Subject Area: Drama & Dance
The Drama & Dance and Speech & Theatre collections support the Clark Atlanta University Theatre & Communication Studies Department and the Spelman College Dance Performance & Choreography Department and Theater & Performance Department
The Clark Atlanta University Theatre & Communication Studies Department offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Theatre Arts or Communication Studies.
The Spelman College Dance Performance & Choreography Department offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Dance Performance & Choreography. It also offers a minor in Dance Performance & Choreography. The Theater & Performance Department offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Theater & Performance. It also offers a minor in Theater & Performance.
Morehouse College allows students to major in Drama. These students fulfill a significant portion of their course work at Spelman College.
Languages
Collection is done primarily in English. Some historical or notable non-English Drama resources may be collected in their English translation. Some Dance resources (especially reference material) contain terminology in French and Russian.
Chronological Coverage
The Drama/Theatre collection includes resources from the classical period to the 21st century. The emphasis of the Dance collection is from the 18th – 21st centuries. There is a comprehensive examination on ballet, modern dance and tap. Speech resources are largely from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Geographical Coverage
The collection’s geographical coverage is primarily North America, Africa, and Europe.
Scope
The collection covers the areas of: theatre history and criticism, choreography, stage directing, theatre and film performance, technical theatre production, play and script writing, theatre management, public speaking, and corporate communication.
The collection consists of monographs, serials, reference materials, and electronic resources. Videos are available in DVD and streaming format. Play scripts are available in print and electronically.
The collection offers a good number of monologue books, which are always in high demand. The collection could benefit from more of these books, since they tend to have a short shelf-life. Electronic resource such as Black Drama and Kanopy Streaming Video offer electronic access to valuable scripts and performances.
For scripts, acting editions are preferred above teaching editions. Monolog books and scripts of plays featuring African-American characters are greatly favored.