Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2014-15 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu/.

Overview

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) teaches performance as a mode of critical inquiry, creative expression, and public engagement. Through performance training and research, we create liberal arts graduates with expanded analytical, technical, and imaginative capacities. As a public institution, we make diversity and inclusion a key part of our teaching, art making, and public programming.

Located within the College of Letters and Science at one of the world’s great universities, the faculty, staff, and students in TDPS—and in the allied PhD in Performance Studies—pursue a wide spectrum of research and production activities. We see performance as an interdisciplinary form, exploring verbal, visual, spatial, and embodied registers of experience. We see performance as a transnational cultural form, exploring the politics and poetics of social life in all parts of the world. We see performance as a public forum for contemporary ideas, allowing us to test and debate the central concerns of our time in a space that is at once critical, emotional, and collective. The faculty is nationally and internationally known both for its scholarly research and for its artistic work in design, directing, choreography, acting, and experimental performance. Our curriculum ranges from the classics to the contemporary; it cuts across theatrical, dance, and visual art forms; it spans all corners of the globe, using the site of performance to deepen UC Berkeley’s critical education in the humanities. Indeed, at a time when scholars and educators call for more cross-disciplinary intellectual collaboration and project-based learning in higher education, we take pride in our daily commitment to collaboration and to the kind of rigorously critical, team-based projects we develop with our students, staff, and faculty both in the classroom and in our production season.

Undergraduate majors and minors are well-prepared for the future, both as artists and as engaged citizens of the world. The flexibility and integration of our major programs in Theater and Performance Studies and in Dance and Performance Studies makes our majors excellent candidates for a variety of professions in the social, corporate, legal, and arts sectors, as well for admission to graduate programs in the arts and in professional schools. We are proud of the ways our graduates have used their critical and expressive skills toward successful careers as professional artists in dance, theatre, and experimental performance as well as in law, advertising, human resources, publishing, radio, technology, social work, and in all aspects of profit and nonprofit administration. Through the course of their studies, students pursue intensive work in acting, design, directing, technical production, dance technique, and choreography. At the same time, they take critical and cultural studies courses that set the literary, historical, political, theoretical, and aesthetic concerns of performance in dialogue with other disciplines in the arts, humanities, and the social sciences.

All professors teach at all levels, and students have an ample opportunity to study with important scholars and practitioners in theater, dance, and performance studies. The department offers both a Mainstage and a Workshop season of performances of classic, modern, and original works along with the annual concert of the Berkeley Dance Project. Auditions are open to all students, staff, and faculty on campus, and students receive course credit for successfully completing a production. Most entry-level performance courses (acting, directing, dance technique, playwriting, choreography, design) are open to all Berkeley students. Advanced students can also receive course credit for internships and apprenticeships and can propose Honors Projects (in both critical writing and performance) for their final year. The faculty, staff, and students welcome you to our diverse and energetic department. In the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies, you will find small class sizes, inspiring faculty, engaged staff, talented colleague students, and multiple opportunities to purse your artistic and intellectual creative in ways that are both challenging and fulfilling. We are very much looking forward to working with you.

Undergraduate Programs

Dance and Performance Studies : BA
Theater and Performance Studies : BA

Graduate Program

The department does not offer graduate degrees; however, the following graduate degree is administered by a graduate group affiliated with the department:
Performance Studies : PhD

Visit Department Website

Courses

Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

THEATER R1A Performance: Writing and Research 4 Units

Reading and composition in connection with the study of dramatic literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half.

THEATER R1B Performance: Writing and Research 4 Units

Reading and composition in connection with the study of dramatic literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half.

THEATER 5 Public Speaking and Presentation Skills 4 Units

Students will learn to present themselves and material clearly, confidently, and persuasively, using age-old arts of oral communication. They will learn techniques for overcoming stage fright, developing clear enunciation, finding and using their natural, unaffected vocal register, varying tone and intonation to hold audience interest, controlling pacing, moving with assurance and purpose, using appropriate gestures, and eye contact as well as exploring methods to change behaviors that bar effective communication and structure speeches to maximize persuasiveness.

