When you become a part of the Department of Communication and Performing Arts at Indiana University Kokomo, you won't just be sitting back and listening to lectures. You'll be learning by actually doing. This course of study will give you an opportunity to create public relations campaigns for local community groups, perform in a variety of musical ensembles, see your work published in IU Kokomo's newspaper, The Correspondent, act in plays, and engage in public events like debates and interview workshops. With our extensive offering of internships, you'll spend some time learning on the job and networking with employers while you're at it.
Department of Communication and Performing Arts
Cody Kopka, the Dramatic Tenor, has a seat in The Red Chair
Cody Kopka is a humanities major with a focus in performing arts. He's always been interested in performing, but he didn't realize his ability to sing until he had lessons with Garry Grice, a voice faculty at IU Kokomo.
Check out the full interviewIU Kokomo offered me opportunities that would not have been available at other schools. It offered me hands-on experience through internships and projects where we worked with community members. It helped me learn skills outside of the classroom - like how to work with clients and how to communicate with others to ensure the best product/service is given.
Krystyn Bell, B.S. '14, Communication
The Performing Arts
Description of the video:
The Performing Arts Transcript:
A black screen. We hear a door opening and see a person coming in through a door. The words, “A Department of Communication and Performing Arts Production” appear on the screen. We see a hand flip on light switches. The room illuminates.
Another person walks into a dark room and flips on a light switch. Music begins as a person sits down at a piano and adjusts the bench and flips up the lid on the keys.
Hands open latches on a case for a guitar. A person removes opens a violin case. A person adjusts a high hat cymbal pedal. The inner workings of a piano are shown. A student looks intently at sheet music. A person places a hand on her stomach as she sings. Another student is shown singing.
Multiple students are shown playing guitar, singing, reading sheet music, and playing together in a band with a conductor. A person sings from sheet music while a conductor waves the conducting wand. A person plays a guitar is tapped on the struts with their hands. A person another plays the violin form sheet music. A person plays a another plays the drums drum set with an entire band. A person plays a bass clarinet. A person is shown playing.
Multiple instructors are shown teaching guitar, piano, and vocals.
A teacher speaks about guitar to a student. We hear the words, “The minor scale itself…” Another teacher begins speaking in a second screen as she works with a student on piano. A third teacher in a third section of the screen is shown teaching another student.
A conductor leads a band. A person is shown playing the flute.
Students are on stage performing West Side Story
We see the backs of students running out onto the stage ducked down. Two students are acting among their fellow cast members. We hear the words, “Couldn’t you see he’s one of them…” “No!”
A person is shown playing the violin. Students are shown singing from a book. Someone plays a flute. A student plays the piano with a teacher. We see a close up of the cello. We see a close up of a woodwind instrument. A student is shown smiling in a band class. A student focuses on her music while playing a violin.
We see sheet music for Jitterbug! A student plays the snare drum of a drum set. The cast members of a musical are shown working on their choreography.
A guitar is put away in a case. A person turns off a light switch, leaves the room, and shuts the door. The music stops and the screen fades to black.
A student enters a dark room and turns on a light. The words, “Indiana University Kokomo, Fulfilling the Promise, iuk.edu” appear on the screen. The words, “The Performance Never Stops” appear on the screen. A guitar is strummed.
Ready to begin your journey?
A Lifetime of Success
Senior caps college music career with recital
The first student to complete Indiana University Kokomo’s performing arts program will demonstrate how her vocal ability has grown, with a capstone recital. Faith Renken, who has studied voice with Wendy Grice for the last four years, was among the first to choose the degree in humanities with a concentration in performing
Passion for community theater spans 25 years
It’s been 25 years since Joann Kaiser directed the first community play in Tipton, Indiana, which now boasts a thriving theater presence unexpected in a small town. “It’s an added nuance to our community. We have a good thing going here, and I hope it lasts,” said Kaiser, senior lecturer in communication arts at Indiana University Kokomo. The first show, Our Town, which was a great success, and led to a production of Fiddler on the Roof, also led by Kaiser. Buoyed by their success, planners formed the Tipton Community Theatre, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performing arts.
Student visits three continents during career
As a college freshman, Madi Roswog didn’t have a passport. Not only did she obtain one while she was a student at Indiana University Kokomo — she put seven stamps in it, traveling with classes to countries in Europe, Asia, and Central America, before graduating in May 2018. She walked the beaches at Normandy, climbed the Great Wall of China, cared for malnourished children in Guatemala, stood in Anne Frank’s Secret Annex in the Netherlands, and viewed priceless masterpieces in Italy.
Senior studies pop culture at San Diego Comic-Con
Most of the 130,000 people who attend Comic-Con International are there to cosplay a favorite character, attend presentations by favorite actors, artists, and authors, and to discuss storylines with fellow fans.
Scholarly research would likely not be among the activities that would first come to mind — but that’s just what one Indiana University Kokomo communication arts student did this summer.