Study Stage Management at Berkeley/University of Washington?

[JonasA]

Hi all,

My Australian university offers 2nd year students the opportunity to undertake a 12-month study exchange to either Berkeley (University of California) or the University of Washington. As a dual Aust/US citizen, this appeals to me greatly, but I'm unsure of the quality of the courses.

Has anyone had any experience studying/teaching/working at either of these universities? I'm studying Production with a major in Stage Management and a minor in Performance Technology at the University of Melbourne, so my interest is primarily in those fields. I have very little interest in a course which will require me to take performing subjects, but it wouldn't kill me to take one such subject as part of a more technical course. I'm really wondering about quality of teaching, opportunities provided to students and workload: I'm currently being taught by a successful career SM and LD (although neither are academics), on campus up to 60 hours per week during peak periods and getting opportunities to network with people at major companies throughout the state. Is this what I can expect in the US?

Thanks in advance for anything anyone can share; the university websites are (not unusually) uninformative about how much actual work is involved, etc. and I want my decision to be as informed as possible before I commit to the process of moving across the world for a year.

/Jonas

 

[Footer]

Hi all,

My Australian university offers 2nd year students the opportunity to undertake a 12-month study exchange to either Berkeley (University of California) or the University of Washington. As a dual Aust/US citizen, this appeals to me greatly, but I'm unsure of the quality of the courses.

Has anyone had any experience studying/teaching/working at either of these universities? I'm studying Production with a major in Stage Management and a minor in Performance Technology at the University of Melbourne, so my interest is primarily in those fields. I have very little interest in a course which will require me to take performing subjects, but it wouldn't kill me to take one such subject as part of a more technical course. I'm really wondering about quality of teaching, opportunities provided to students and workload: I'm currently being taught by a successful career SM and LD (although neither are academics), on campus up to 60 hours per week during peak periods and getting opportunities to network with people at major companies throughout the state. Is this what I can expect in the US?

Thanks in advance for anything anyone can share; the university websites are (not unusually) uninformative about how much actual work is involved, etc. and I want my decision to be as informed as possible before I commit to the process of moving across the world for a year.

/Jonas

Those are two rather random schools. Has no one in your program done this move? Unless there is an established program that you can hit the ground running with it probably should be avoided.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[JonasA]

Hi Footer,

Yes, they are rather random, but it has to do with the University's partnerships internationally, which I'm guessing were founded with more mainstream areas in mind... not theatre. They are established partnerships and Melbourne University has an entire department devoted to exchanges such as the one I'm looking at (it's apparently very well managed; a lot of the liberal arts students apparently find themselves around Europe), but I'm struggling to find anyone currently studying at UniMelb (my uni) who has been to either and studied production. My issue lies not with the logistics of the move; the pre-existing framework means that's not an issue, but I'm left to wonder what the value in studying abroad would be (aside from the whole 'life experience' etc. - that's part of a long-term plan which comes after uni).

/Jonas

 

[zmb]

I'm going to the University of Washington this fall, but not to study theatre, nor do I know of anyone studying theatre there. It is a large, urban campus and Seattle does have many amateur and professional theatres nearby, and that's all I can contribute on this matter.

Citizenship doesn't matter for paying for US college, it's based on your residency for the state to decide. Figure $25,000 to $30,000 for a year at the UW, if don't have to pay anything additional to your tuition in Australia, which I would imagine is cheaper, it's a great bargain.