Performance Studies

Program and Requirements

Special attention should be given to the personal statement requested on the application form. In preparing this statement, an applicant should include a description of his or her preparation for graduate study in the department, as well as a careful projection of research and other professional goals. Students are also requested to submit an example of their writing, preferably an article or essay, as evidence of the research and writing skills necessary for success in the program.

Applicants to the Ph.D. program must have completed a recognized master's degree or anticipate completion before being considered for admission. Those who are already in the department's M.A. program and who wish to continue for the Ph.D. should follow the procedures outlined under Permission to Proceed to the Ph.D.

Degrees in performance studies are conferred by the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS), although instruction, administration, and financial aid are provided by the Tisch School of the Arts (TSOA). A TSOA bulletin, application forms, and other information are available from the Office of Graduate Admissions, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, 721 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10003; (212) 998-1918. All material--application forms, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and essays--should be sent directly to the TSOA Office of Graduate Admissions.

The deadline for fall semester admission is February 1. All application materials should be received by this date.

Advisement: Students are assigned an adviser based on their areas of interest and meet with this adviser during the registration period each semester to plan their course work and review their progress. Individualized programs of study are encouraged.

Required Courses: There is one required course for both M.A. and Ph.D. students: H42.2617. It must be taken during the first semester. M.A. Writing Seminar H42.2618 is required of all M.A. students during the final semester of course work. The Dissertation Proposal H42.2301 is required of all Ph.D. students on completion of the language requirement and 76 points of course work.

MASTER OF ARTS

Degree Requirements: Students must complete 36 points, of which at least 24 must be for semester-long, formal courses in the department with a grade higher than B-, primarily with the resident faculty. Up to 4 points may be taken outside the department or transferred from another institution, with permission of the chair.

The M.A. program terminates with a required couse, M.A. Writing Seminar H42.2618, in which students revise and expand an earlier research project. The purpose of this seminar is to explore appropriate research methods and writing strategies for substantial scholarly projects in the field.

No student may register for more than 12 points beyond the M.A. until approved for admission to the doctoral program.

Permission to Proceed to the Ph.D.: Upon completion of the M.A., students interested in continuing to the Ph.D. will submit a dossier for consideration. The dossier must include:

1. A list of all courses taken and grades earned.
2. A substantial paper, either previously written for a course or the paper being revised for the M.A. Writing Seminar.
3. A description of the projected dissertation topic and how specific course work taken will enable clarification and deepening of the topic.
4. Names of three faculty members the student proposes to serve as possible dissertation directors.

Applicants to the Ph.D. will be evaluated on the following basis:

1. Academic record to date.
2. Quality of academic writing as evidenced in submitted paper.
3. Proposed topic and compatibility with departmental plans.
4. Predilection of faculty to direct Ph.D. course work and dissertation.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Degree Requirements: Students must complete 80 points, with a minimum of 52 in residence at New York University. Students admitted with the M.A. should note that previous graduate work is not automatically applied to the Ph.D. Each student's record is examined by the department to determine allowable transfer credit. Up to 28 points of graduate work completed elsewhere may be transferred toward the Ph.D.

Students who received the M.A. degree in performance studies at New York University and who have been given permission to proceed to the Ph.D. must complete an additional 44 points for the doctorate, of which at least 32 points must be for semester-long formal courses in the department (including The Dissertation Proposal H42.2301) with a grade higher than B- with the resident faculty. Students who received the M.A. elsewhere and who have passed the comprehensive examination during their first semester of study must complete at least 52 points for the doctorate, of which at least 40 points must be for semester-long, formal courses in the department (including The Dissertation Proposal H42.2301) with a grade higher than B-, and a minimum of 32 points taken with the resident faculty. Students must complete 76 points and pass their qualifying exams before taking The Dissertation Proposal H42.2301.

A doctoral candidate must complete all requirements not later than ten years from entering the M.A. program or seven years from entering the Ph.D. program.

