Academic Resources

Students in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Dramatic Arts, Film and Television benefit from the outstanding faculty, courses, facilities and training available at two of New York City's premiere educational institutions — St. John's, the city's leading Catholic university, and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA), one of the nation's most respected institutions for actor training.

St. John's University and AADA offer state-of-the art facilities including:

  • training theatres
  • libraries
  • television studios
  • film and video cameras
  • editing suites
  • rehearsal spaces and classrooms

Students gain an academic and professional edge by joining any of the more than 180 student clubs and organizations available at St. John's University. For example, students in the program may be especially interested in valuable clubs and organizations:

  • The Society for Performing and Communications Arts is an student operated organization that encourage students to work collaboratively and across disciplines: film, dramatic arts, photography, public relations, advertising and communication arts.  Student develop independent projects to broaden their academic, creative and professional growth, as well as promote their work through the coordination of film festivals, the staging of plays, and visual art exhibitions.  For further information, contact the Chair of the Division of Mass Communications.
  • Chappell Players Theater Group: A student performing arts group that stages professional-caliber theatrical productions at the Queens campus.
  • Jazz Band: St. John's resident jazz ensemble.
  • Mixed Chorus: A pillar of St. John's performing arts program whose musical repertoire ranges from Broadway to classic choral masterworks.
  • Voices of Victory: St. John's official gospel choir.
  • Communications Club: A club that enhances learning and social experiences for students interested in the varied areas of communications.

Students also may qualify any of the University's various honor societies. For example, The College of Professional Studies Honor Society recognizes academic excellence and involvement in campus, church or community activities.

All students benefit from St. John's many other outstanding facilities and resources. For example, computer laboratories contain sophisticated PC and Mac workstations with a full range of the latest academic software packages and full access to the University's award-winning network. In addition, all new students receive their own wireless laptop computer.

Other facilities include high-tech classrooms, laboratories and our 1.7 million-volume Library. Our new D'Angelo Center is a five-story, 127,000-square-foot University and Student Center with classrooms, lecture halls, a Starbucks café and full-service food courts.

St. John’s University and American Academy Libraries collections support both the theoretical and practical training unique to the Dramatic Arts program with 75 discrete titles of electronic journals (all full-text) and aggregated databases, such as ProQuest, JStor, and EBSCO that included:

American Theatre

Amusement Business

Applied Theatre Researcher

Back Stage and Back Stage East

Journal of Arts Management and Law

Journal of Dramatic Theory and criticism

Mime Journal

Rental & Staging Systems

Research in Drama Education

Variety

Asian Theatre

An Annotated Bibliography of Modern Anglo-Irish Drama

American Theatre Companies, 1931-1986

Complete Book of the American Musical Theater

Literature and Theater of the States and Regions of the U. S. A.

Art and the Stage in the 20th Century

Kabuki: the Popular Theater

The Encyclopedia of World Theater

Presenting Reader's Theater

American Theater and Drama Research

Musical Theater Synopses

The American Academy’s library has access to 8,000 (approximate) volumes of plays, vocal scores, reference materials, fiction and non-fiction includes Tony Award and Pulitzer Prizes winning plays.

In addition to the many cultural and professional opportunities for aspiring actors and entertainment professionals, our New York City location is part of every student's educational experience. Our faculty and Career Center have strong ties to employers and other professional and educational resources throughout the New York area. Students make New York their classroom through innovative courses like Discover New York.

Students also benefit from St. John's focus on an international academic experience. The University offers extensive study abroad courses during the academic year as well as the winter and summer semesters. Students can live and learn at St. John's Rome, Italy, campus and Paris, France, location.