Program Mission & Description

Grounded in both new theoretical approaches and traditional research methods, the MA provides students with rigorous scholarly foundations in history, critical theory, literature, and pedagogy. Attentive faculty mentors help students choose the MA track that is most helpful for their future plans: the MA thesis track culminates in a written thesis based on rigorous long-term research; the comprehensive exams track takes a broader approach with additional coursework and the ability to shape exams around areas of interest that become expertise. Our focus on diverse practices, interdisciplinary research, and collaborative experiences prepares our students for professional lives beyond the degree.

MA students in Theatre and Performance Research enjoy the resources of a top-tier research institution, the close mentorship of an array of faculty in a small degree program, and the student and faculty-produced world-class performances of the Florida State University School of Theatre. Our internationally recognized faculty pursue a broad array of creative and research projects: Jerzy Grotowski and the Workcenter; performances of history and cultural memory in the United States; the Global South; Middle East North Africa performance; histories of regional theatre and the Federal Theatre Project; economic policy and the arts; trauma, politics, and sexual violence and their intersections with performance; musical theatre and opera; queer theatre; and graduate theatre education. Our critical approaches encompass performance & cultural studies, intercultural performance theory, postcolonial theories, ethnography, digital humanities, interdisciplinary art-science and socially engaged performance, museum studies, sexuality studies, phenomenology, and violence & trauma studies.