Foreign Language Proficiency: A candidate for the doctorate must demonstrate proficiency in at least one foreign language. Students are urged to fulfill the language requirement before they have completed 24 points of course work. For further information, see under Degree Requirements.

Area Examination: The area examination is offered each semester. At a meeting during the registration period each semester, the policies and procedures of the qualifying examination are outlined in detail. Students must take the qualifying examination the first time it is offered after they have fulfilled the foreign language requirement and completed 72 points of course work.

The area examination consists of three sets of take-home questions, to be answered in a period of twelve days. Students are examined in one general area and pick two of the folowing for the remaining topics: (1) a theory area; (2) a history area; (3) a genre of performance; (4) a geographical area's performance. Areas are chosen in consultation with students' advisers and approved by the faculty committee two semesters prior to the one in which the examination is to be taken. Students prepare reading lists for specific areas, in consultation with the faculty and submit them for approval no later than the registration period of the fall semester preceding the academic year in which the examination is to be taken. If a question is failed, a student must take the question again the following fall semester. The student may be required to complete additional course work before taking the examination again. A student who fails one or both questions twice cannot continue in the Ph.D. program. Students should consult the department office regarding deadlines and procedures.

Admission to Candidacy: Formal candidacy is granted only after a student has been in residence for a year, demonstrated foreign language proficiency, passed the qualifying examination, and received approval of the dissertation proposal.

Probation and Grades: Grades of B- or less, incompletes, and a pattern of withdrawals are grounds for probation or termination. Students on probation must take courses with the resident faculty only.

Doctoral Dissertation: The Dissertation Proposal H42.2301 is typically taken after the student has passed the area examinations. When the proposal is completed, it must be reviewed and approved by a three-member faculty committee.

Please consult the department for the schedule and procedures for defending the dissertation. Any reader who is not a member of the New York University GSAS faculty must be approved in advance by GSAS. All five members of the dissertation committee must be present when the student publicly defends the dissertation. For details regarding preparation of the final copy and degree conferral, see Degree Requirements.

DEPARTMENTAL FINANCIAL AID

The Department of Performance Studies makes every effort to help students finance their graduate education. Students may apply for the following forms of financial aid from the department: graduate assistantships, which carry full tuition remission plus a stipend, in exchange for a work commitment of 20 hours per week; University scholarships, which are awarded as partial tuition remission; and a limited number of named scholarships.

For further information, contact the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, Tisch School of the Arts.

Graduate Assistantships: Most graduate assistantships are federally funded and are available only to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Need eligibility is determined by federal guidelines. Students are eligible for vacancies on staff positions in the Performance Studies Archive, and as professors' assistants. The department may also recommend students for positions in the TSOA Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and the Department of Drama, Undergraduate.

Application: New performance studies applicants are required to submit three forms to complete their financial aid application: (1) Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is sent to the Federal Financial Aid Information Center in Iowa City, who reports results to New York University; (2) Department of Performance Studies financial aid form; (3) Tisch School of the Arts graduate financial aid form. Both incoming and continuing students should request the FAFSA from the Office of Financial Aid, New York University, 25 West Fourth Street, New York, N.Y. 10012-1199; (212) 998-4444. For incoming students, the remaining forms are included in the program application packet. For continuing students, the second form is available through the department.

New and continuing students should submit these forms by January 8 for con-sideration for the following academic year.

Teaching Assistantships: Students with a master's degree are also eligible to apply for teaching assistantships in the Expository Writing Program. These positions are not federally funded and consequently do not require meeting specific need criteria for U.S. citizenship. Students must apply directly to the Expository Writing Program for these positions. Applications may be requested from the Expository Writing Program, New York University, 269 Mercer Street, 2nd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10003; (212) 998-8860.

