Dance

About this opportunity

The School of Music, Dance and Theatre Dance Honors Program offers in-depth educational experiences for majors pursing a bachelor’s degree in Dance or Dance education as well minors in Dance. Once accepted into the Barrett Honors College, students should make an appointment to consult with the Faculty Honors Advisor in Dance to become more familiar with the various opportunities available in the Dance Honors Program. Honors Dance students enrich their academic study by completing a specific number of required honors credits, which may be fulfilled through Honors Enrichment Contracts. Additionally, all students must produce a Thesis/Creative Project to complete Barrett Honors College graduation requirements. 

Students who are not Dance majors or minors also are encouraged to propose Honors Enrichment Contracts for Dance courses. If there is interest in producing a Thesis/Creative Project with a dance focus it is important to have taken previous Honors Enrichment Contracts in Dance including at least one upper division course.

Any Barrett student who is considering majoring or minoring in Dance should contact Robert Kaplan <rkaplan@asu.edu> lead Faculty Honors Advisor for Dance. The Dance Website is: https://musicdancetheatre.asu.edu/degree-programs/dance

Thesis

Thesis/Creative Projects can be a written thesis document, or a combination of a creative work, i.e., choreographic performance, audio and/or video production, etc, plus a written document. Dance abides by Barrett's requirements for who can serve on a committee. Some students have done thesis/creative projects that are outside of their major—if this is of interest it is strongly recommended that you have taken a course with someone from the other area, and that they be part of the committee. These are GUIDELINES—if you can dream it, we can find ways to make it happen. Begin talking to your Faculty Honors Advisor early to begin thinking of possibilities.

• Complete the Dance Course Override Request Form to receive "class permission" and include the name of the course instructor and the instructor’s email. The form then routes to the instructor for review and approval. 
• Once approved by the instructor, it routes to the staff for processing. The student receives notification of approval or denial once the staff completes the processing. 
• When filling out the DCE 492 and 493 course override form, be sure to list the Faculty Honors Advisor in Dance as the Instructor.

This critical investigation represents the culmination of work developed during undergraduate study and usually involves making dance or movement-based work in a context specific venue, creating a written document and “defending” the project.

Academic Preparation

Students are encouraged to take electives in other areas of interest to have a wider range of possible thesis committee members. Meeting with your Faculty Honors Advisor in freshman and sophomore years is strongly recommended in order to best prepare for planning a thesis project. The capstone thesis project culminates in an Oral Defense in which the student presents their work in a PowerPoint to the committee and invited guests. See Barrett schedule for dates.

Recommended Timeline

The thesis project is generally done in two stages of the senior year (some students who were double majors have done this in their junior year). DCE 492—Honors Directed Study, is taken in the fall and the student establishes their committee, creates a prospectus, and begins research. DCE 493—Honors Directed Study, is taken in the spring. This is where the project is presented and defended. See Barrett schedule and create a timeline in order to meet all the required deadlines. Keep in mind that faculty committee members do best with a two-week turn-around for written documents.

REMEMBER: When filling out the DCE 492 and 493 course override form, be sure to list the Faculty Honors Advisor in Dance as the Instructor.

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors contracts and internships are created on a case-by-case basis. Honors contracts can be done as individual or group projects—details are worked out at the beginning of the semester with the professor. Internships are upper division experiences and are custom-designed for the student based on their interests and available faculty or community members. Make an appointment to discuss possibilities.