Dance and Performance Studies

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2017-18 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

About the Program

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Within the Department of Dance and Performance Studies curriculum, we understand performance to be a mode of critical inquiry and research, a means of a creative expression, and a vehicle for public engagement. We engage with dance on physical, intellectual and aesthetic levels. It is our hope that dancers not only grow as performers, but also as artists, thinkers, makers, viewers, and participants.

The practical focus of the major is on the performance and choreography of contemporary dance and dance theater. Of equal importance is the study of theater and dance theory, history, culture, and literature. Additional curriculum opportunities in sound and visual design, improvisation, technical theater and movement pedagogy complete the major.

The dance training and academic courses offered by our department are intense and geared toward the student who is interested in learning about dance and performance from multiple perspectives. As either a major or minor in Dance and Performance Studies, you will study with faculty known nationally and internationally for their scholarly research and their creative work. Our graduates have gone on to professional careers founding their own dance companies and dancing with artists such as Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, Joe Goode, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Levy Dance, Margaret Jenkins, Liz Roman, Lenora Lee, Janice Garrett, Robert Moses, Todd Eckert, Deep Waters Dance Theater, and countless others. Many students have gone on to graduate study in various fields and are currently teaching in universities across the country. Others have applied their training to diverse professions ranging from health care to education; nonprofit administration to business. 

The opportunities in our department are many and varied. They include a student choreography performance at the end of each semester, an annual spring concert series where students perform in faculty and guest-artist choreographed repertory pieces, Dance/Choreography honors projects and invitations to a myriad of diverse and exciting lectures and performances. Additionally, students have access to world-renowned visiting guest artists through our close relationship with Cal Performances and extensive network in the field.

Declaring the Major

For further information regarding the prerequisites for declaring the major, please see the Major Requirements tab on this page.

Honors Program

Majors in the Department of Dance and Performance Studies with an overall GPA of 3.3 in the University may, with the approval of the department, apply for admission to the honors program. Students should apply through the undergraduate academic adviser no later than the 13th week of the spring semester of their junior year. If you wish to have your honors project culminate in a stage production, apply by February of the spring semester of your junior year. Students accepted into the honors program will take THEATER H195A, an intensive, critical study of problems of dramatic literature, performance studies, acting, playwriting, directing, dance, choreography or design; and THEATER H195B, where they will expand their work into either a stage production or a written thesis.

Minor Program

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) offers a minor in Dance and Performance Studies. For further information regarding the minor requirements, please see the Minor Requirements tab on this page.

Confirm your intention to minor after enrolling in one course in the department. Transfer students can discuss transferability of coursework into the minor, as well as dance level placement, with Michael Mansfield, the undergraduate academic adviser. Since your minor will be from the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, it is likely you will do most of your minor coursework here.

Other Major and Minor Program Offered by TDPS

Theater and Performance Studies (Major and Minor)

Visit Department Website

Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements (listed on the College Requirements tab), students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

  1. All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only. Other exceptions to this requirement are noted as applicable.
  2. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

Lower Division Requirements

Students may declare the major after passing two of the following four lower division courses. One of the courses must be a modern dance technique course (THEATER 40, THEATER 60, or a technique course at any level); and one of the courses must be a performance studies course (THEATER 25AC, THEATER 26, or THEATER 52AC).

THEATER 25ACThe Drama of American Cultures: An Introduction to Our Theater4
or THEATER 52AC Dance in American Cultures
THEATER 26Introduction to Performance Studies4
THEATER 40Beginning Modern Dance Technique2
THEATER 60Introduction to Technical Theater and Production4


​Upper Division Requirements

Minimum 24 units total.

