We presently offer three graduate degrees, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance and an M.F.A. in Dance, with an emphasis on choreography. Although each of these degree programs is organized around a set of required courses, the department as a whole emphasizes possibilities for interdisciplinary 'cross-over' between scholarship and creative practice.
Areas of Study
M.A. and Ph.D. in Culture and Performance
The M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Culture and Performance emphasize
interdisciplinary and intercultural research on performance and creativity,
including the study of dance and gesture; folklore and oral tradition;
visual culture and theories of representation; ritual and healing; material
culture and museum studies; vernacular architecture; post-colonial theory;
queer theory, popular culture; and ethnographic video. The geo-cultural
expertise of our faculty includes sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe, and
the Americas (including the study of Native American, Latin American,
African American, and Asian American arts and cultures).
Master of Fine Arts in Dance
The M.F.A. in Dance provides choreographers with a sound technical
and compositional basis for creative work in contemporary dance. This
foundation is complemented by rich opportunities for exploring cultural
and political issues situated at the forefront of contemporary work in
choreography and the performing arts.
Unique interests in areas such as ethnology, education, history, philosophy and criticism, dance kinesiology, dance production, dance and media, computer-aided dance studies, music for dance, and dance notation may be pursued upon advisement.
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