Survey: Theories of Drama
Survey of major critical and theoretical sources from Aristotle to the present day, examining their influence on playwriting and modes of theatrical production.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2019: 3.78 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.81 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
Identify and critique major theories of theatre from 500 BCE to the present day.
Explore the influences of these theories upon playwriting and modes of theatrical production.
Identify and apply methods and approaches for analysis of literary and cultural texts to demonstrate literature's contemporary and historical relevance.
Analyze relationships among society, literature, and language that underlie the construction of beliefs.
Assess the state of a body of scholarly literature related to course themes, identify gaps in that literature, and formulate and pursue an original research question in the context of those gaps.
Source: UW Guide 1· UW Guide 2
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapJunior standing
- Junior standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Junior standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2019: 3.78 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.81 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Major critical and theoretical sources from Aristotle to the present day.
- Influences of theories on playwriting and modes of theatrical production.
- Relationships among society, literature, and language underlying belief construction.
Skills
- Critique major theories of theatre from 500 BCE to the present day.
- Explore influences of theories on playwriting and theatrical production.
- Apply methods for analyzing literary and cultural texts.
- Formulate and pursue original research questions within scholarly literature.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2024— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2024
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
[]
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
No records available.
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "73357de9d8774c2cf9e69d91a3aa37b774046431946bdc81b6a02b0eb5616447",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}