THEATER 10 Introduction to Acting 3 Units

This is a theory and performance course that provides an overview of the actor's creative process. Basic acting techniques are presented in conjunction with exercises, improvisation, and text work, designed to enhance concentration, imagination, vocal resonance, clarity of speech, self confidence, and communication skills.

THEATER N10 Introduction to Acting 3 Units

Instruction of elementary acting.

THEATER 11 Scene Study and Characterization 3 Units

In this course the emphasis of the students' studies shifts from the development of basic skills to the development of skills necessary to the character actor. Students develop characterizations which lie outside their personal experience by performing characters who are not close to themselves in age or background. Students continue to employ the basic acting and vocal techniques introduced in 10.

THEATER N11 Scene Study and Character Development 3 Units

Instruction in study of scenes and character development in dramatic productions.

THEATER N12 Speech and Vocal Communication Skills 3 Units

The study of the principles of speech and voice production. The course will focus on the interpretation and communication of both dramatic and non-dramatic material.

THEATER 15 Improvisation for Performance 3 Units

This course will introduce students to the basic skills involved in creating characters, scenes, and stories for performance using only their bodies, voices, and imaginations. Attention will be paid to the challenges of creating and maintaining ensemble pieces as well as solo performances. Bridging the gap between these two modes of improvisation will be an overall focus on bringing students to a liberating yet critical appropriation of their own creativity. The course aims not only to prepare students for strictly improvisational theatre but also to free up a creative approach to the challenges of "conventional" theatre and performance.

THEATER 20U London: Theater Capital 3 Units

Course provides a critical introduction to both London and its theatre for first year undergraduate students. The course, which is part of a university study abroad program, examines the production of current theatre and performance in the city with an emphasis on staged performance backed up by selected critical and creative texts. Alongside these artistic acts students will be introduced to ways in which the city of London itself is a landscape of continuous performances, ceremonies and events with institutions such as the Royal Courts of Justice, the Lord Mayor’s Show, and the Houses of Parliament, all worthy of close attention for the way they operate through means of performance.

THEATER 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit

The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester.

THEATER 25AC The Drama of American Cultures: An Introduction to Our Theater 4 Units

This course provides an introduction to theater through the study of values and issues fundamental to cultural identity, the comparison of selected cultural groups and their relationship to American society as a whole, and the study of drama as an instrument for understanding and expressing cultural identity. Theater of specific cultural groups to be included will be determined by the availability of live theater productions offered on campus and in the Bay Area.

THEATER 26 Introduction to Performance Studies 4 Units

This course introduces the critical terms and practices of the contemporary study of performance. Several key terms and important genres of artistic and social performance will be engaged; the course will draw critical and disciplinary methods from anthropology and ethnography, from the theory of dance and theater, from literary and cultural theory. Critical and theoretical concepts will be used to analyze a wide range of live and recorded performances, as well as performance texts.

THEATER 39 Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 1.5 - 2 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

THEATER 40 Introduction to Modern Dance Technique 2 Units

Introduction to modern dance from a Western concert dance perspective. Study of foundational concepts of movement such as: principles of alignment, locomotion, dance terminology, and musicality.

THEATER 52AC Dance in American Cultures 4 Units

Dance as a meaning-making expressive form. Develop the tools necessary for looking at dance, analyzing it, writing about it, and understanding its place in larger social, cultural, political structures. We will look at a variety of U.S. American dance genres, understanding them through their historical and cultural contexts, to explore how issues of race, gender, sexuality and class affect the practice and the reception of different dance forms, and how dance might help shape representations of these identities. Ethnic groups that the course studies include African, Asian, and European Americans, indigenous peoples of the U.S., and Chicanos/Latinos. Accessible to students with no dance experience. Not a studio-based class.

THEATER 60 Introduction to Technical Theater and Production 3 - 4 Units

A practical introduction to the terminology, theories, approaches, and techniques of technical theater and production. The course will cover theatrical terminology, stage equipment and architecture, production personnel and processes, and design departments, including scenery, properties, costumes, lighting, sound, and video. The course has a laboratory component. Based on student preference and availability, assignments for work on departmental productions will be made to one of two types of lab: department shops on a regular weekly schedule throughout the semester, or as run crew for a production fulfilling all required hours during a three week period including evening and weekend calls.

