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Nineteenth-century literary and debating societies
and professors who occasionally taught elocution, oratory, and argumentation
were forerunners of the present Department of Theatre. The Athenaeian
Society, founded by Arts and Science Dean Frederick Tisdel and Professor
Wilbur Gilman, sustained forensics activities until regular professorial
positions in Speech and Theatre were established in the Department
of English. Donovan Rhynsburger joined the English faculty in 1925
and established the Missouri Workshop Theatre.
English faculty in Speech and Theatre formed a
Department of Speech and Dramatic Art on May 15, 1940. A graduate
program in Speech and Dramatic Art was established in 1940. The
first master's degree, with all work done in the newly-established
department, was awarded in 1942 to Clifton Cornwell. The first PhD
in Speech and Dramatic Art was awarded in 1950 to Elbert Bowen.
The study of Speech and Hearing was added to the
department with the appointment of Professor Charlotte Wells in
the late 1940s. Speech Pathology-Audiology remained in the Department
of Speech and Dramatic Art until 1980, when it joined the newly
established School of Health-Related Professions.
After World War II radio was added to the curriculum.
In the mid-1950s the first fully credentialed professor was employed
to launch an undergraduate program in Radio/TV/Film. Dr. Bart Griffith,
who joined the faculty in 1957, established the MA and PhD programs
in Radio/TV/Film.
Largely due to the efforts of Donovan Rhynsburger,
a new Fine Arts Building became a reality in 1960, and a faculty
of three in the Theatre area of the Department moved to offices
in the new facility.
Prior to 1980 the Department of Speech and Dramatic
Art was made up of four areas scattered around the MU campus: the
Theatre area in the Fine Arts Building; the Radio/TV/Film area in
Swallow Hall; Speech Pathology-Audiology in Parker Hall; and Speech
Communications in Switzler Hall.
In 1986, Dean Milton Glick of the College of Arts
and Science established the Department of Theatre, made up of eight
faculty of the Theatre area of the Department of Speech and Dramatic
Art. Seven faculty in Speech Communication and Radio/TV/Film became
members of a new Communications Department. Larry Clark was appointed
chair of the new Department of Theatre. Dean Glick also established
the School of Fine Arts within the College of Arts and Sciences.
The School is a coalition of the Departments of Theatre, Music,
and Art.
In 1998 the Department of Theatre established
a "Writing for Performance" program in its baccalaureate
degree program and created a "playwriting" track in the
requirements of the theatre major. About 2000, with the establishment
of the Department of Music and the School of Music, the School of
Fine Arts went out of existence except as a category recognized
in the university's degree inventory.
Next Section: Structure
of the Department
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Copyright © Curators of the University of Missouri
Published by: Department of Theatre, University of Missouri-Columbia
Maintained by: Ken Logsdon, Coordinator of Advertising & Promotions.
Questions? Comments? Send e-mail to logsdonk@missouri.edu.
Last Update:
August 17, 2006
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