The Graduate Group in Performance Studies at UC Berkeley provides an interdisciplinary and individually crafted curriculum directed at advanced studies in the literatures, performances, cultural contexts, and theories of performance throughout the world. Based in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, the PhD program in Performance Studies takes advantage of Berkeley’s distinguished history in the field of drama and theater studies and opens out to a wider interrogation of the disciplines and methodologies of performance studies. The program is administered by the Graduate Group in Performance Studies, comprised of faculty from a wide range of related departments. Students in the Performance Studies PhD program conduct research in a diverse array of interdisciplinary methodologies, on projects spanning the fields of theater, dance, and performance studies.
Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. The Graduate Division hosts a complete list of graduate academic programs, departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.
Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application and steps to take to apply can be found on the Graduate Division website.
Admission Requirements
The minimum graduate admission requirements are:
A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and
Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.
For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page. It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here.
The graduate group admissions committee seeks applicants with qualities that will enable them to succeed in an intensive interdisciplinary program: creativity and analytical skills, practical experience, individual initiative, and intellectual rigor. Priority will be given to applicants whose research interests dovetail well with current faculty resources. Candidates holding a bachelor’s or master’s degree in theater, literature, performance studies, dance, or any appropriate humanities-related field are eligible to apply for admissions. The graduate group is particularly interested in applicants who have already formulated a specific focus of interest, including professional theater or dance practitioners who demonstrate a capacity for and training in advanced scholarly study. Please see the graduate group webpage for additional admission information.
As part of the application, you will be asked to submit the following:
All college transcripts
Three letters of recommendation
TOEFL scores (if applicable)
Resume/CV
Personal Statement
Statement of Purpose
Critical Writing Sample (15-20 pages)
Doctoral Degree Requirements
Normative Time Requirements
Normative Time to Advancement
Normative time to advancement is three years.
Normative Time in Candidacy
Normative time in candidacy is three years.
Total Normative Time
Total normative time is six years.
Time to Advancement
Curriculum
The following is a breakdown of requirements to be fulfilled during the student’s first five semesters of study. All courses must be taken for letter grades. For additional information, please see the graduate group Program of Study
Teaching Reading and Composition in Performance Studies
2
See below for details.
Performance Studies Electives
Two different THEATER 266 seminars (4 units each) must be taken in the first five semesters in the program.
Complete at least two graduate seminars offered by the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Only THEATER 266, not Theater 299, may fulfill this requirement and all electives must be discussed with the Head Graduate Advisor and approved before the start of each semester.
Additional Electives
Six additional graduate seminars (4 units each) offered by any department must be taken in the first five semesters in the program.
Complete at least 6 additional graduate seminars (200 level) offered by any department at UC Berkeley, may include additional THEATER 266 seminars. All electives must be discussed with the Head Graduate Advisor and approved before the start of each semester.
Pedagogy Courses
To prepare for appointment as a graduate student instructor (GSI), students are required to take THEATER 375 in the fall semester of the first year (this course is not offered in the spring). Also, GSIs for TDPS enroll each semester in THEATER 300 with their teaching supervisor.
QE
Students sit their qualifying exams in their sixth semester before proceeding to the dissertation.
Time in Candidacy
For additional information, please see the graduate group Program of Study
Prospectus
During the dissertation phase, students are expected to submit a copy of their dissertation prospectus (by the end of the seventh semester).
Fifth Year Presentation
Students give a public presentation of their research in the ninth semester.
Dissertation
Students are expected to complete their dissertations within the normative time frame (i.e., 12 semesters from the start of the program).
Courses
Performance Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the research resources of the University, to the methodologies and research interests of the faculty affiliated with the Ph.D. program, to the demands of a professional academic career, and to trends and developments in theater, dance, and performance studies. Introductory Colloquium on Interdisciplinary Research in Performance: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of colloquium per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
This course is designed to provide an opportunity for graduate students to work with one another to advance their individual research projects and present their ongoing work. Research Colloquium: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of colloquium per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Fall 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2022
Part one of a two-semester core sequence on performance theory, required of first-year Performance Studies PhD students. The course examines key issues and key words in performance studies, from the field’s emergence in the 1970s and 1980s to ongoing contemporary debates. Precise topics will vary by instructor, but may include theoretical investigations of corporeality; power, colonialism, and decoloniality; representation, mimesis, and mimicry; spectatorship, audience, and publics; performativity and more. Offered fall semester.