Performance studies, select three courses from the following areas, one course from each area:
Performance theory
THEATER 119
Performance Theory
Performance and history
THEATER 125
Performance and History
Performance literature
THEATER 126
Performance Literatures
or THEATER 113A
 International Performance and Literature: Irish Theater: Origins and the Contemporary Scene
Performance and culture
THEATER 121
Performance and Culture
or THEATER 122
 Course Not Available
Technique requirement, after declaring the major, students are required to take one technique course every semester, selected from the following:
THEATER 40
Beginning Modern Dance Technique
THEATER 141
Intermediate Modern Dance Technique
THEATER 142
Advanced Modern Dance Technique
THEATER 142
Advanced Modern Dance Technique
Students may substitute one of the following courses for the technique requirement once during any semester of the their choosing:
THEATER 144
Sources of Movement
THEATER 147A
Beginning Ballet Technique
THEATER 147B
Intermediate Ballet Technique
Choreography requirement, select one course from each category below (two courses total):
Preparing to choreograph
THEATER 144
Sources of Movement
or THEATER 148
 Movement Improvisation
Choreography
THEATER 146A
Choreography: Solo/Duet Showcase
or THEATER 146B
 Choreography: Compositional Study
Technical theater requirement, select one course from each of the following technical areas:
Production or design
THEATER 172
Stage Management
THEATER 173A
Course Not Available
THEATER 173B
Course Not Available
THEATER 174A
Course Not Available
THEATER 174B
Course Not Available
THEATER 175A
Scenography: Lighting Design for Performance
THEATER 175B
Scenography: Advanced Lighting Design for Performance
THEATER 177
Sound Design for Performance
Theater practicum
THEATER 167
Technical Theater: Performance Practice
THEATER 168
Technical Theater: Shop Practice
Electives:
Most majors need four or more electives to complete the upper division units for the major (24 units minimum). Students are encouraged to create a focus for additional elective courses in acting technique, dramatic writing, design, stage management, directing, performance studies, stage performance, or some combination of these areas taken in the department. Independent studies, teaching a DeCal course, honors projects, internships, 196 projects, and education abroad programs count as part of the elective coursework. However, taking DeCal courses do not count toward your major.

Transferring Units

A maximum of 8 units of equivalent upper division coursework transfer into the major from education abroad programs or other 4-year colleges as electives upon departmental approval. All L&S-approved units from other colleges transfer into your degree, but rarely into the major. We remind transfer students to bring a copy of previous transcripts/course descriptions to Michael Mansfield for evaluation. Because DPS majors require no additional electives for their major, this will probably not be an issue.

Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript in the memoranda section, but are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

  1. All courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements below must be taken for graded credit.
  2. A minimum of three of the upper division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.
  4. Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.
  5. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.
  6. All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which you plan to graduate. If you cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, please see a College of Letters & Science adviser.
  7. All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)

Requirements

Lower Division (Two Courses)
Select one from the following:
THEATER 40
Beginning Modern Dance Technique (may fulfill Minor Technique Requirement - see below)
THEATER 60
Introduction to Technical Theater and Production
Select one from the following:
THEATER 25AC
The Drama of American Cultures: An Introduction to Our Theater
THEATER 26
Introduction to Performance Studies
THEATER 52AC
Dance in American Cultures
Upper Division (Five Courses)
Select one upper division modern dance technique course from the following:
THEATER 141
Intermediate Modern Dance Technique
THEATER 142
Advanced Modern Dance Technique
THEATER 143
Practicum for Advanced Modern Dancers
Select one upper division course from the choreography series:
THEATER 144
Sources of Movement
THEATER 146A
Choreography: Solo/Duet Showcase 2
THEATER 146B
Choreography: Compositional Study 2
THEATER 148
Movement Improvisation
Electives:
Select three or more courses to build a focus in the minor. (Please see the department's website for example of a focus.) If a student is not admitted to an upper division modern dance technique course, or chooses not to take one, then 4 upper division elective courses are required instead of 3.
1

In certain circumstances, students may use THEATER 141, THEATER 142, or THEATER 143 to fulfill THEATER 40, in which case, they will take 4 upper division elective courses instead of 3.

2

 THEATER 146A and THEATER 146B have two types of enrollment:

  1. Dancers enroll for 1 unit in the course and must be enrolled concurrently in a technique class, and
  2. Choreographers enroll for 3 units in the course and must complete the prerequisite of THEATER 144 or THEATER 148 in advance. 
 

College Requirements

Undergraduate students in the College of Letters & Science must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please review the College of Letters & Sciences page in this Guide.

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a US resident graduated from an American university, should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

American Cultures

American Cultures is the one requirement that all undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete a first-level reading and composition course by the end of their second semester and a second-level course by the end of their fourth semester.

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

  • 120 total units, including at least 60 L&S units

  • Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

  • Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your BA degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding EAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Student Learning Goals

Mission

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, the department creates liberal arts graduates with expanded analytical, technical and imaginative capacities. As a public institution, diversity and inclusion is a key part of teaching, art making, and public programming.