THEATER 84 Sophomore Seminar 1 or 2 Units

Sophomore seminars are small interactive courses offered by faculty members in departments all across the campus. Sophomore seminars offer opportunity for close, regular intellectual contact between faculty members and students in the crucial second year. The topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 sophomores.

THEATER 98 Directed Group Study 0.5 - 5 Units

Group study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum. Topics may be initiated by students.

THEATER 99 Independent Study 1 - 5 Units

Study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum.

THEATER 100 Collaborative Innovation 4 Units

This is a project-based class in collaborative innovation where students experience group creativity and team-based design by using techniques from across the disciplines of business, theatre, design, and art practice. They will leverage problem framing and solving techniques derived from critical thinking, systems thinking, and creative problem solving (popularly known today as design thinking). The course is grounded in a brief weekly lecture that sets out the theoretical, historical, and cultural contexts for particular innovation practices, but the majority of the class involves hands-on studio-based learning guided by an interdisciplinary team of teachers leading small group collaborative projects.


THEATER C107 Plays of Ibsen 4 Units

Reading and discussion of Ibsen's major plays. Readings and discussion in English.

THEATER C108 Strindberg 4 Units

Reading and discussion of Strindberg's major works; emphasis on his dramas and their significance. Readings and discussion in English.

THEATER 109 Scene Study and Characterization 3 Units

In this course the emphasis of the students' studies shifts from the development of basic skills to the development of skills necessary to the character actor. Students develop characterizations which lie outside their personal experience by performing characters who are not close to themselves in age or background. Students continue to employ the basic acting and vocal techniques introduced in THEATER 10.

THEATER 110A Intermediate Acting 3 Units

THEATER 110B Intermediate Acting 3 Units

THEATER 111 Advanced Acting 3 Units

THEATER 112 Speech and Vocal Communication Skills 3 Units

The objective of this course is to foster the finest sound of spoken English through work on basic vocal relaxation techniques, breath, resonance, articulation, and projection practice. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA-narrow transcription) is used for purity and clarity of speech sounds. Also work on pitch, rate, quality, and inflection through a variety of material.

THEATER 113A International Performance and Literature: Irish Theater: Origins and the Contemporary Scene 6 Units

This course will explore what is involved in the performer's art through class participation, writing, discussion, and final exam. It includes lectures on classical and contemporary theater, acting training, literature study, and attendance at many professional theater performances. Enrollment is open to all applicants without audition, and the performance aspects of the class will be responsive to the skill level of the students who enroll.

THEATER 114 Performance Workshop 3 Units

Workshop involving advanced actors, dancers, and spoken-word performers in collaborative development of new performance; topics include cross-disciplinary arts, solo performance, language, and movement.

THEATER 115 Advanced Acting: Company Class 3 Units

Intensive group study, rehearsal, and performance of a play or selected dramatic pieces.

THEATER 118AC Performance, Television, and Social Media 4 Units

This course examines the intersections of performance and media--specifically the media forms of television and social media in the U.S.--with a focus on how various types of difference (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic class) are enacted, articulated, represented, and played on TV and social media platforms.

THEATER 119 Performance Theory 4 Units

An examination of a theoretical topic or perspective on performance, with specific attention to the interface between theoretical endeavor and dramatic, nondramatic, and nontheatrical modes of performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester.

THEATER 121 Performance and Culture 4 Units

An examination of performance as an aspect of cultural production, ranging from everyday-life enactment to more formal or aesthetic activities associated with "artistic" production; may involve visiting artists. Specific attention to the methods of ethnography, cultural studies, and intercultural performance analysis. Topics vary from semester to semester.

THEATER 122 African Theater and Performance 4 Units

African performance includes a wide range of vibrant forms: from scripted drama, theatre, dance, and music to oral traditions, storytelling, masquerading, and ritual. Using source materials that are neither "traditional" nor "modern," "African" nor "European," but a complex amalgamation of influences, African performances defy these limited but nevertheless tenacious dichotomies. In the performing arts, one sees the resilience and tenacity of African cultural forms as respositories of memory, sites of intercultural negotiation, and potent forums for political resistance.

THEATER 125 Performance and History 4 Units

An examination of the historical conditions of performance, either given in a historical period or comparatively, with specific attention to the relationship between methods of historical studies and performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester.

