By snoadmin
A Master of Fine Arts and Master of Business Administration joint degree in theater management will be offered at Cal State Long Beach beginning this fall, making Cal State Long Beach the second university in the country to offer such a degree, the other being Yale University.
The program seeks to join skills in both the arts and business fields to equip students in the needs and demands of theater management.
As of now, the theater department will not create new classes for the upcoming program. It will be implementing pre-existing courses from the business department. The department will integrate and combine courses it already has.
One of the reasons this addition is so important is because it is pragmatic, said Joanne Gordon, chairwoman of the theater arts department.
The new master’s degree option was created because MFA graduate students started integrating themselves in business. Both the business and theater arts departments discussed it among themselves to join their departments.
Students of the theater management program will receive both a MBA and a MFA. It is considered a “terminal degree,” which means it is equivalent to a doctorate, according to the CSULB Office of Public Affairs.
Therefore, students will receive “a completely professional degree” and will not need to acquire a doctorate degree, according to Gordon.
As with any other master’s program, potential students for the joint degree must meet the prerequisite of having a undergraduate degree.
According to Gordon, one of the benefits of the new program is that students will be able to obtain internships places like the Pasadena Playhouse, the Center Theatre Group and the South Coast Repertory. Faculty will nominate the top students in this program for the internship.
There are terrific careers in both fields, said Gordon. The program will prepare students for careers in arts service organizations, performing arts organizations, government art councils and art agencies.
Some of the jobs students in this program may receive are in the theater and film industries. Actors who want to get into business might think of opening their own theater, said Meredith Greenberg, a senior technical theater major.
The program will require students to work in fields ranging from marketing to box office management.
“They want people to be more marketable,” said Greenberg, adding that students will have a background in both business and the arts. “It will better your education,” she said. Greenberg said she is considering applying for the new program in the future.
The new program aims to train and guide future theater managers. The theater department is very selective, with students from top universities signing up for the program, Gordon said.
“We’re shipping people from other schools,” said Greenberg.
Many people, including professors Michael Chung, Holly Harbinger and Gordon, helped propose and pass the idea of adding the theater management option.
Gordon also said she had no doubts that the program will be successful, and that the new degree may be considered to be part of a new trend because it is both analytical and creative.
Greenberg also said the new program is important because it will show people that theater is expanding, and has the potential to bring CSULB up to level with other top schools.
