Academic Accelerator - Bachelor of Fine Arts - Acting

Program Description

Academic Accelerator Program (AAP) is a balanced first-year program for international students with good English-language skills. It supplements immersive classes taught in English with just the right amount of support.

As a student in the Academic Accelerator, you’ll receive:

• The right amount of support for your academic and English-speaking needs
• A full year’s worth of college credits
• Access to courses exclusively for international students
• English-language help with words you need to know for your classes
• A mix of classes with international and U.S. students

Gain conservatory-style training in a liberal arts setting through our BFA in Acting, working closely with world-class faculty from Tony Award-winning theatres. You will take six semesters of voice for the actor and six semesters of movement for the actor. Eight semesters of acting will culminate in a semester-long audition class taught by casting directors from the Goodman Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

You will work in small classes with personalized attention from faculty.

• Develop your individual voice
• Engage in ensemble-based learning with fellow students
• Participate in coursework based on exploration - focus on process and discovery
• Learn through doing - participate in the UIC’s Mainstage Season performances and student-generated projects under the direction and coaching of the theatre faculty and guest artists
• Learn about the past and the present - integrate traditional performance theories and forms with contemporary interdisciplinary performance practices
• Get real world experience - take advantage of internships available at major Chicago theatres including Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Lookingglass Theatre Company

Performance facilities include a flexible mainstage "black box" theatre, a studio theatre, and other experimental performance spaces.

Many of the program’s graduates are employed professionally in theatre and film, or successfully pursue advanced study in prestigious graduate theatre programs.