Course details

Summary

Studying a graduate diploma helps you develop knowledge and skills in your chosen subject area which will enable you to undertake a new career or further study.

Graduate diplomas are intended to provide the equivalent of a major in a subject area that is different to your first degree’s major. You may be eligible if you haven’t studied for a degree before if you can demonstrate an interest in the subject area and a satisfactory academic ability.

A graduate diploma is a more in-depth version of a graduate certificate, is studied at undergraduate level, and can be completed in the equivalent of one year (two semesters) of full-time study.

To complete the qualifications, students need to gain 120 points at 100 level (first year papers) or above, including at least 80 points at 300 level (third year papers) or above, in the graduate diploma subjects.

Theatre Studies

A major in Theatre Studies at Waikato is a rich and challenging pathway to an arts degree with a wide range of vocational applications. Explore performance, and learn about the evolution of theatre and the creation of performance works.

Waikato's Theatre Studies programme takes a theory-through-practice approach to teaching and learning the art of theatre. We take the live encounter of a theatre performance as our starting point, encouraging you to explore and extend your own dramatic practice.

Many papers in the programme provide opportunities for the practical study of performance, while others examine the theories that have shaped and informed theatre over the ages. Two papers have public performances at their core, with the study process mirroring the creative process of page-to-stage, or idea-to-stage, that results in the performance. You'll learn about, and potentially add to, New Zealand's rich array of theatrical forms, established and traditional, and new and experimental.

Practical tutorials, seminars and rehearsals take place the theatre laboratory space, the New Place Theatre/Te Tapere Hou, and the Playhouse Theatre within the University's purpose-built Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, which is also the venue for public performances.

Careers for Theatre Studies graduates include employment within community and professional theatres, local arts councils, schools, film production companies, and arts agencies such as Creative New Zealand and New Zealand On Air.

Career opportunities

• Actor
• Arts Administrator
• Director
• Stage Manager
• Teacher
• Theatre Technician

Entry criteria

A qualification considered equivalent to a New Zealand bachelor’s degree with a B average.

English language requirements:

IELTS - 6.5 overall (no less than 6.0 in writing); iBT (internet based TOFEL) - 90 with a score of 22 in writing; Pearson PTE Academic- 65 with English language requirements no less than 58 for each communicative skill; From Waikato Pathways College - Successful completion of Level 8 with a B grade average in the Certificate of Attainment in Academic (CAAE) programme.