Resident Assistantships: The Office of Housing and Residence Life seeks applicants in January and February of each year for resident assistants for the following year. Resident assistants live and work in undergraduate and graduate resident hall facilities and develop programs, provide counseling and referral services, and perform administrative tasks. The remuneration for a resident assistantship is room and board. Interested students should request applications from the Office of Housing and Residence Life, New York University, 8 Washington Place, New York, N.Y. 10003; (212) 998-4600.

Graduate Housing: Housing information is outlined in the graduate admissions application.

DEPARTMENTAL PUBLICATIONS

TDR: the journal of performance studies is edited by Richard Schechner; associate editor is Mariellen R. Sandford. Most issues are eclectic, dealing with live performance, media, and performance theory. Topics range from experimental performance to ethnographic studies. A very wide range of genres is included: theatre, dance, music, rituals, play, performance in everyday life, and sports. Articles are published detailing performances in a variety of cultures from all over the world. TDR invites opinions, debates, letters from readers and contributors, and reports on performances, books, conferences, and festivals. About one issue in six is a "theme issue" devoted to a single topic. In addition to the editor and associate editor, two graduate students work on TDR, one as managing editor.

Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory is a semiannual publication produced independently by students at the Department of Performance Studies. It is the first ongoing publication of its kind devoted to a feminist investigation of performance. It encourages dialogue among performers, theorists, and spectators by providing a forum for feminist critical theory in theatre, dance, film, video, music, and ritual. It discusses feminist aesthetics and includes performance documentation, articles on women in historical performance, reviews, scripts, and resource listings. Students on staff work in various phases of production, including writing, copyediting, proofreading, layout, pasteup, advertising, circulation, and distribution.

CURRICULUM

To make performance a primary concern is to blur radically the boundaries of disciplines, to subvert the hierarchies and exclusions of the canon, and to search the history and geography of culture for the diversity of performance modes and concepts. As a discipline of "inclusions," performance studies provides an integrating, comparative perspective on the entire continuum of human action from "life events," sports, public ceremonies, and ritual to aesthetic theatre and dance.

Courses in theory and methodology, while developing a distinctive body of concepts and approaches, explore theories of performance indigenous to Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and other parts of the world, and draw from various disciplines--anthropology, sociology, history, literary theory, semiotics, feminist theory, Marxism, psychoanalysis, the study of colonial discourse, movement analysis, aesthetics, and theatrical theory.

Although well-established as a discipline, the study of Western theatre has tended to emphasize a historical approach to a canon of dramatic literature. In contrast, the performance studies curriculum focuses on extraliterary or nonliterary aspects of performance.

In keeping with the integrated perspective on performance, courses deal with dance not only as a performing art in its own right but also as a vital constituent of theatre, ritual, and social life. Courses train students to identify the basic components of movement, to see, discriminate, and describe movement behavior in all its forms and contexts, and to apply knowledge of movement style to studies of dance and culture. Dance is studies as an aspect of cultural history and in relation to the other arts.

Folk performance and popular entertainment (including the modern media) have constituted a culturally and artistically vital alternative theatre and important influence on contemporary performance. The forms of popular entertainment, their internal logic and aesthetics, are studied in relation to their historical formation and cultural setting. The study of folk performance focuses on how people in their everyday lives shape deeply felt values into meaningful form--for example, conversational humor and storytelling, improvised play and traditional games, competitive street dance, domestic rituals, neighborhood and community celebrations. A major concern is the nature of tradition, which is seen as a process rooted in social life as well as in time and space.

Courses in Performance Studies are also developed in order to explore the political and ideological implications of perfromance. Postcolonial, feminist, and queer theory are emplyed as frames to investigate how artistic forms subvert and uphold particular ideological forms.

While Performance Studies is not a studio-based program, students are encouraged to take at least one course (but not more than three) in performance practice. On a regular basis, courses in performance composition and movement are offered.

gsas.webmaster@nyu.edu / Performance Studies / GSAS / NYU
-- last modified 14 April 1997