THEATER 126 Performance Literatures 4 Units

An examination of the formal, ideological, and cultural dynamics of drama, with specific attention to the relationship between methods of literary studies and performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester.

THEATER C131B Contemporary African American Drama 4 Units

Survey of contemporary plays by African American writers and the portrayal of the black experience in American theatre. Emphasis on predominant themes, structural tendencies, socio-historical context.

THEATER 139A Fundamentals of Playwriting 3 Units

A practical course for beginning playwrights. Through lecture, exercises, in class readings and group discussion, the class will explore the practical craft elements of playwriting along with the function of personal voice in one’s work. Students will write one short and one longer form play during the semester.

THEATER 139B Playwriting 3 Units

This course will focus on the writing of a full-length theatrical work. A more critical analysis of the playwriting process with particular emphasis on how a playwright’s aesthetic and intellectual point of view inform the work. Instructor approval is a requirement for the course.

THEATER 140 Pedagogy for Movement Based Classes - Undergraduate Level 3 Units

Introduces students to foundational principles necessary to teach practice-based courses that involve movement, dance, and/or physical activity and expression. Designed for undergraduate students interested in pursuing teaching. Students should be prepared to engage in practical exercises as well as the study pedagogical theories and methods.

THEATER 141 Intermediate Modern Dance Technique 2 Units

Development of body articulation and control utilizing modern dance concepts of time, space, and dynamics.

THEATER N141 Intermediate Modern Dance 3 Units

Modern dance technique. The class will concentrate on physical coordination, rhythmic and spatial exploration.

THEATER 142 Advanced Modern Dance Technique 2 Units

Refinement of movement techniques as well as qualitative analysis and demonstration of movement with regard to rhythm, dynamics, and style.

THEATER N142 Advanced Modern Dance Technique 3 Units

Refinement of movement techniques and qualitative analysis of movement with regard to rhythm, dynamics, and style.

THEATER 143 Practicum for Advanced Modern Dancers 2 Units

Practical application of previously studied theory and techniques of modern dance with an emphasis on development of individual movement style.

THEATER 144 Sources of Movement 3 Units

Beginning application of dance technique as a means of communication in the theatre. Use of basic technical fundamentals as a means of extending natural movement in rhythm, energy, and space with emphasis on style and qualitative analysis.

THEATER 145 Music Resources for Performance 3 Units

This course is an introduction to the sonic poetry of gesture. Studying historical Eurocentric precedents and current trends in theatrical/dance music, we will examine the work of composers for early royal theater like Rameau; move to the program of music of composers like Tchaikovsky; look at pre-electronic composers like Varese, Berio, and Stockhausen; shift into the avant-garde with Cage; and study contemporary composers like Anderson. Discussions will be based on lectures and readings. An important aspect of this course is the practical experience and analysis of sonic experimentation in performance.

THEATER 146A Choreography: Solo and Duet Forms 1 - 3 Units

Analysis of theories of form and structure and their practical application in relation to content.

THEATER 146B Choreography: Group Forms 1 - 3 Units

Analysis of theories of form and structure and their practical application in relation to content.

THEATER 147A Beginning Ballet Technique 2 Units

This course is designed for contemporary/modern dancers interested in learning ballet vocabulary, technique, and alignment principles in order to support their contemporary/modern training. The course is intended to be taken in conjunction with one of the modern/contemporary dance technique courses offered by TDPS (40, 141, or 142). Beginning level. Audition first day of class.

THEATER 147B Intermediate Ballet Technique 2 Units

This course is designed for contemporary/modern dancers interested in expanding their ballet vocabulary, improving ballet technique, and learning new approaches to taking ballet class. The course is intended to be taken in conjunction with one of the modern/contemporary dance technique courses offered by TDPS (40, 141, or 142) and requires that students have intermediate (or above) proficiency with ballet technique. Audition first day of class.

THEATER 151A Theater History 3 Units

A chronological survey of world theater to 1800, this course begins with an investigation of "performance behavior"--the human impulse to organize complex games, rituals, and other display activities. It explores the mythological and historical origins of theater in various cultures as well as the derivation of the first dramatic scripts. A heavy emphasis is placed on the analysis of the "promptbooks" and visual sources of early European and Asian theaters for a practical understanding of their scenic and acting styles.

