Courses in Theater and Performance Studies PhD

The Doctor of Philosophy in Theater is an innovative, interdisciplinary program that offers an international, cross-cultural exploration of theater in all its manifestations. The program is conducted by respected scholars and artists with experience in all aspects of theater. The goal of the program is to produce scholars fluent in both the theory and practice of theater who can expand our understanding of dramatic expression and its profound historical and cultural significance in human society. The program is small and highly selective; students receive personal attention and have had great success in obtaining teaching assistantships and generous fellowships. The faculty have a wide range of interests and strive to maintain a program that does not exclude any topic. Recent dissertation subjects include Brazilian performance, Chinese drama, Renaissance dance history, African ritual theater, contemporary Japanese theater, acting theory, feminist theory, and queer theory. Students are encouraged to study with outstanding scholars in other departments and to take advantage of the enormous academic and cultural resources available at UCLA that include, among many others: the interdisciplinary Centers for African American Studies, Chicano and Chicana Studies, Asian American Studies, and the Study of Women; the Fowler Museum of Cultural History; the Department of World Arts and Cultures; and the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts. Los Angeles, a multicultural, multi-lingual, international city, also offers an enormous range of Western and Non-Western artistic activity; and special cultural resources such as the J. Paul Getty Museum and Institutes, the Huntington Library, and the Japan America Theater.

Course Requirements

During the first six quarters (two academic years), students must complete a minimum of 12 graduate courses. At least six seminars must be taken in the Department of Theater. The remaining courses are elective graduate courses, seminars, or tutorials, selected with the advisor, to constitute a definable area of study associated with the dissertation field. In addition, the distribution of electives must include at least one in an area other than the EuroAmerican theater tradition.

At the end of the student's second quarter in residence, a preliminary oral examination is administered by a representative committee of the faculty. The committee specifies the area of review, tests background preparation and progress to date, and determines general fitness to continue in the doctoral program.

After completing all language and course requirements, approval of a dissertation prospectus, and appointment of a dissertation committee, students are required to pass a written qualifying examination administered during four successive days. Information regarding the examination is available from the PhD committee. With approval of the committee, students may be reexamined on any failed portions of the examination when it is next regularly scheduled, or within the year following the quarter in which it was first taken.

After the written examination is passed, a doctoral committee is formed to administer the University Oral Qualifying Examination. Students are advanced to candidacy only on successful completion of this examination.

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