Undergraduate majors and minors are well prepared for the future, both as artists and engaged citizens of the world. At a time when scholars and practitioners across a variety of fields call for more cross-disciplinary intellectual collaboration and project-based learning in higher education, the department takes pride in its daily commitment to collaboration and to the kind of rigorously critical, team-based projects the department develops with its students, staff, and faculty both in the classroom and in its production season.

Learning Goals for the Major

By the end of their time in D&PS, beyond TDPS goals, students should possess the following:

  1. Ability to synthesize a well-organized argument from textual or other evidence and to express it in formal, written form.
  2. Proficiency in research methods (i.e., utilization of public and private archives, libraries, electronic databases, oral histories; textual and performance analysis).
  3. Collaborative skills.
  4. Foundational stagecraft and production skills and knowledge (e.g., design, craft and technology, stage management, and new media).
  5. Literacy in foundational dramatic texts and fundamental concepts of performance theory.
  6. Basic history of Euro-American dance practice, including issues of race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism in the performing arts.
  7. Basic modern/contemporary dance technique in the Western concert dance tradition.
  8. Understanding of the choreographic process and the tools necessary for this process.

Skills

Through upper division course work, electives, and capstone experiences students should also possess advanced training in at least one of the following:

  1. Choreography.
  2. Advanced Dance Technique.
  3. History & Theory of Dance.

Courses

Dance and Performance Studies

THEATER R1A Performance: Writing and Research 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
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.
Performance: Writing and Research: Read More [+]

THEATER R1B Performance: Writing and Research 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
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.
Performance: Writing and Research: Read More [+]

THEATER 5 Public Speaking and Presentation Skills 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
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.

Public Speaking and Presentation Skills: Read More [+]

THEATER 10 Fundamentals of Acting I 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
Fundamentals of Acting I (Theater 10) is the entry level course for the acting sequence and focuses on releasing and cultivating the actor’s inherent creativity. Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor begins to develop basic techniques designed to stimulate the imagination, develop vocal and physical ability, increase awareness of self and others, introduce effective ways to analyze texts, think critically about the craft of acting, and enhance self-confidence and communication skills. This class is the essential beginning of the actor’s studies, which will ultimately allow her or him to effectively engage and explore work from a rich diversity of genres, styles, and backgrounds.
Fundamentals of Acting I: Read More [+]

THEATER 14 Performance Workshop 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018
Workshop involving performers in collaborative development of new performance; topics include cross-disciplinary arts, solo performance, language, and movement.
Performance Workshop: Read More [+]

THEATER 20U London: Theater Capital 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015
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.
London: Theater Capital: Read More [+]

THEATER 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
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.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

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

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
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.
The Drama of American Cultures: An Introduction to Our Theater: Read More [+]

THEATER 26 Introduction to Performance Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
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.
Introduction to Performance Studies: Read More [+]

THEATER 39 Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 1.5 - 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
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.
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

THEATER 40 Beginning Modern Dance Technique 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Introduction to dance techniques. Study of foundational concepts of movement such as: principles of alignment, locomotion, dance terminology, and musicality.

Beginning Modern Dance Technique: Read More [+]

THEATER 45 Beginning African Dance in Hip Hop 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018
Introduction to African dance techniques found within Hip Hop and African American dance genres. Focus on footwork/patterns, articulation of spine/isolations, rhythmic structures, dynamic movement qualities, and the study of the historical, political, spiritual, and social aspects of these forms.
 

Beginning African Dance in Hip Hop: Read More [+]

THEATER 52AC Dance in American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session
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.
Dance in American Cultures: Read More [+]

THEATER 60 Introduction to Technical Theater and Production 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
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 including evening and weekend calls.

Introduction to Technical Theater and Production: Read More [+]

THEATER 66 Special Topics: Theater Arts 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2014 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2014 Second 6 Week Session
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).
Special Topics: Theater Arts: Read More [+]

THEATER 84 Sophomore Seminar 1 or 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
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.
Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

THEATER 98 Directed Group Study 0.5 - 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Group study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum. Topics may be initiated by students.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

THEATER 99 Independent Study 1 - 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum.
Independent Study: Read More [+]

THEATER 100 Collaborative Innovation 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
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.