THEATER 151B Theater History 3 Units

A chronological survey of Western theater from 1800 to the present, this course begins with the dismantling of Neoclassical thought in the European theater and the rise of avant-garde and popular forms. Rapidly changing social conditions, cultural tastes, and technological advances in the 19th and 20th centuries are studied in tandem with the development of theatrical productions and movements, playmaking, and acting styles.

THEATER 153B Changing Forms in 20th-Century Dance 3 Units

A chronological study of a large selection of works by 20th-century ballet, modern, and postmodern choreographers. We emphasize how dance reflects and affects political climate, social values, religious beliefs, and cultural constructions of gender by examining a variety of dance themes, movement vocabularies, and styles.

THEATER 162 Fundamentals of Stage Directing 3 Units

Beginning study of principles of stage composition, blocking, and analysis of dramatic texts for the director.

THEATER 163 Stage Directing 3 Units

Study of principles and practice of stage directing.

THEATER 166 Special Topics: Theater Arts 1 - 4 Units

Topics vary from semester to semester and have included The Power of Music and Poetry in the Theater; Modern Drama and Theater, 1940 to the Present; Theaters, Tricksters, and Cultural Exchange; Art as Social Action; and The Invisible World (Process Seminar).

THEATER 167 Technical Theater: Performance Practice 1 - 3 Units

Participation in technical theater practice associated with department theater and dance productions to include technical run crew for live performance in one of: lighting, sound, video, properties, costumes, make-up, scenery, deck, and rail.

THEATER 168 Technical Theater: Shop Practice 1 - 3 Units

Participation in technical theater practice associated with department theater and dance productions to include workshop activities (fabrication, treatment, and installation) in one or more of: costumes, hair, make-up, scenery, properties, lighting, video, and sound for live performance.

THEATER 169 Advanced Technical Theater Practice 1 - 3 Units

Participation in advanced technical theater practice associated with department theater and dance productions to include lead, head, or coordinator position with technical run crew for live performance in one of: lighting, sound, video, properties, costumes, make-up, scenery, deck, rail, or advanced application of workshop activities (fabrication, treatment, and installation) in one or more of: costumes, hair, make-up, scenery, properties, lighting, video, and sound for live performance. Intended for a student who has completed introductory level application of theater practice and is training in advanced techniques and applications and/or assuming additional responsibilities in relation to production.

THEATER 170 Theatre Laboratory 1 - 3 Units

Non-performing participation in the University Theatre to include: Stage managements; crew assistance in lighting, sound, properties, costumes, make-up, backstage; technical assistance in scene or costume shop.

THEATER 171 Theatre Performance 1 - 3 Units

Practice in acting and/or dance in Dramatic Art productions.

THEATER 172 Advanced Production Study 2 - 6 Units

Study of production techniques and procedures related to production management, stage management, and theater administration.

THEATER 173A Scenography: Scenic Design for the Theatre 3 Units

THEATER 173B Scenography: Scenic Design for the Theatre 3 Units

THEATER 174A Scenography: Costume Design for the Theatre 3 Units

THEATER 174B Scenography: Costume Design for the Theatre 3 Units

THEATER 175A Scenography: Lighting Design for the Theatre 4 Units

An introduction to theatrical lighting, including practical application through Dramatic Art productions.

THEATER 175B Scenography: Lighting Design for the Theatre 4 Units

An introduction to theatrical lighting, including practical application through Dramatic Art productions.

THEATER 176 Applied Theatrical Design 1 - 4 Units

Students of set, costume, and lighting design are provided experience, structure, and support in the practical application of design to the stage in departmental productions. Interaction and team approach of the designers will be promoted from the earliest stages of conceptualization through the opening night and the run of the production(s).

THEATER 177 Sound Design and Media Theater 4 Units

In this course, undergraduate students will learn to construct sound cues and soundtracks for theater performances and videos using industry standard software, and will learn fundamental principles of incorporating video and sound into stage productions. Students will be exposed to the writings and works of prominent sound theorists, designers, and engineers and multimedia performance artists. The most successful students may be invited to participate in UC Berkeley theater productions as sound designers.

