Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair
Paul B. Muldoon
Acting Chair
Michael Cadden (fall/spring)
Professor
Jill S. Dolan, also English, Theater
Jeffrey Eugenides, also Creative Writing
Su Friedrich, also Visual Arts
Chang-rae Lee, also Creative Writing
Susan Marshall, also Dance
Paul B. Muldoon, also Creative Writing
Joyce Carol Oates, also Creative Writing
James Richardson, also English, Creative Writing
Joseph S. Scanlan, also Visual Arts
P. Adams Sitney, also Visual Arts
Edmund V. White, also Creative Writing
Stacy E. Wolf, also Theater
Visiting Professor
James Welling, Visual Arts
Associate Professor
Susan Wheeler, also Creative Writing
Assistant Professor
Tracy K. Smith, also Creative Writing
Senior Lecturer
Eve M. Aschheim, also Visual Arts
Michael W. Cadden, also Theater
Rebecca J. Lazier, also Dance
Lecturer with Rank of Professor
C. K. Williams, also Creative Writing
Lecturer
Suzanne L. Agins, Theater
Tracy E. Bersley, Theater
Susan M. Choi, Creative Writing
Jane F. Cox, Theater
Michael C. Dickman, Creative Writing
Rinde W. Eckert, Theater, also Music
Martha Friedman, Visual Arts
John Guare, Theater
Dyane Harvey Salaam, Dance
Riccardo J. Hernandez, Theater
Patricia Hoffbauer, Dance
Sheila M. Kohler, Creative Writing
Christina Lazaridi, Creative Writing
Susanna P. Moore, Creative Writing
Mark S. Nelson, Theater
John Rando, Theater
David Rosenberg, Creative Writing
Robert N. Sandberg, Theater
Brenda A. Shaughnessy, Creative Writing
Aynsley L. Vandenbroucke, Dance
Timothy K. Vasen, Theater
Heather L. Watts, Dance
Visiting Lecturer
Arch C. Whitehead, Creative Writing
Hodder Fellow
Anthony Carelli, Creative Writing
Danai Jekesai Gurira, Creative Writing
Established in 2007, the Lewis Center for the Arts is an academic unit made up of the programs in creative writing, dance, theater, and visual arts and the Princeton Atelier. It is designed to put the creative and performing arts at the heart of the Princeton experience. This initiative is based on the conviction that exposure to the arts, particularly to the experience of producing art, helps each of us make sense of our life and the lives of our neighbors. The Lewis Center for the Arts gives a new focus and force to the Programs in Creative Writing, Dance, Theater, and Visual Arts and to the Princeton Atelier. It also has close links to the Center for African American Studies, School of Architecture, Department of Art and Archaeology, Council of the Humanities, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of English, Department of Music, Princeton University Art Museum, and McCarter Theatre Center. Students concentrating in molecular biology or mechanical engineering will be heartened to find that chemistry and physics, not to speak of mathematics, are all central to the idea of art making. Students who are first and foremost interested in choreography, costume design, screen writing, printmaking, photography, painting, poetry, or fiction writing, or indeed any aspect of the creative or performing arts, will discover that Princeton's faculty and facilities will be second to none.
Academic Opportunities in the Creative and Performing Arts
Certificate Programs. The certificate programs in creative writing, dance, theater, and visual arts are offered under the auspices of the Lewis Center for the Arts, while the certificate Program in Musical Performance is offered under the auspices of the Department of Music. For information about their individual programs of study and course offerings, please refer to their separate entries in this catalog.
Academic Concentrations Involving Creative Work. Various academic departments offer special opportunities and tracks that involve creative work. The Department of English offers academic concentrations in English and creative writing and in English and theater (see Program 4 and Program 5, respectively). The Department of Art and Archaeology offers a concentration in history of art and the visual arts. The Department of Comparative Literature offers the opportunity to incorporate creative work in Program D, comparative work in literary study and the creative arts. For more information about these opportunities, please refer to the specific department entries in this catalog.
University Scholar Program. Finally, the University Scholar Program is designed for "a small group of students with outstanding and demonstrated talent in an academic or creative area that requires a substantial commitment of time and that cannot be pursued within the regular curriculum," such as artists who are already balancing the demands of a professional career with their educational requirements.
