International Summer Institutes

PROGRAM CLOSED FOR 2011

MSU Faculty Led Short-Term Study Abroad Institutes Global Education Center Montclair State University 22 Normal Avenue Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

Tel: 973 655-4185 Fax: 973 655-7654 simonw@mail.montclair.edu

Montclair in Prague
Quadrennial Art and Performance
Summer Session Course Dates: June 13 –July 7, 2011
Travel date: June 15 - 27

Program Overview
This course includes a 10-day study abroad experience centered around the Prague Quadrennial 2011, an international exhibition and symposium of design for the stage. The Prague Quadrennial (“PQ”) is a place where international performance professionals, students and spectators can meet and exchange ideas with their colleagues, designers, as well as with artists and experts from other fields. The experience will provide a complex view into today’s performance, performance design and spaces for performance.

Students will examine theatre design in the context of contemporary trends in the theatre, as well as in trends in other art and cultural disciplines, working with performance to research scenography as a wider cultural phenomenon. Students will see several performances while in Prague including a performance at the Czech National Opera, a puppet-theatre production and the several design-as-production events. In the field of architecture, participants address the question of what is a theatre, contemporary theatre architecture, and how it is experienced and exhibited. Each participating country and region is asked to consider what is a theatre here (of a particular place) and now (of a particular time)? The focus will be on performance spaces that have been constructed (built), performed (improvised) or imagined (unbuilt) in this new century.

The 2011 Prague Quadrennial will include a curated interactive installation/ performance – Intersection; a special project for sound and light design; as well as a Scenofest, educational project. The Extreme Costume project will present a limited number of costumes with the theme of “Extreme Materials”. This exhibition will display costumes used for live performance that are made of unusual, alternative materials or traditional materials with extreme characteristics, as well as costumes made with unusual/extreme use of material. Additional lectures, presentations, discussions, costume shows, meetings, and performances will make for an extensive offer of live programs accompanying the event.

Prague is a city rich in art and architectural history.  Tours of Prague and Czesky Krumlov will provide visual and experiential information in the history of art, architecture and style.  Several days of the visit will include walking tours of sites such as:

• Prague Castle has been the seat of Czech princes, kings, and also presidents in the modern history of the state, since the end of the 9th century.
• Charles Bridge is the oldest preserved connecting link between both Prague embankments.
• Old Town City Hall, Tyn  Church, Kinský Palace, St Nicholas Church, and the Jan Hus Memorial can all be found on the Old Town Square.   The city hall’s exterior is dominated by the remarkable Old Town Astronomical Clock.

• Powder Gate is a monumental Gothic gate leading into the Old Town, dating from 1475 and originally used as a gunpowder storage facility.
• Vyšehrad, the very first seat of Czech princes and kings, since the first coronated Czech king lived here. In the 19th century, the Czech National Revival movement sparked interest in this place surrounded with myths.
• Emauzy – The Monastery of Slavic Benedictines was founded in 1347 by Charles IV as a part of his plans to unify the Greek Byzantine and Roman Catholic Churches. The cloister is noted for its Gothic paintings, a Baroque refectory, imperial chapel and Church of Our Lady.  The funicular leads to the top of Petřín hill and the mirror maze.
• Strahov Monastery, a large complex of monastery buildings was established in 1140. The monastery acquired its current form during early Gothic and especially Baroque reconstructions. Places of interest in the monastery include the Convent (Cloister, Romanesque Halls, Chapter Hall, Winter Refectory), Strahov Gallery (a collection of Czech and European paintings from Gothic to Romanticism), the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady and historical halls of Strahov Library. 
• The Martinic Palace and its surroundings is an exceptionally well-preserved monument of Renaissance architecture, with its original graffiti decoration, late Renaissance painted ceilings and frescos. In the palace, there is a museum of musical machines, a unique collection of orchestrions, barrel organs, gramophones, musical boxes and other rare items from 1870-1940.
• St Nicholas Cathedral in Lesser Quarter.  The cathedral, whose robust dome and slim tower form an indispensable part of the Prague panorama, is one of Europe’s foremost Baroque buildings. It was built in the first half of the 18th century. 
• The Troja Castle with gardens is one of the most significant Baroque castles of the seventeenth century surrounded by a large French garden.
• Cesky Krumlov A day trip to Cesky Krumlov is included.  This castle city is one of the Czech Republic’s finest medieval sites.  Its Old Town is a maze of twisting alleys built around the extensive Cesky Krumlov castle.  The castle’s 18th century court theater is one of the few Baroque theatres still in existence.

Faculty
Debra Otte (Assistant Professor of Design)   in Theatre and Dance at Montclair State University will be the faculty for this course.  Debra has taken students to the PQ, Budapest, Greece, Cyprus, London, and Edinborough (Fringe Festival) in previous years.  Her research interests include new work in performance and visual literacy. 

Academic Requirements- Students must register for the following Summer Session 2011 course:
THTR 432 Special Topics in Theatre: Art and Performance through Study in Prague
Students in this course will meet twice prior to the tip as preparation.  Each will prepare a journal with information on medieval, baroque and renaissance architecture to be found in the Prague.  They will become familiar with the PQ website and events.  During the visit students will record their experiences through photography, drawing and rendering of the sites and the PQ exhibition.  Daily response sessions will be held each evening.  After travel, each student will present highlights of their drawing and rendering work and submit an in-depth paper on one event or site including research, photographs, renderings, with a critical and personal response to one event or site visit. This course may substitute for THTR160 Drawing and Rendering or THTR234 History of Style.
Non-majors interested in art and design are encouraged to apply.  A limited number of non-students will be accepted for the tour only, for an additional administrative fee.

Accommodations and Meals
Participants will stay in centrally located 3 star hotel in triple and quad occupancy rooms, with breakfasts provided in the hotel. Double room supplement; $150; single room supplement: $510.

Estimated Program Cost: $2,100
The program includes:

• Round trip airfare
• Ground transport to and from airport
• Charter bus for full day excursion to Cesky Krumlov
• Triple or Quad hotel accommodations

Participants should expect to pay for lunches and dinners plus about $215 on site for public transportation, entrances and performances. Program costs are based on 15 participants and current exchange rates and are subject to change.

Application Procedure and Payment Schedule
The minimum GPA is 2.75.  All participants are required to have an interview with Prof. Otte.  Applications should include one reference form completed by a faculty member other than Prof. Otte or Prof. Mugleston, plus the non-refundable $100 deposit.
Once accepted into the program, the payment schedule for the program costs is as follows:
Non-Refundable Deposit:            $100
Deposit by February 1:                $700
Deposit by March 1:                     $700
Final Payment by April 1:             $600 (to be confirmed)

Make checks payable to “Montclair State University”

Forms:
Pre-Enrollment Form

Faculty Led Short-Term Study Abroad Institutes Forms

For further information:
Contact the Global Education Center at 973-655-4185 or email simonw@mail.montclair.edu
Contact Debra Otte at 973-655-7680 or otted@mail.montclair.edu
Or visit us on the web at www.montclair.edu/global