Drama Without Limits
BXA Reflects on Theater’s Value in Interdisciplinary Studies
BXA Intercollege Degree Programs
written by
Alexander Johnson
Since its founding, Carnegie Mellon University has served not only as a premier institution of higher learning in engineering and the sciences, but as an environment where community members can collaborate across boundaries.
Today, students embrace the ability to navigate their interests in more than one field of study and earn a degree in those combined fields. This is especially true for the BXA Intercollege Degree Programs, which allow undergraduate students to combine an arts curriculum with studies in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) or the humanities.
"The best work in a discipline happens when you get new questions being asked."
M. Stephanie Murray
Senior Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Initiatives; Teaching Professor, BXA
“Interdisciplinary education is a way to make that happen, and to make sure that you have people asking interesting questions from perspectives that hadn't been thought about before,” Murray said.
Murray and her team have seen an increased interest in the BXA programs and said there are several reasons.
First, she said, BXA, faculty, students and their families find it important and meaningful to get situated and grounded with CFA courses and community in the first year. It’s also appealing to students that they can integrate their dual interests in academics and the arts within a four-year degree-granting program.
“The BXA areas of study provide a clear curricular structure and intensive advising support in a way that a double major with two separate entities or a student-defined major having to curate an independent degree path cannot,” Murray said.
Many students choose drama as part of their degree, she added, knowing that their combination of interests may be one-of-a-kind. However, advisers in the program encourage them to embrace this unfamiliarity precisely because it promotes innovative thinking.
“In drama, specifically, there's such a tradition of both the establishment and of what avant-garde looks like, that the introduction of technology into those spaces brings the kinds of perspectives and creativity that maybe wouldn't be featured in a more traditional theater program,” she added.
Dramaturgy, neurobiology and the science of storytelling
Madelyn Streisfeld is a sophomore pursuing a bachelor of science and arts in neurobiology and dramaturgy. Before coming to Carnegie Mellon for her undergraduate studies, Streisfeld found joy in the classroom and as a member of theater organizations like the Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts, but she wasn’t sure how to combine all of her passions at the collegiate level.
“The love of writing and storytelling came first. I had a lot of interest in academics, and my interest in STEM really grew in the classroom, but all of my extracurriculars had to do with performance or being on a stage — things like theater or speech and debate,” she said.
“As I was talking to my parents and my family, nobody could really help me figure out how to bring all of it together in a way that made sense. I immediately found the BXA programs at CMU, and it was one of the first programs that I connected with when I was looking at colleges.”
She said that while people often assume neuroscience means a career in neurosurgery, she is also interested in exploring less conventional paths within the field, including cognitive research on how the mind processes and adapts to experiences — especially theatrical ones.
“During the pandemic, I stumbled on this concept of story science, which explores how the human brain makes sense of the different artforms and stories that we consume.”
The discovery helped her understand how her interests could be united at Carnegie Mellon.
"I realized I'm not only interested in looking at the impact of stories and theater from a societal perspective, but also understanding how the human brain generates stories and how we consume them theatrically."
Madelyn Streisfeld
“Then I discovered the dramaturgy program at CMU, which kind of merged different liberal arts areas that I was interested in — English, history and theater — into one program that I felt was applicable to neuroscience,” Streisfeld said.
Since arriving in the program, Streisfeld has become a member of the speaker curation team for TEDxCMU, helping to bring Angus Fletcher, an expert on story science, to CMU’s campus to discuss imagination, common sense and low-data processes exclusive to animal neurons.
She also works with the Kid Neuro Lab, an experience which has taught her about the developmental processes that influence perception and learning.
Streisfeld said that the guidance offered by Carnegie Mellon faculty like BXA advisers Carrie Hagan and M. Stephanie Murray have been critical to her success in the program.
“Coming to CMU and knowing that not only could I pursue multiple studies, but that I could figure out where the connection was through capstone projects, that really helped me,” she said. “I feel like I have a lot of people who are supporting me and cheering me on, even if this combination is something very new to me and to them. I think it's great that CMU has really mastered that.”
Stage & production management, mathematics and pre-medicine
Liberty Lapayowker is a senior in the bachelor of science and arts program offered by BXA. While earning her degree, Lapayowker has been able to enroll in courses of study in both mathematical sciences and production technology and management. The BSA program has also allowed Lapayowker the opportunity to pursue a third interest: medicine.
"My mom is a physician. I loved seeing how she got to wake up every day and solve a unique problem with a unique person. No day is like the next, and I think that's what I also love about theater and math."
Liberty Lapayowker
Lapayowker has been involved in stage management since high school, giving her the opportunity to direct all of the moving parts of a theatrical production. “The stage manager makes sure every element is running smoothly and, more importantly, solves problems when they arise. I knew I wanted that.”
The BXA programs allowed her to continue doing stage production while also exploring the sciences. By taking specific classes, she has crafted a three-in-one curriculum in science, drama and pre-medicine — with time left over to study American Sign Language.
As a volunteer for Lovewell in Eslöv, Sweden, Lapayowker has traveled around the world to assist high schoolers with stage production, with financial assistance from BXA. At the Cook Cardiopulmonary Engineering Lab, she has gained valuable insight into preoperative, postoperative and life-support medicine. And as a talent escort at The Tony Awards, she has taken her skills in stage management all the way to the red carpet, guiding a presenter on and off the stage during the course of the event.
“I see examples every single day of how they complement one another. Math requires logical problem-solving, but as you go into higher levels, there are many different ways to solve problems. You have to bring in creativity with concepts like combinatorics, and it's not just about logic and proofs anymore.”
Drama, in particular, has helped facilitate her interests in science and medicine. She studied block and pulley systems as part of a physics course and found a connection to her ropes class in theater the same day. In another instance, she was able to spend time in the costume department practicing whip stitching by hand, a necessary skill for surgeons. And when studying the wavelengths that correspond to color for a psychology course, Lapayowker was excited to see the same wavelengths printed on the gel lighting filters used to cast color on stage.
She credits her success to the mentorship she received from faculty members at Carnegie Mellon like Gizelle Sherwood, who taught her chemistry remotely while she volunteered for Lovewell in Sweden. “She has always been a huge supporter of me and my interdisciplinary study, believing that my studies in theater give me a unique perspective on peoples' interactions.”
Skills without boundaries: Interdisciplinary storytelling, management and collaboration
“One of the things that I didn't fully understand about drama until I had been in this position for a while — and this is coming from someone who studied drama — is that the collaborative nature of productions is so important,” Murray said. “Any time you can manage a whole gaggle of unruly participants into doing the same thing, it is a huge skill. Even just being one of those participants and knowing how to operate as one piece of a larger project is almost never explicitly taught, and it's something so valuable that we get from drama.”
Those familiar with theater might be inclined to say that their field is already interdisciplinary, and the work of BXA’s drama students takes this notion as far as it can go.
“Acting, directing, dramaturgy, lighting, costumes, scenic, sound, media, writing, management — there are representatives from every single one of those areas on any given production, and they all have to bring their skills and collaborate to get a cohesive performance event on stage,” said Wendy Arons, director of the Center for the Arts in Society and a professor of dramatic literature at CMU.