Other Opportunities in the Arts
The Department of Music offers musical performance courses, opportunities for private vocal and instrumental lessons, and special technical, electroacoustic, and computer facilities. In addition, the University has a broad array of opportunities for qualified students to participate in various University ensembles. These mostly extracurricular activities include, but are not limited to, the Princeton University Glee Club, Chamber Choir, Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Opera Theater, Marching Band, and Wind Ensemble.
The Princeton University Art Museum is a teaching museum for the Department of Art and Archaeology as well as a cultural resource for the entire University and surrounding community. Its holdings range from ancient to contemporary art, with outstanding collections of prints, drawings, and photographs.
Visiting Artists and Fellows
The Lewis Center for the Arts eventually will be the home of the Society of Fellows in the Arts, bringing to campus some of the most exciting artists and performers--and scholars of art and performance--of our era. The center already administers the Hodder Fellowships, which bring to campus artists in the early stages of their careers to spend an academic year pursuing independent projects.
Princeton Atelier
The Princeton Atelier is a unique program that brings together professional artists from different disciplines to create new work in the context of a seminar/workshop with Princeton students. A painter might team with a composer, a choreographer might join with an electrical engineer, a company of theater artists might engage with environmental scientists, or a poet might connect with a pianist. How do artists who work in different media create art together? How do their different practices, experiences, methods, and assumptions influence each other's art making? Each Atelier finds entirely new and original answers to these questions; each Atelier creates something never done before. These multidisciplinary collaborations include Princeton students as witnesses to the creative process, as participants in the new work, and as developing artists in their own rights.
The Princeton Atelier offers up to four courses a year taught by at least two emerging or distinguished professional guest artists across disciplines or media. Unlike studio courses in other programs, Atelier courses are onetime events built around the visiting artists' newest work and current preoccupations. As the artists negotiate their collaborative partnership, they share their expertise and experience with students. Atelier courses typically include reading assignments and creative projects; the day-to-day activities usually include both discussion and "action." Although Ateliers are process oriented, they almost always culminate in a work-in-progress reading, showing, exhibition, or performance of some kind. Students across all years, majors, and areas of interest are welcome to take Atelier courses.
Courses
ATL 494 Princeton Atelier (also THR 494) Not offered this year LA
The Princeton Atelier brings guest artists from various fields to campus in order to collaborate with students and faculty on creating new work. The emphasis in the Atelier courses is on the creative process, although all courses result in some form of performance or exhibition. Courses are by application, audition, or portfolio review and are open to all students. Two three-hour seminars. Staff
ATL 495 Princeton Atelier Not offered this year LA
The Princeton Atelier brings guest artists from various fields to campus in order to collaborate with students and faculty on creating new work. The emphasis in the Atelier courses is on the creative process, although all courses result in some form of performance or exhibition. Courses are by application, audition, or portfolio review and are open to all students. Two three-hour seminars. Staff
ATL 496 Princeton Atelier (also MUS 496) Fall LA
The Princeton Atelier brings guest artists from various fields to campus in order to collaborate with students and faculty on creating new work. The emphasis in the Atelier courses is on the creative process, although all courses result in some form of performance or exhibition. Courses are by application, audition, or portfolio review and are open to all students. Two three-hour seminars. Staff
ATL 497 Princeton Atelier (also AAS 497/VIS 497) Spring LA
The Princeton Atelier brings guest artists from various fields to campus in order to collaborate with students and faculty on creating new work. The emphasis in the Atelier courses is on the creative process, although all courses result in some form of performance or exhibition. Courses are by application, audition, or portfolio review and are open to all students. Two three-hour seminars. Staff
ATL 498 Princeton Atelier (also DAN 451) Fall LA
The Princeton Atelier brings guest artists from various fields to campus in order to collaborate with students and faculty on creating new work. The emphasis in the Atelier courses is on the creative process, although all courses result in some form of performance or exhibition. Courses are by application, audition, or portfolio review and are open to all students. Two three-hour seminars. S. Marshall
ATL 499 Princeton Atelier (also THR 499) Spring LA
The Princeton Atelier brings guest artists from various fields to campus in order to collaborate with students and faculty on creating new work. The emphasis in the Atelier courses is on the creative process, although all courses result in some form of performance or exhibition. Courses are by application, audition, or portfolio review and are open to all students. Two three-hour seminars. Staff