Theatre and Television: A Call For A Merger

Sharaf Rehman, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

It is this author's belief that our programs in general and our students in particular would benefit if we encouraged theatre students to take broadcasting courses and radio-TV majors to enroll in acting and drama production classes. As faculty, we should consider collaboration and joint-teaching with counterparts in other disciplines, If our main goal is to provide the best possible education for students, then we must realize that Theatre and Broadcasting programs need to collaborate and not compete. The author is aware of the bureaucratic difficulties in offering courses that are taught by faculty from more than one department or college, i.e., who gets the FTE and; who gets the teaching load. These are important concerns. However, administrators should look for ways of getting around these problems in order to offer students a well-rounded education that will better prepare them for the job market.