Masters Degree in Culture and Performance
Advising
Each entering student will be assigned an academic advisor, from among the ladder faculty of the department, who will take primary responsibility for academic counseling. It is expected that each student will form an advisory committee and apply for advancement to candidacy no later than Fall quarter of the second year. The departmental graduate adviser is fundamentally responsible for counseling students with regards to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.
Foreign Language Requirement
M.A. students must demonstrate reading competence in one foreign language. The purpose of the language requirement is to ensure that M.A. students have the necessary skills to conduct independent research. Any foreign language useful for field study and/or library research is acceptable. The language requirement must be completed before filing the advancement to candidacy petition for the M.A. degree.
The language requirement may be met by:
1) passing a departmental examination, administered by the department's
Graduate Foreign Language Examination Committee
2) demonstrating the equivalent of 5 quarters or 4 semesters of training
in an approved foreign language, completed within the last five years
before admission with a grade of B or higher in the final course
3) placing at level 6 on the Foreign Language Placement Examination
4) approval of a petition to use English as a second language (for international students whose native language is not English).
Course Requirements
All M.A. students must successfully complete a total of ten courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. The ten required courses are distributed as follows:
1) Three core courses, taken during the first year of study: Proseminar in the Study of Culture, Theories of Performance, and Ethnography of Performance.
2) Seven additional courses, chosen in consultation with the student's academic advisor and advisory committee. At least four of these courses must be graduate-level courses taken within the department. No more than two 500-series independent study courses (e.g., WAC 596) may be applied toward the graduate course requirement.
The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.
Areas of Specialization
M.A. students may opt to develop specialized skills and knowledge in the fields of Dance Studies or Folklore Studies by successfully completing a two-course sequence:
Dance Studies: Proseminar in Dance Studies; The Body
Folklore Studies: Folklore Theories and Methods; Seminar in Folklore
Further specialized training in these fields may be accomplished through additional coursework, in World Arts and Cultures or other departments. Note that students specializing in Dance Studies or Folklore Studies at the M.A. level must successfully complete at least five courses in addition to the core and specialization requirements.
Teaching Experience
Encouraged, but not required.
Field Experience
Expected of students whose theses are based on ethnographic research, but not required
Comprehensive Examination Plan
If this plan is selected, the student must take a comprehensive examination consisting of a series of essay questions. This examination is designed to test the student's knowledge of theories and methods in the study of performance and expressive culture, and their ability to apply these ideas and techniques to the study of particular traditions, genres, geo-cultural areas, social groups, or historical periods. The examination is administered and evaluated by the student's advisory committee, which consists of no fewer than three and no more than five members (a majority of whom must be ladder faculty in the department). Students who opt to specialize in Dance Studies or Folklore Studies are expected to demonstrate competence in those fields. If a student fails their comprehensive examination, they will be allowed to retake it once, no later than the following quarter. In general, M.A. students seeking to apply to the Ph.D. program in Culture and Performance will be counseled to select the Comprehensive Examination option as preparation for their doctoral studies.
Thesis Plan
The purpose of the Master's thesis is to demonstrate a student's ability to conduct research in the areas of performance and expressive culture, to interpret the results, to demonstrate the relevance of the work to conceptual and practical issues in selected disciplines, and to present the findings in lucid prose. Students pursuing this plan must submit an acceptable thesis, prepared under the direction of their academic adviser and thesis committee. The thesis committee must be appointed no later than Fall quarter of the student's second year.
While it is expected that a thesis will consist primarily of a written document, prepared in accordance with the Graduate Division's Regulations for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation, students may complement the text with work in other media (including video, CD-ROM, and performance projects), provided that these are explicitly related to the written work. Submission of the thesis and any associated materials to the thesis committee is followed by an oral examination involving members of the committee.
Time-to-Degree
The Master's in Culture and Performance is designed as a two-year degree. Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:
Core course requirements-expected time of completion: end of third quarter
M.A. thesis committee-expected time of nomination: fourth quarter
Advancement to candidacy-expected time of completion: fourth quarter
M.A. language requirement-must be completed before filing the advancement to candidacy petition for the M.A. degree
M.A. comprehensive examination- expected time of completion: sixth quarter
M.A. thesis-expected time of completion: sixth quarter
40 units of coursework-expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter
