WORLD ARTS AND CULTURES—the name itself expresses a commitment to cross-cultural understanding through the arts. Within the scope of this single department, students can choose between two foci: World Arts and Cultures or Dance. The department in total is designed for self-motivated students who want to study the arts in global and local contexts. An internationally renowned faculty provides fresh approaches to scholarship and arts practice. Our project is interdisciplinary. Inclusivity is our goal. Students are encouraged to take advantage of resources across campus and in greater Los Angeles, even as they learn from each other.

The undergraduate program offers concentrations in dance and in world arts and cultures. The graduate program offers Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees in Culture and Performance and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance. One set of degrees encompasses research on communities, cultures, and transnational movements including arts traditions and innovations, arts activism, and interdisciplinary art-making. Another set of degrees provides dance education with a difference, offering opportunities to engage multiple dance practices, intercultural dance studies, civic engagement, and choreographic research. While operating with considerable independence, these degree streams are unified by a common concern for cultural identity and difference, the meanings of “tradition” in contemporary societies, the forging of connections between critical theory and artistic practice, and the changing social roles and responsibilities of artists and scholars of the arts, in the United States and worldwide.

Potential careers for World Arts and Cultures graduates include work with community non-profits and activist groups, government arts agencies, museums, and teaching/educational institutions. Many students pursue dance, as choreographers or dancers, while others work in performance art, videography, and theatrical production. Urban planning, law, environmental activism, public health, and medicine are among the many fields in which WAC graduates have excelled.

(Work-in-Progress, 9/27/07)

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