Collaborative Innovation: Read More [+]

THEATER C107 Plays of Ibsen 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2011
Reading and discussion of Ibsen's major plays. Readings and discussion in English.
Plays of Ibsen: Read More [+]

THEATER C108 Strindberg 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2009
Reading and discussion of Strindberg's major works; emphasis on his dramas and their significance. Readings and discussion in English.
Strindberg: Read More [+]

THEATER 109 Fundamentals of Acting II 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Fundamentals of Acting II (Theater 109) continues working with and expands upon basic concepts introduced in Fundamentals of Acting I (Theater 10). Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor works toward the goal of increasing range, depth, and flexibility; students work on more complex texts which require in-depth research and stronger imagination to inhabit.
Fundamentals of Acting II: Read More [+]

THEATER 110A Intermediate Acting: Scene Study and Style 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
While continuing the work begun in Fundamentals of Acting I and II (Theater 10 and 109), Scene Study and Style focuses on the actor’s relationship with multiple genres and forms of drama; increased focus is given to the specific demands and responsibilities of performing with heightened language and the complexities of characterization and style; emphasis is also given to achieving an understanding of dramatic action, developing technical proficiency and clarity, attaining emotional availability, and cultivating an enriched relationship with text. Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor learns how to transform intuitive creativity into performative excellence.
Intermediate Acting: Scene Study and Style: Read More [+]

THEATER 110B Intermediate Acting: Shakespeare 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
While continuing work begun in Theater 10 & 109, Interm. Acting: Shakespeare (110B) examines the actor’s process through the specific lense of Shakespeare, exploring the unique challenges and rewards of his work; increased focus is given to the demands and responsibilities of performing the heightened language of Shakespeare’s verse and prose, and the complexities of his characterization and style; emphasis is also given to achieving an understanding of dramatic action, developing technical proficiency and clarity, attaining emotional availability, and cultivating an enriched relationship with text. Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor learns how to transform intuitive creativity into performative excellence.
Intermediate Acting: Shakespeare: Read More [+]

THEATER 111 Advanced Acting Studio 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Advanced Acting Studio (Theater 111) finishes the acting technique progression that begins with Fundamentals of Acting I (Theater 10). Through scene-work, monologues, and exercises, the actor stretches and strengthens acting techniques, voice, movement, and speech; particular attention is given to character development and style; students also develop classical and contemporary audition material.
Advanced Acting Studio: Read More [+]

THEATER 112 VOICE AND SPEECH 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Voice and Speech works to strengthen, support, and develop the natural voice through practice on basic relaxation techniques, breath, resonance, articulation, and presence. The course explores the voice through a variety of texts and uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA-narrow transcription) to enhance range, clarity of speech, and to prepare students for beginning work in dialect.
VOICE AND SPEECH: Read More [+]

THEATER 113 International Performance and Literature 6 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2005 10 Week Session, Summer 2004 10 Week Session, Summer 2003 10 Week Session
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.
International Performance and Literature: Read More [+]

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

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
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.
International Performance and Literature: Irish Theater: Origins and the Contemporary Scene: Read More [+]

THEATER 114 Performance Research Workshop 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Advanced performance workshop with research including performance-based methodology, theory, and analytical research skills in developing written and performance works. Topics include cross-disciplinary arts, dramaturgy, and collaborative practice.
Performance Research Workshop: Read More [+]

THEATER 117AC Staging Race in California 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 8 Week Session
Californians often think of our home state as a kind of “post-racial” space, one free of racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice, but to what extent is this true? This course explores two dynamics: (1) the racial structures of California historically and in the contemporary moment, and (2) how cultural systems of performance help shape social systems of race. We will consider the role a range of performance forms – theater, film, pageants, political protests – have played in shaping California’s unique cultural and racial topography. We will use the histories of play productions and para-theatrical performances to interrogate conceptions of California as a “post-racial” state.
Staging Race in California: Read More [+]

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

Terms offered: Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2016 8 Week Session
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.
Performance, Television, and Social Media: Read More [+]

THEATER 119 Performance Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
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.
Performance Theory: Read More [+]

THEATER 121 Performance and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
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.
Performance and Culture: Read More [+]

THEATER 125 Performance and History 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
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.
Performance and History: Read More [+]

THEATER 125D Performance and History 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016
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.
Performance and History: Read More [+]

THEATER 126 Performance Literatures 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
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.
Performance Literatures: Read More [+]

THEATER 139A Fundamentals of Playwriting 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
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.
Fundamentals of Playwriting: Read More [+]

THEATER 139B Playwriting 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
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.
Playwriting: Read More [+]

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

Terms offered: Fall 2015
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.
Pedagogy for Movement Based Classes - Undergraduate Level: Read More [+]

THEATER 141 Intermediate Modern Dance Technique 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Continued development of dance techniques. Study of body articulation and control utilizing concepts of time, space, and dynamics.
Intermediate Modern Dance Technique: Read More [+]

THEATER 142 Advanced Modern Dance Technique 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Refinement of dance techniques as well as qualitative analysis and demonstration of movement with an emphasis on rhythm, dynamics, and style.