Course Objectives: To give beginning graduate students a comprehensive understanding of the antecedents, origins, and early development of Performance Studies.
Student Learning Outcomes: •
Basic literacy in the foundations and background of Performance Studies
•
Beginning capacity in publishable-quality academic writing (achieved through the crafting and submission of a seminar paper, with feedback from the instructor).
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
Part two of a two-semester core sequence on performance theory, required of first-year Performance Studies PhD students. The course examines key issues and key words in performance studies, from the field’s emergence in the 1970s and 1980s to ongoing contemporary debates. Precise topics will vary by instructor, but may include theoretical investigations of space; liveness, media, and presence; affect; economies; activism and politics; and more. Offered spring semester.
Course Objectives: To ground beginning graduate students in the major contemporary debates in Performance Studies, providing them with a framework for their own research interventions.
Student Learning Outcomes: •
Knowledge of primary debates within Performance Studies
•
Increasing capacity in publishable-quality academic writing (achieved through the crafting and submission of a seminar paper, with feedback from the instructor).
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 201A or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2019
The study of different approaches and contemporary methodologies for analyzing performances of various kinds within their cultural and historical context. Specific methodologies can include archival research, field methods, etc. The specific focus in any one course is contingent upon the focus of the instructor. Methodologies in Performance Studies: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2023, Spring 2021
Students in this course will engage in performance practice as: epistemology, methodology, and mode of research; explore the relationship between bodies, spaces, and temporality as a fundamental aspect of performance; and understand "performance as research" in Performance Studies as a field. Performance Practicum: Bodies, Space, and Time: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Topics vary from semester to semester and have included The Power of Music and Poetry in the Theater; Modern Drama and Theater, 1940 to the Present; Theaters, Tricksters, and Cultural Exchange; Art as Social Action; and The Invisible World (Process Seminar). Special Topics: Theater Arts: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2012
Meetings to be arranged, either individually or as a group to explore fields not covered in courses listed elsewhere in Dramatic Art's offerings. May be taken by students engaged in writing dissertations. Directed Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in Dramatic Art and consent of instructor
Credit Restrictions: A maximum of 12 units may be divided among several instructors during a semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0-0 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
May be taken when preparing prospectus, graduate portfolio, and/or oral presentation before qualifying oral examination. May not be substituted for available seminars. Special Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 1-7.5 hours of independent study per week 10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate
Terms offered: Fall 2015
This course studies pedagogical theories and methods. It is designed to prepare graduate students to teach practice-based dance and movement courses. In class teaching exercises will be supported by readings, research projects and assignments on the subject of pedagogy. Development of professional teaching documents such as a teaching philosophy, a sample course syllabus, sample lesson plans, and self-evaluation statements are required. Pedagogy for Movement Based Classes - Graduate Level: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with advisor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 15 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Terms offered: Fall 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023
This course will explore the theory and practice of teaching undergraduate-level reading and writing skills, specifically within the field of performance studies. This hands-on practicum will cover topics such as course design, lesson planning, teaching critical reading skills, building writing assignments, teaching writing skills, giving feedback, grading, and time management. We will also explore methodologies specific to teaching in performance studies: performance analysis, movement analysis, ethnography, and embodied research. Finally, we will devote attention to how we build equitable, student-centered classrooms attentive to difference and encouraging of support across diverse populations. Teaching Reading and Composition in Performance Studies: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: 1.
Ask students to develop a series of scaffolded reading and writing assignments, discussing the skills these assignments each address and how the assignments help undergraduate students to build up to a written college essay 2.
Ask students to design in-class exercises and identify the skills they address 3.
Explore performance studies methodologies and how to teach them to undergraduates 4.
Explore feedback and assessment strategies 5.
Share pedagogical techniques collectively 6.
Explore strategies for creating inclusive classrooms 7.
Write a syllabus 8.
Observe current GSIs in the classroom
Student Learning Outcomes: 1.
Teach undergraduate-level reading skills
10.
Teach students how to succeed in the university—i.e. deadlines, office hours, where to go for help
2.
Teach undergraduate-level writing skills
3.
Assess undergraduate-level reading and writing
4.
Incorporate performance studies methodologies into a reading and composition course
5.
Design a reading and composition course
6.
Plan and manage classroom work
7.
Give group and individual feedback
8.
Manage time and workload
9.
Develop methods for creating an inclusive classroom
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013
Individual study in consultation with the major field adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-36 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 5.5-67.5 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Graduate examination preparation
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
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