The School of Communication’s graduate program in Performance Studies is rooted in the analysis and exploration of performance as artistic practice, scholarly method, and a means for engaging history, culture, and human expression.
Students in the program produce provocative research in critical theory, cultural studies, ethnography, performance theory and criticism, pedagogy, and digital scholarship. They also pursue creative application and translation of their research in performance, curatorial work, media production, organizational leadership, creative industries, education, and activism.
The Department of Performance Studies works closely with other departments and programs within the university. Through coursework and research, students and faculty draw from such fields as Anthropology, African Studies, Black Studies, Gender Studies, Radio-TV-Film, Theatre & Drama, Critical Theory, Dance Studies, Asian American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and others.
Often, performance studies students also participate in a cluster, or earn a graduate certificate in various fields including Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, Asian Studies, Critical Theory, Rhetoric and Public Culture, Religion and Global Politics, Critical Dance Studies or African Studies while pursuing their degree. Performance Studies also participates actively in the Graduate School Cluster Initiative, which fosters interdisciplinary study and interdepartmental connections. As part of the Critical Studies in Theatre & Performance cluster, the department has helped to offer workshops for graduate students on such topics as collegiality and ethics, grant applications, job interviews, and publication of the dissertation.
The department is housed in the Arts Circle neighborhood of the Evanston campus with newly built offices at Ryan Center for Musical Arts, a dedicated seminar room and performance studio at Annie May Swift Hall, and extensive use of teaching and performance facilities at the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, which contains four theatres, costume and scene shops, dance studios, and rehearsal spaces.