Credits: 4

This course is designed for new (or new-ish) playwrights, although more experienced playwrights who want to dig into the fundamentals are also welcome. We will focus on eight essential elements of playwriting craft: character, language, subtext, power, place, theatricality, surprise, and an elusive element called the gap. We will experiment with a variety of ways to start a play, and we will gain a greater understanding of our own individual creative methods and routines.

Beginning Piano — MIN2249.02, section 2

Instructor: Yoshiko Sato
Days & Time:
Credits: 2
Have you been thinking about learning to play the piano? 
Do you want to learn to read sheet music and understand the basics of music theory? 

If you answered yes, then Beginning Piano might be right for you.

Lessons are given on a one on one basis. Each lesson is 20-25 minute-long. 

This course is for students with no experience.

If you have taken piano lessons, audition for Intermediate Piano.

Beginning Piano — MIN2249.01, section 1

Instructor: Yoshiko Sato
Days & Time:
Credits: 2

Have you been thinking about learning to play the piano? 

Do you want to learn to read sheet music and understand the basics of music theory? 

If you answered yes, then this course is for you.

Lessons are given on a one on one basis.

Each lesson is 20-25 minute-long.

This course is for students with no experience.

If you have taken piano lessons, audition for Intermediate Piano.