Dramatic Club Recommends Academic Credit for Theater In Report to Faculty Committee

The executive board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HDC) yesterday presented a report recommending academic credit for theater work to the Standing Committee on Dramatics.

The report states "the major value of academic study of theater is its creative, interdisciplinary nature. Good theater requires a familiarity with at least several literary and artistic genres and technical skills."

The present curriculum contains courses relating to theater, but the board said in the report it believes "these are only peripheral to a thorough study of drama."

The report expresses concern over the quality of Loeb productions and says, "Courses for credit could also help lessen the present disparity between the quality of Loeb productions and its extraordinary physical plant, a disparity that questions its future."

The report outlines a possible model for a dramatic arts concentration, proposing as a first step the establishment of a Faculty Committee on Instruction. Board members stressed, however, they do not advocate the establishment of a drama department.

Derek McLane '80, author of the report and an HDC board member, said yesterday that although progress would be slow, the Faculty will eventually grant academic credit for drama.

Kerry Konrad '79, president of HDC, said yesterday he believes it is unfair that students can get academic credit for work in other arts--photography, music and drawing, for example--but not in theater.

William Alfred, Kenan Professor of English and a member of the standing committee, said yesterday he will examine the report line by line but does not believe he will "take exception with anything in it."

"We ourselves on the Faculty committee are all for these kinds of ideas and are going to work to implement them," he said. "But how we're going to do it is another question," he added.