Monmouth College - Department of Communication and Theater Arts

Applications for CATA Independent Studies and Internships for Summer or Fall 2006 are due the week of April 10 by email to Lee McGaan. All necessary information and forms for internships and independent studies may be found through links on the internship web page. http://department.monm.edu/cata/internships/internships.htm

Please note several issues of importance for registering CATA majors or other students interested in CATA classes. If a CATA course that you need is closed, PLEASE be sure to get on the wait list. We have a good record of getting wait-listed students into classes they need by the time they need them (but not if they aren't on the list).

1. CATA major requirements as shown in the 2005-2006 catalog are required of all students who entered Monmouth College in Fall 2004 or after. Students who entered the college before may follow these new requirements and current juniors are encouraged to consider that option. The principle difference between the current requirements and the previous version found in older catalogs is that the department now requires students to complete either a Communication and Media concentration or a Theatre concentration. Previously Communication and Media were separate concentrations. If you have questions about advising current Sophomore or Junior CATA majors, please give me a call.

2. Required courses for CATA Junior and Senior majors. Please be sure that rising CATA Junior majors enroll in CATA 321 - Junior Colloquium (Fall). Please be sure that rising CATA Senior majors enroll in both CATA 421 - Senior Colloquium (Fall) and CATA 491 - Freedom of Expression and Communication Ethics (our senior seminar and capstone course, Spring).

3. Please register rising Sophomore CATA majors for CATA 230: Introduction to Communication Studies in the Fall. and CATA 261 - Mass Media and Society either semester. Both courses are now required of all CATA majors. CATA 230: Introduction to Communication Studies is an introduction to the breadth of the field of communication studies (including media, communication, and theatre arts). It acquaints students with general, thematic, and contextual theories of human communication to provide a more thorough understanding of communication processes in multiple contexts.

CATA 230. Introduction to Communication Studies. An introduction to the breadth of the field of communication studies (including media and theatre arts) through the examination of historical and contemporary communication theories. Acquaints students with general, thematic, and contextual theories of human communication to provide a more thorough understanding of communication processes in multiple contexts (interpersonal, small group, organizational, public performance, mass, and cultural). Gives attention to application of theory in practical settings and criteria for evaluating theories. Offered each year. Prerequisite: CATA 101

4. Students wishing to register for ANY CATA internship course must apply and be approved by the department. They may register for the wait list now but they must turn in the application within the next week or so or they will not be allowed to receive internship credit. All necessary information and forms for internships and independent studies may be found through links on the internship web page. http://department.monm.edu/cata/internships/internships.htm

4. CATA Workshop Courses. Several CATA Workshops courses have the enrollment limit is set at 0 because permission of instructor is required. CATA 124 - Workshop in Communication, CATA 125 - Print Media Workshop (cross listed with ENGL), and CATA 127 have no pre-requisites. Contact Lee McGaan for permission to add CATA 124 and 224. Contact Doug Rankin for permission to add CATA 127, section 2 -Tech.and Bill Wallace to add CATA 227. Enrollment in CATA 127, section 1 - acting is limited to students cast in a play during the appropriate semester and those students will be added after casting is complete in the Fall or Spring. All CATA workshop courses may be repeated for credit.

5. We will again this year offer CATA 297 - Special Topics: Children's Theatre. Children�s Theatre is a participatory course focusing on creating theatre for and with children. The course will include producing a play for local schools, adapting existing material into a play, work with masks, movement, improvisation and non-realistic elements of performances as well as researching a current company producing for or with children. The course is anyone interested in working with children will find the course useful, including education majors.

6. CATA 373 - Advanced Acting changes its focus each year and, thus, can be repeated for credit.

7. Although Trudi Peterson is out of town and on sabbatical, she will be monitoring her email closely for consultations concerning registration.

8. A note on pre-requisites for CATA 339 - Persuasion. Students intending to take Persuasion are no longer required to have CATA 233 - Advanced Public Speaking as a pre-requisite. Instead, CATA 265 - Writing for the Media or CATA 230 - Introduction to Communication Studies (course description below) will be required as a pre-requisite for Persuasion. For CATA 377 - Principles of Stage Directing, students who have theatre experience may seek permission of the instructor (currently Prof. Wallace) in lieu of the listed pre-requisites.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to call:

Lee McGaan, Professor and Chair
Department of Communication and Theatre Arts
Monmouth College
office ph. 309-457-2155
home ph. 309-734-5431
mailto:lee@monm.edu