About
Welcome to the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
Why are film, television and theatre important?
Film, television, and theatre are major industries that extend across the globe and offer a wide variety of careers. Film, television, and theatre are storytelling mediums that enable personal expression and deep cross-cultural connections. They provide an evening’s entertainment and can become cultural touchstones for decades or even centuries. Movies, TV shows, and plays tell us about ourselves and our culture, and they open windows to other cultures, and other moments in time that help create empathy, identification, and understanding.
What makes our program unique?
The Department of FTT will provide you with a liberal arts approach to the study of film, television, and theatre. Our program offers a unique mix of design and production, writing and performance, history and criticism. In having film, television, and theatre in one department, we prepare you for the real world where actors, directors, writers, and other artists frequently move between and among these different entertainment spheres. Rather than specialize in one narrow area, you will learn a broad base of production skills in classes and collaborations, including:
- acting
- directing
- cinematography
- editing
- playwriting
- screenwriting
- video art
- lighting design
- costume-making
- set design
- sound design
- musical performance
Along with creative tools to make film, TV, and theatre, you will learn to do critical analysis of movies, TV shows, and plays; to understand their style, structure, and meaning; and to consider historical context. You will gain knowledge of narrative, history, aesthetics, industry, methodologies, and ideas that shape and underpin screen and stage cultures, including:
- live-action fiction film
- documentary
- animation
- television
- video games
- sport media
- plays
- musical theatre
Our facilities
You will take courses in and have access to the renowned facilities of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, which has five performance venues, including the Regis Philbin Studio Theatre, the Patricia George Decio Theatre, and the THX-certified Browning Cinema, as well as a scene shop, costume shop, dressing rooms, rehearsal hall, recording studio, editing rooms, classrooms, and faculty offices.
Our faculty
As researchers and creative artists, our faculty lead and innovate in their subfields. Our faculty publish their work in high-impact journals and with well-regarded university presses. They work with top theatre companies and festivals, such as the Goodman Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, and Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
Our faculty have won prestigious fellowships and external grants such as the Guggenheim, Fulbright, and National Endowment for the Humanities to support their ongoing work as scholars. They have won prizes for their work as theatre and film artists and distinguished career achievement awards for their art and scholarship.
Many of our faculty are on editorial boards for top journals in their fields and have served in leadership roles in scholarly societies, such as the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the Shakespeare Association of America.
Our faculty serve in key leadership roles across campus and are involved in various interdisciplinary programs and institutes such as Gender Studies, the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Kroc Insitute for International Peace Studies, the Department of Africana Studies, and the Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience. Finally, several of our faculty have won college- and university-wide awards for their teaching, including the prestigious Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Our alumni
Our alumni work in the industry as writers, directors, and actors, or on the business side of entertainment. Some pursue graduate studies to get an MFA or Ph.D. in acting, writing, filmmaking, video game design, media studies, or other related fields. Some take the analytic and storytelling skills they learned in FTT into careers in law, public relations, advertising, government, medicine, and myriad other careers. As an FTT major, you can connect with alumni through our vast alumni network.
Our commitment to inclusion and belonging
The Department of FTT is committed to advancing the university's mission statement and principles of belonging and engagement.
As scholars and creators within FTT, we emphasize the academic commitment to embrace, discuss, and converse about issues and texts, both written and performative, related to political justice, economic justice, civil rights, police brutality, and environmental justice.
As advocates of the performing and audiovisual arts, media, and entertainment, we appreciate the vitality of these forms as conduits for social change and for amplifying marginalized voices, but we are also aware of their legacy as hegemonic institutions that replicate traditional mechanisms of power and control, and we aim to foster awareness of this range of capacities.
As teachers, we acknowledge that we have the power to shape curricula to highlight the work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) creators and scholars, and to try to equip our students with intellectual, creative, and ethical tools and cultural competencies necessary to shape an understanding of the diverse perspectives, contexts, and identities that shape and are reflected in film, television, and theatre.
As scholars, creators, advocates, and teachers, we understand that creative work has the potential to transform culture and that we as critically aware subjects can have transformative experiences through it.
Stay connected with FTT!
FTT Biweekly Newsletter Theatre @ Notre Dame FTT Careers Newsletter
The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre welcomes your support in any number of ways. We value the time, talent, and treasure of our graduates and friends and welcome collaborative efforts to further our work. You can make a gift or connect with the department about other ways to get involved.