THEATER 178 Video Production for Performance 3 Units

Video Production for Performance is a workshop class in which students will explore a broad range of video applications to performance. Through a series of exercise video shoots students learn the fundamentals of video production, including basic optics, camera angles and movement, sound recording, and editing. With an additional emphasis on concept and planning, students prepare for and execute a sustained video project—a detailed documentation of a staged performance, the development of a video component for a production, a documentary study of aspects of performance, or the generation of a freestanding video program. There is a lab fee of $60 for use of equipment and editing lab.

THEATER 179 Supervised Theatrical Design 1 - 4 Units

Students are trained in the working methods of set or costume design; supervised preparation and implementation of designs in the department's production season, from initial discussions through opening night.

THEATER 180 Theatrical Realization of Dance 1 - 3 Units

This course relates choreography to theatrical presentation. Laboratory hours are spent in attendance at rehearsal, coaching sessions, and the performance of the dance concert. The course is taught by faculty choreographing the major dance production in the departmental season.

THEATER 181 Theatrical Realization of Dramatic Texts 1 - 4 Units

This course relates dramatic texts or choreography to theatrical presentation. The lectures are based on the analysis of the work being presented. Laboratory hours are spent in attendance at rehearsal, coaching sessions, and the performance of the play or concert. The course will be taught by faculty involved in the major productions.

THEATER 182 Summer Theatre Laboratory and Performance 1 - 3 Units

Supervised instruction and labs to be arranged, variable 1-3 units. Supervised participation in summer stock season in one or more of the following capacities: acting, dancing, design, directing, choreography, stage management, backstage/scene shop and costume shop work, crew assistance in lighting, sound, properties, costumes, or make-up. Students should enroll in course in accordance with Summer Session deadlines, all casting and technical assignments will be arranged on the first day of class. Students interested in acting should contact the department for audition information.

THEATER C183A Performance: An African American Perspective 3 Units

Introduction to the Research-to Performance Method, African American aesthetics and dramatic performance techniques. Course will survey wide range of writings on performance and investigate applications through exercises and improvisations. Students will also assist in information gathering for works in progress.

THEATER C183B Research-to-Performance Laboratory 3 Units

Development of scholarly material for theatrical presentation and enhancement of dramatic performance techniques through discussions, improvisations and readings of work conceived by the class and/or writers in other African American Studies courses. All source material will be based on the research of scholars in the field of African American Studies.

THEATER C183C Black Theatre Workshop 3 Units

Study and production of a play by an African American writer. The play will be studied within its social and historical context. Students will be introduced to the various aspects of theatre production.

THEATER H195A Honors Course 1 - 4 Units

Independent study and conferences with faculty sponsor leading to preparation of a major research paper on a single aspect of theater, dance, or performance studies. May include a performance component.

THEATER H195B Honors Course 1 - 4 Units

Development of subject studied in H195A, either as a bachelor's thesis or a laboratory project in acting, directing, playwriting, design, or dance.

THEATER 196 University Theatre Workshop 4 Units

Individual directorial projects for advanced undergraduates. Research, tryout, callbacks, and rehearsals which result in performing for the public will average 20 hours per week.

THEATER 197 Field Studies in Technical Theatre 1 - 4 Units

Supervised experience, in connection with theatrical production in field of: scenic construction; costume construction and conservation; theatrical lighting; stage management; publicity; theatre management; production management.

THEATER 198 Directed Group Study for Undergraduates 0.5 - 5 Units

Supervised group study of special topics, subject to approval by the chair.

THEATER 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 3 Units

Reading and conference with an instructor in an area not corresponding with any regular course.

THEATER 200A Introductory Colloquium on Interdisciplinary Research in Performance 2 Units

This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the research resources of the University, to the methodologies and research interests of the faculty affiliated with the Ph.D. program, to the demands of a professional academic career, and to trends and developments in theater, dance, and performance studies.

THEATER 200B Research Colloquium 2 Units

This course is designed to provide an opportunity for graduate students to work with one another to advance their individual research projects and present their ongoing work.