Advanced Modern Dance Technique: Read More [+]

THEATER 143 Practicum for Advanced Modern Dancers 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Practical application of previously studied theory and techniques of dance with an emphasis on development of individual movement style.
Practicum for Advanced Modern Dancers: Read More [+]

THEATER 144 Sources of Movement 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
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.
Sources of Movement: Read More [+]

THEATER 145 Intermediate African Dance in Hip Hop 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Spring 2010, Fall 2008
Continued study of African dance found within Hip Hop and African American dance genres. Continued, and deepening, focus on footwork/patterns, articulation of spine/isolations, rhythmic structures, dynamic movement qualities, and the historical, political, spiritual, and social aspects of these forms.
 

Intermediate African Dance in Hip Hop: Read More [+]

THEATER 146A Choreography: Solo/Duet Showcase 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Analysis of theories of form and structure and their practical application in relation to content.
Choreography: Solo/Duet Showcase: Read More [+]

THEATER 146B Choreography: Compositional Study 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Analysis of theories of form and structure and their practical application in relation to content.
Choreography: Compositional Study: Read More [+]

THEATER 147A Beginning Ballet Technique 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014
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.
Beginning Ballet Technique: Read More [+]

THEATER 147B Intermediate Ballet Technique 2 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
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.
Intermediate Ballet Technique: Read More [+]

THEATER 148 Movement Improvisation 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2005
This course is an introduction to the foundational principles of movement improvisation. Through guided movement exercises and experiences, readings, discussions, observations, and journaling students will broaden their ability to move expressively and in the moment. They will learn skills that explore concepts of time, space, energy, shape and dynamics. The course will develop students’ choreographic tools and performance abilities, and it will challenge students to take creative risks. The readings will allow for critical and historical understandings of dance improvisation and how improvisation has impacted choreographic trends.

Movement Improvisation: Read More [+]

THEATER 151A Histories of Performance: Performance and Community 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2014
This history survey course examines performance’s role in mass movements: of politics, of religion, of revolution, and of the creation of communities around nations, traditions, or cultures.The course will explore a cluster of different theater/performance traditions, both Western and non-Western. Using a comparative methodology rather than cumulative one, students learn to appreciate the diversity of theater and performance strategies and traditions while at the same time understanding how similar questions and explorations have haunted performers across continents and across centuries.

Histories of Performance: Performance and Community: Read More [+]

THEATER 151B Histories of Performance: Performance and the Individual 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2008
This history survey course focuses on the relationship between individual desires or expression and the larger community or culture(s) represented in performance. The course investigates performance as a mode of imitation and examines the role of performance in depicting the "real world." The course will begin with an investigation of the importance of mimesis in Western theatrical traditions but will focus on revisions to, rejections of, and alternatives to mimesis by Western and non-Western traditions alike.
Histories of Performance: Performance and the Individual: Read More [+]

THEATER 162 Fundamentals of Stage Directing 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Beginning study of principles of stage composition, blocking, and analysis of dramatic texts for the director.
Fundamentals of Stage Directing: Read More [+]

THEATER 163 Stage Directing 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Study of principles and practice of stage directing.
Stage Directing: Read More [+]

THEATER 166 Special Topics: Theater Arts 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 3 Week Session, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
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).
Special Topics: Theater Arts: Read More [+]

THEATER 167 Technical Theater: Performance Practice 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
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.
Technical Theater: Performance Practice: Read More [+]

THEATER 168 Technical Theater: Shop Practice 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
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.
Technical Theater: Shop Practice: Read More [+]

THEATER 169 Advanced Technical Theater Practice 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
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.
Advanced Technical Theater Practice: Read More [+]

THEATER 171 Theater Performance 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Practice in acting and/or dance in Dramatic Art productions.
Theater Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 172 Stage Management 2 - 6 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Study of production techniques and procedures related to production management, stage management, and theater administration.
Stage Management: Read More [+]

THEATER 173 Scenography: Scenic Design for Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
This introductory course teaches some fundamentals of scenic design. Design for live performance will be approached as an integration of all the performative tools – text, visuals, sound, space, kinetics, etc – with particular focus in this class on the overall scenographic environment. Through personal development and group explorations students will be given basic conceptual and art-making tools allowing them to evolve, communicate and realize scenic and environmental solutions. Previous art training is helpful but not essential. The student must provide most art supplies. The final evaluation will include a presentation in lieu of an exam.

