Performance Studies (Graduate Group) Graduate Studies

Joseph Dumit, Chair
Finn Brunton, Interim Graduate Advisor
Marian Bilheimer, Graduate Coordinator

Arts Group Graduate Office

216B Art Building; 530-754-6973; Marian Bilheimer; Performance Studies Graduate Group; Faculty

There are over 45 affiliated faculty in departments throughout HArCS and other faculty, all of whom offer courses relevant to the discipline.

Performance Studies (Graduate Group) (PFS)

PFS 200 — Methods & Materials in Theatre Research (4 units)

Course Description: Essential research tools in theatre and related fields; bibliographies, primary sources; methods of evaluating and presenting evidence; delineating research areas in the field.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 259 — Topics in Contemporary Theatre & Performance (4 units)

Course Description: Special topics designed to study in depth aspects of contemporary performance including performance analysis, cultural and historical context, modes of production, theoretical and political entailments, and issues of spectatorship; e.g., "Brecht and After," "British Theater," "Race and Gender in Performance."

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 5 time(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 265A — Performance Studies: Modes of Production (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the literature of performance production in a variety of media: theatre, dance, film, video, computer-based, looking at cultural, aesthetic, rhetorical and political theory.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 265B — Performance Studies: Signification & the Body (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to analysis of the body in performance, drawing on theoretical models from several fields.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 265C — Performance Studies: Performance & Society (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the role of performance (broadly defined), in everyday life, sociopolitical negotiation, identity, social movements, the media, and the state.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 265D —  Performance Studies: Theory, History, Criticism (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the theory, history and criticism, informing performance studies.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 270A — Individually Guided Research in Performance Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Individually guided research, under the supervision of a faculty member, on a Performance Studies topic related to the student's proposed dissertation project to produce a dissertation prospectus.

Prerequisite(s): PFS 200; (PFS 265A or PFS 265B or PFS 265C or PFS 265D); and consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion 1 hour(s), Independent Study, Extensive Writing.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to students in the Graduate Group Ph.D. in Performance Studies.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 270B — Individually Guided Research in Performance Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Individually guided research, under the supervision of a faculty member, on a Performance Studies topic related to the student's proposed dissertation project, to produce a dissertation prospectus.

Prerequisite(s): PFS 200; (PFS 265A or PFS 265B or PFS 265C or PFS 265D); and consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion 1 hour(s), Independent Study, Extensive Writing.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to students in the Graduate Group Ph.D. in Performance Studies.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 270C — Individually Guided Research in Performance Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Individually guided research, under the supervision of a faculty member, on a Performance Studies topic related to the student's proposed dissertation project to produce a dissertation prospectus.

Prerequisite(s): PFS 200; (PFS 265A or PFS 265B or PFS 265C or PFS 265D); and consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion/Laboratory 2 hour(s), Fieldwork 2 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to students in the Graduate Group Ph.D. in Performance Studies.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 280 — Practice as Research Laboratory (1-6 units)

Course Description: Individual, collective or collaborative practice as research. Discussion and exploration of examples, portfolio development and documentation strategies.

Prerequisite(s): Completion or concurrent enrollment of PFS 200 recommended; consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion/Laboratory 1-6 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 36 units with consent of instructor.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 290 — Colloquia in Performance Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Designed to provide cohort identity and faculty exchange. Opportunity to present papers, hear guest lecturers, and see faculty presentations, gather for organizational and administrative new, exchange of information and make announcements. Must be taken every year that a Performance Studies graduate is registered, prior to taking the Qualifying Examination.

Prerequisite(s): Registration in Performance Studies Graduate Group and prior to Qualifying Examination.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 2 hour(s), Discussion/Laboratory 1 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Credit Limitation(s): Limited to 4 units per year.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 4 time(s).
  • Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

PFS 298 — Group Study (1-5 units)

Course Description: Group study.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Independent Study 1-5 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

PFS 299 — Individual Study (1-12 units)

Course Description: Individual study.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

PFS 299D — Dissertation Research (1-12 units)

Course Description: Dissertation research.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; advancement to Candidacy.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

PFS 459 — Approaches to Theatre & Dance (4 units)

Course Description: Work on approaches to theatre, dance, film/video, design and performance, with a focus on methodology and professional development.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; advanced graduate students.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper, Project.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 5 time(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.