World Drama will provide students with a solid global foundation in the history of theatre and drama, theatre performance traditions, and major works of world drama. Beginning with the rituals and storytelling traditions of the African continent, students will explore common themes of drama from the Ancient Greeks, as well as historic and contemporary East India, Japan, Europe, Western and Southern Africa, and North and South America. Lectures, research, and texts will allow us to study dramatic forms, cultural contexts, and performance theories to understand how drama has developed over time. Students will be encouraged, whenever possible, to view or participate in live and recorded theatre performances.