Scenography: Scenic Design for Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 174 Scenography: Costume Design for Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
This studio class explores some fundamental approaches and techniques for designing costume. Performance design will be approached as a product of all the performative tools and contexts – text, visuals, sound, space, kinetics, etc – with particular focus for this class on the scenographic role of the performer. Through personal expression and collaborative investigation students will be given some basic tools allowing them to conceptualize, communicate and realize costumes. Previous art training is helpful but not essential. The student must provide most art supplies. The final evaluation will include a presentation in lieu of an exam.
Scenography: Costume Design for Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 175A Scenography: Lighting Design for Performance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
THEATER 175A will introduce you to the tools, terms, and techniques of stage lighting through lectures and practical application. Working as part of a production crew (an additional 45 hours outside of class) will demonstrate the practice of stage lighting. Class lectures and workshops augment the production experience. They will cover descriptions, explanations, and demonstrations of lighting concepts and equipment, and the initial elements of design.

Scenography: Lighting Design for Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 175B Scenography: Advanced Lighting Design for Performance 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This is the second of two classes in stage lighting design and execution. In THEATER 175B you will study the design and execution of stage lighting from the visualization of the initial concept through the realization of that concept on stage. The course is divided into four segments. Review the foundational information about stage lighting. Develop a Production Proposal, for ROMEO & JULIET, analyze the material and present a proposal for a production of R&J. Design a repertory light plot by drafting the plot with VectorWorks Spotlight, a CAD program for stage lighting.
Finally, in the Lighting Project, you will work with the BDP light plot in the Playhouse, creating light cues for music of your choice.

Scenography: Advanced Lighting Design for Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 176 Applied Theatrical Design 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Students of technical theater design (possible specializations: lighting, set, costume, sound, video) 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).

Applied Theatrical Design: Read More [+]

THEATER 177 Sound Design for Performance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
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.
Sound Design for Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 178 Video Production for Performance 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
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.
Video Production for Performance: Read More [+]

THEATER 179 Supervised Theatrical Design 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
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.
Supervised Theatrical Design: Read More [+]

THEATER 180 Theatrical Realization of Dance 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
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.
Theatrical Realization of Dance: Read More [+]

THEATER 181 Theatrical Realization of Dramatic Texts 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2014
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.
Theatrical Realization of Dramatic Texts: Read More [+]

THEATER C183A Performance: An African American Perspective 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2003
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.
Performance: An African American Perspective: Read More [+]

THEATER C183B Research-to-Performance Laboratory 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2007
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.
Research-to-Performance Laboratory: Read More [+]

THEATER C183C Black Theatre Workshop 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2011, Spring 2004
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.
Black Theatre Workshop: Read More [+]

THEATER H195A Honors Course 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
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.
Honors Course: Read More [+]

THEATER H195B Honors Course 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Development of subject studied in H195A, either as a bachelor's thesis or a laboratory project in acting, directing, playwriting, design, or dance.
Honors Course: Read More [+]

THEATER 196 University Theater Workshop 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Individual directorial projects for advanced undergraduates. Research, tryout, callbacks, and rehearsals which result in performing for the public will average 20 hours per week.
University Theater Workshop: Read More [+]

THEATER 197 Field Studies in Technical Theater 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
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.
Field Studies in Technical Theater: Read More [+]

THEATER 198 Directed Group Study for Undergraduates 0.5 - 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2015
Supervised group study of special topics, subject to approval by the chair.
Directed Group Study for Undergraduates: Read More [+]

THEATER 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Reading and conference with an instructor in an area not corresponding with any regular course.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Faculty

Core Faculty

Professors

Mark Griffith, Professor. Departments of Classics and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. Cambridge University; Classical drama and performance; Greek and Latin literature.
Faculty Profile

Shannon Jackson, Professor. Departments of Rhetoric and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. Northwestern University; Performance Studies; Contemporary theater; American cultural history and Performance Historiography; Adaptation.
Faculty Profile

