UCLA world arts and cultures/dance major to become two separate undergraduate degrees

Clarification: The original version of this article and its headline were unclear. The world arts and cultures/dance major will become two separate undergraduate degrees. The resultant degree programs will be revised versions of the singular world arts and cultures/dance major that exists currently.

Beginning this fall, the world arts and cultures/dance major will be split into two separate undergraduate degrees.

Currently, world arts and cultures and dance are concentrations within the overarching world arts and cultures/dance major. As a result of the split, there will be fewer overlapping classes between the two curriculums, said Angelia Leung, chair of the world arts and cultures/dance department.

The change will apply to all incoming students. Current students can either choose one of the two degree paths or remain in the old world arts and cultures/dance major, Leung said.

For nearly two decades, UCLA’s dance program has arguably been too interdisciplinary, said Victoria Marks, vice chair of the world arts and cultures/dance department.

In the current program, dance students tend to take fewer technical classes because of fluctuating course offerings and overlap in the requirements between the two concentrations, Leung said. The new program would ensure that technical courses are a requirement for the dance degree.

The intent is that students will be able to focus more on their specific areas of interest, Leung said.

Unit requirements for each degree remain largely the same, she said. Previously overlapping courses will be replaced by more specialized courses in either degree program.

The revised world arts and cultures degree will be centered on culture and performance, said Mary “Polly” Nooter Roberts, professor in the department of world arts and cultures/dance.

These principles already existed in the department, but the new curriculum provides a clearer structure, Roberts said.

Three themes, known in the department as “streams,” will define the new structure: visual arts, arts activism and critical ethnographies. Students will take courses in all three themes in their first year of study. By their final year, students will critically focus on one area, Roberts said.

By taking courses that become increasingly specialized as they progress through the degree, students can pursue their specific interests while gaining tangible experience for future employers, she said.

Caitlin Estudillo, a first-year world arts and cultures student concentrating in dance, said she will not change to the new curriculum.

She said she applied to the major knowing she would be taking world arts and cultures courses in addition to her dance classes, and said she likes the variety.

There will be some overlap remaining between the two majors that will allow world arts and cultures students interested in dance to take a few classes, and vice versa, Leung said.

Leanne Iacovetta, a World Arts and Cultures Undergraduate Society representative, said the overlap between worlds arts and cultures and dance is a strength of the current curriculum.

The fourth-year world arts and cultures and communications student said, however, that dance concentration students such as herself will appreciate the opportunity to graduate with a definitive degree in dance.

Since the introduction of the dance department in 1962, the degree has undergone a series of transformations, including being incorporated into the world arts and cultures department. In 2010, worlds arts and cultures added “dance” to its title in order to better recognize the concentration’s presence in the department, Leung said.

“We are in a sense taking what we have learned with us over the last 16 years and reinvigorating a dance program,” Marks said.