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Curriculum

The GCWPS requires 9 credit hours of coursework over the span of twelve months. Of these, 6 credits will be earned in two required courses: TheatreMus 647.001 “Introduction to Performance Studies” in the winter semester (3 credits), and RACKHAM 570.005 “Proseminar and Presentation of Capstone Project” in the fall semester (3 credits). The remaining 3 credits will be a course taken by students in their home unit and double-counted, in consultation with a unit chair or advisor, towards the certificate program within Rackham guidelines. Graduate Fellows are awarded a $3500 stipend for a summer research project, internship or practicum, to take place in the summer.

Winter Semester
1st required course (3 credits): Introduction to Performance Studies (TheatreMus 647.001)

Meets 6 – 9 pm on Tuesdays

Based on interdisciplinary and intercultural approaches, this gateway seminar will examine issues pertaining to the definitions of performance as an artistic and scholarly field of inquiry, critically examine the ranges and sites of performance as well as its various manifestations (aesthetic, historical, socio-cultural, political, etc.), and the experiences of cultural practices associated with performance. Additionally, this class will analyze issues of cultural identity and the display of subjectivity through performance and probe its research presuppositions, methodologies, and forms of scholarly representations.

Mbala Nkanga teaches the “Introduction to Performance Studies” course.

Summer Internship/Research/Practicum
In the summer, students will be required to do an internship, research, or a practicum lasting four to six weeks. The summer research can be designed as preliminary research for a dissertation project or a final performance project in the student’s home department. Participating students will be required to write a proposal describing the rationale of the project, its location, and a budget. CWPS will provide $3,500 for the summer component to be used anytime between May and August. Funds cannot be postponed and the student must show evidence that they will return to the program in the fall for completion. The director of CWPS will head a selection committee to review all proposals and will consider innovative projects by students on a case-by-case basis.

Fall Semester
2nd required course (3 credits): Proseminar and Presentation of Capstone Project (RACKHAM 570.005)

Meets 6 – 9 pm on Tuesdays

The goal of the Proseminar is for students to report and discuss summer projects and to prepare students for public presentations of capstone papers/performances towards the end of the fall semester. The director of CWPS will be responsible for the Proseminar and one or more steering committee members will assist as needed by leading the discussions and assisting students with public presentations. The capstone project can be based on a chapter from a dissertation that is most closely related to issues in performance studies, or a substantially rewritten paper from one of the courses in the home unit that has a bearing on performance studies, or it can be a performance. Despite the above directives, there will be room for innovative projects beyond this list of choices. CWPS Steering Committee members and visiting scholars/artists will give guest presentations during the fall Proseminar.