THEATER 201 Performance Theory 4 Units

This core seminar for graduate students focuses on key issues in the theory of performance, with an emphasis on contemporary theoretical inquiry. Topics can include issues of representation and identity, presence, community, social efficacy, space, corporeality, audience, and transnational flows.

THEATER 202 Methodologies in Performance Studies 4 Units

The study of different approaches and contemporary methodologies for analyzing performances of various kinds within their cultural and historical context. Specific methodologies can include archival research, field methods, etc. The specific focus in any one course is contingent upon the focus of the instructor.

THEATER 203 Performance Practicum: Lab Run 2 - 4 Units

This course is constructed around the making of performance, culminating in Lab Run, an event created, directed, and/or performed by graduate students. Lab Run will receive public performances near the end of the semester. The course is also conceived as a forum for exploring the relationship between live performance and the critical discourses of performance studies.

THEATER 266 Special Topics: Theater Arts 1 - 4 Units

Topics vary from semester to semester and have included The Power of Music and Poetry in the Theater; Modern Drama and Theater, 1940 to the Present; Theaters, Tricksters, and Cultural Exchange; Art as Social Action; and The Invisible World (Process Seminar).

THEATER 277 Special Studies in Directing 1 - 4 Units

Advanced practice in play direction.

THEATER 294 Directed Research 1 - 12 Units

Meetings to be arranged, either individually or as a group to explore fields not covered in courses listed elsewhere in Dramatic Art's offerings. May be taken by students engaged in writing dissertations.

THEATER 299 Special Study 1 - 4 Units

May be taken when preparing prospectus, graduate portfolio, and/or oral presentation before qualifying oral examination. May not be substituted for available seminars.

THEATER 300 Professional Preparation: Supervised Teaching in Dramatic Art 2 - 4 Units

Discussion, problem review and development, course development, supervised practice of teaching.

THEATER 340 Pedagogy for Movement Based Classes - Graduate Level 4 Units

This course studies pedagogical theories and methods. It is designed to prepare graduate students to teach practice-based dance and movement courses. In class teaching exercises will be supported by readings, research projects and assignments on the subject of pedagogy. Development of professional teaching documents such as a teaching philosophy, a sample course syllabus, sample lesson plans, and self-evaluation statements are required.

THEATER 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 1 - 12 Units

Individual study in consultation with the major field adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D.

Faculty

Professors

Catherine M. Cole, Professor. Ethnography, higher education, performance studies, disability studies, African studies, transitional justice, Ghana and South Africa.
Research Profile

Joe A Goode, Professor.

Mel Gordon, Professor.

Philip Kan Gotanda, JD, Professor.

Shannon Jackson, Professor. Rhetoric, performance studies, American studies, 20th century art movements and critical theory, local culture and intercultural citizenship in turn-of-the-century United States, history and theory of theatre and performance art.
Research Profile

Associate Professors

Brandi Wilkins Catanese, Associate Professor. Critical race theory, African American theater, non-traditional casting, racial performativity, gender studies, sexuality studies, American popular culture.
Research Profile

Peter R Glazer, Associate Professor. Theater, commemorative practices, 20th century American theater and culture, political performance, directing and directing theory.
Research Profile

Sansan Kwan, PhD, Associate Professor.

Shannon Steen, Associate Professor.

Lisa Wymore, MFA, Associate Professor.

Assistant Professors

Abigail T. De Kosnik, Assistant Professor.

Angela Marino, Assistant Professor.

Lecturers

Lura Dolas, Lecturer.

Christopher Terrence Herold, PhD, Lecturer.

Jenefer Johnson, Lecturer.

Ms. Carol Ann Smart, Ba, Lecturer.

Contact Information

Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

D-33 Hearst Field Annex

Phone: 510-664-9012

Fax: 510-643-9956

tdps@berkeley.edu

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Catherine Cole, PhD

128 Dwinelle Hall

colecat@berkeley.edu

Department Vice-Chair

Brandi Wilkins Catanese, PhD

692 Barrows Hall

catanese@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer

Michael Mansfield, MFA, DMin

D-33 Hearst Field Annex

Phone: 510-643-4050

mikemans@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser

Robin Davidson

D-33 Hearst Field Annex

Phone: 510-643-4050

robin@berkeley.edu

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