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Feb 11, 1976

Dear Melissa, 

I'm happy to answer your very specific questions regarding a degree. I'm enclosing an information sheet for you, and will also answer the questions in your letter.

First, I gather your letter stated you were interested in all [[crossed-out]] pa [[/crossed-out]] phases of the acting profession? I wasn't able to read the writing very well, but I'm going to assume that's what you are interested in. 

Sheila has probably told you that the Feminist Studio Workshop is not a skills program per se; we offer a much more complete program for the development of women in art contexts, who have and can express a feminist consciousness in their work. We do not have any acting classes, voice classes, set design etc, but we do have classes in performance art (which I teach), graphics and communication design, writing, which are all pertinent to what you are interested in learning. The skills education you would get from the workshop, then, would no the traditional acting skills, but for sure they would aid you in such a career. Next year, as well, we expect to have a theater program in the Extension Program; and we offer various workshops from women outside the FSW faculty who are in various areas of performance: mime, performance art, improvisational theater...music, etc.

To get a B.A. degree you would need to apply to one of the three schools listed on the info sheet: Antioch, International, or Lindenwood. Goddard does not give undergraduate degrees. The length of time it would take depends upon how much past education and experience you would receive [[crossed-out]] dredit fo [[/crossed-out]] credit for, which depends largely upon the staff of the respective school. Most programs are based around a four year course of study, so you could expect to graduate in a year if you have had three years of college, or the equivalent in experience which is directly related to your specialty. When you apply to the school, you pay a fee in addition to the FSW fee; or you pay them the total fee and they pay our tuition. Your program depends upon what you and your degree committee agrees is suitable for a B.A. You come to this agreement by reviewing your past education and your goals: you then list what all of you decide you will need to take ignorer to satisfy your own concept of what a bachelors degree in your field should include. The process is largely self-directed, with assistance from a fac member of the workshop and a member of the respecitive school. You might, for instance, decide that you needed work in mime, acting skills, experience in writing, and work in literature (reading) to round out your general and specific educational experiences. So you might agree to tak a class at a local acting school,