The two disciplines of Theatre and Media Arts have a rich history at Brigham Young University. Theatre has been taught at Brigham Young University since 1901, when Miriam Nelke first began teaching courses in literary interpretation, Shakespeare, and oral expression. Brigham Young was also one of the first universities to create a formal department for the production of motion pictures in 1953. In fact, BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson boasted in 1963 that BYU was one of only two universities in the nation with a film production department (the other being the University of Southern California). In 1974, the Theatre and Media Arts departments were merged into one, forming a union which has fostered a healthy collaboration between these two artistic disciplines for over thirty years. Today, the department services more than 450 students and has 21 full-time and 54 part-time faculty members.
From the description of Records, 1965-1996. (Brigham Young University). WorldCat record id: 60657999
