MA/PhD in Performance Studies
The PhD in Performance Studies consists of 22 course units. Required courses include PERF_ST 410 Studies in Performance and PERF_ST 518 Problems in Research, PERF-ST 509 Performance and Pedagogy, a dissertation workshop, and least 6 additional courses at the 400 or 500 levels in the Performance Studies Department, including one in ethnographic research methods. 300 level courses specifically designated for (or adapted to) graduate study are also allowable.
During the first year in the program, students complete two milestones: the Graduate Performance and the First Year Examination. Upon completion of these milestones and 9 course units (including PERF_ST 410 and PERF_ST 518), students will be awarded an MA in performance studies at the conclusion of the first year.
They must also fulfill a foreign language requirement demonstrating reading competency and satisfactorily complete a Ph.D. qualifying examination and a dissertation.
Technically, Performance Studies is a PhD-only program. However, students who matriculate at Northwestern without a Master’s degree may take a Master’s degree along the way to the PhD by temporarily changing their registration post-candidacy.
Master of Arts Degree
The MA in performance studies consists of 9 course units, including PERF_ST 410 Studies in Performance and PERF_ST 518 Problems in Research (both fall quarter). Additionally, students take at least 2 courses at the 400 or 500 levels in the Performance Studies Department. Additional courses are selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Graduate level courses are generally at the 400 level or above, with the exception of 300 level courses which are specifically designated for graduate study. All students are also required to present a Graduate Performance and sit for the First Year Examination. The MA degree can only be obtained on the PhD track. Currently, there is no terminal MA application for Performance Studies.
Graduate Performances
All PhD students in the department must present a 20-30 minute Graduate Performance. Typically, this milestone occurs at the end of the winter quarter of the first year of the program. What is expected is that in this milestone students engage performance as a method of inquiry and communication, building on expressive practices such as performed ethnography, documentary theater, practice-based research, performance installation, lecture performance and the like. For more information on past graduate performances, please visit here!
MA Exam
All students are required to complete the First Year Examination during the spring quarter of their first year. The examination focuses on key concepts, theories, methodologies, and intellectual histories of performance studies and will be based on the student’s coursework in the department. The three-day take home examination will consist of a single question to be answered in essay format and conforming to the limits in length presented in the exam directives.
Moving to Candidacy
Upon completion of the requirements for the MA in Performance Studies, students complete a series of milestones to advance to candidacy status including the language requirement, selection of a committee, major works list, qualifying examinations, oral defense, and prospectus.
Language Requirement
To be eligible for doctoral candidacy and to be able to take the PhD Qualifying Examination a student must satisfactorily fulfill the language requirement by demonstrating competency in a language other than English.
The Graduate School provides Summer Language Grants for intensive summer language study.
Selection of a committee
Performance Studies students select a committee to administer their qualifying examinations with a minimum of three members. The examination committee typically becomes the students’ dissertation committee, but shifts are possible. The chair (advisor) of the committee must be a core member of the performance studies faculty.
The doctoral committee must include at least two members of the faculty of the Department of Performance Studies (including both core and affiliate), of which at least one must be core faculty.
Major Works List
The Major Works List, drafted in consultation with the advisor and committee, is divided into three or four sections. One section usually covers the literature in the field of performance studies. The others reflect the student’s specific research areas and methods.
The Major Works List is comprised of two parts: l) a statement of research interests accompanied by a rationale governing the organization of the list; and 2) a list of the major works that will be the focus of a ten-day take-home examination and the student’s subsequent oral defense of the written examination.
Qualifying Examinations
Exams are administered by faculty from the student’s dissertation committee.
Performance Studies Qualifying Exams consist of a 10-day take-home exam. The exam has two parts – “Resources and Methods in Performance Studies,” which focuses on theoretical arguments, interventions, and methods in the field, and “Issues and Problems in Performance Studies,” which focuses on professional development aspects of the field.
An oral defense is scheduled in consultation with the students’ committee.
Prospectus
After successfully passing their qualifying exams, students compose a prospectus for the dissertation, which outlines the statement of purpose, place in extant literature, methods, resources, and narrative outline of the proposed dissertation project.
Students take the prospectus development workshop (PERF_ST 509) as their final course to aid in the writing of the prospectus.
The Dissertation Process
Generally, PhD candidates take their 4th year of study as a fellowship year to conduct research and then write through their 5th year.
Students are responsible for timely completion of the degree according to University, School, Department, and Program rules, procedures, and deadlines and should review the written regulations of the Graduate School, the School of Communication, and Performance Studies regarding these and other pertinent requirements.