Trinh Minh-ha, Professor. Department of Women’s Studies; Feminist Theory; Film Theory and production; Comparative Literary and Art Theory; Cultural Politics; Third World Arts and Politics.
Faculty Profile

Miryam Sas, Professor. Departments of Comparative Literature and Film Studies; PhD. Yale University; 20th century poetry; Japanese Experimental Theater and Dance; Memory and Trauma; Mass Media and Cultural Studies; Film.
Faculty Profile

Mary Ann Smart, Professor. Department of Music; PhD. Cornell University; 19th century opera; women in opera; feminist approaches to opera; the role of gesture in opera.
Faculty Profile

Associate Professors

Brandi Wilkins Catanese, Associate Professor. Departments of African American Studies and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. Stanford University; African-American Drama and Theater.
Faculty Profile

Abigail De Kosnik, Associate Professor. Berkeley Center for New Media and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. Northwestern University; Technology and Performance; Artistic Appropriation and Remix; Ethnicity, Gender, and Digital Culture; Cultural Studies; Subcultures and Fan Cultures; Marxism and Post-Structuralism.
Faculty Profile

SanSan Kwan, Associate Professor. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies: PhD. New York University; Critical Dance Studies; Transnational Asian American Studies; Cultural Geography; Theories of Space and Kinesthesia, Interculturalism, Modern Dance, Ballet, and Yoga.
Faculty Profile

Peter Glazer, Associate Professor. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. Northwestern University; Directing; Adaptation; Performance Theory; 20th century American Theater; Commemorative Performance.
Faculty Profile

Laura E. Pérez, Associate Professor. Department of Ethnic Studies; PhD. Harvard University; Post-1965 U.S. Latina/o Visual, Performance, and Literary Arts; Feminist, “Minority,” Post-Colonial, and Cultural Studies theories.
Faculty Profile

Juana Maria Rodriguez, Associate Professor. Gender and Women’s Studies; PhD. UC Berkeley; Queer Theory and Cultural Activism; Latin@ Popular Cultures; Performance Studies; Critical Race Theory; Sex and Sexuality Studies; Technology and Media Arts.
Faculty Profile

Shannon Steen, Associate Professor and Head Graduate Adviser. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. Stanford University; performance and critical race studies (especially the intersection of African and Asian American histories), American Studies, globalization and American urban development, and post/modernisms.
Faculty Profile

Sophie Volpp, Associate Professor. Departments of Comparative Literature and East Asian Languages and Cultures; PhD. Harvard University; classical Chinese performance, Chinese literature of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, history of performance, gender theory, the history of sexuality, and the representation of material culture.
Faculty Profile

Alexei Yurchak, Associate Professor. Department of Anthropology; PhD. Duke University; theories of discourse, power and performance, the politics of aesthetics, irony and ideology, contemporary media, Russian informal art, Soviet state socialism and postsocialism, cities and urban space.
Faculty Profile

Assistant Professors

Julia Fawcett, Assistant Professor. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; Ph.D. Yale University; Restoration and 18th Century Theater and Performance, Performance Historiography, Intersections Between Literature and Performance, Autobiographical Performance, Urban Space, Celebrity, Gender, and Disability Studies.  Faculty Profile.

Angela Marino,  Assistant Professor. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD., New York University; politics and performance in the Americas; Latino American performance and dramatic literature; popular fiesta and carnival theory.
Faculty Profile

Affiliated Faculty

Affiliated Professors

Charles Briggs, Alan Dundes Distinguished Professor in Folklore. Department of Anthropology; PhD. University of Chicago; performing the diseased body and its therapeutic intervention, biomedical and vernacular; theorizing relations between narrative and violence; mediatization and its reified objects; creating modern subjects by creating their “traditional” Others.
Faculty Profile

Judith Butler, Professor. Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature; PhD. Yale University; Performance and Identity.
Faculty Profile

Dru Dougherty, Professor. Department of Spanish and Portuguese; PhD. Harvard University; Spanish drama, especially of the early 20th century.
Faculty Profile

Joe Goode, Professor. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University; choreography and interdisciplinary performance.
Faculty Profile

Jocelyne Guilbault, Professor. Department of Music; PhD. University of Michigan; Ethnomusicology; Caribbean Musics (popular and traditional); Creolization; Power; Cultural Politics; Nationalism; Diaspora.
Faculty Profile

Andrew Jones, Professor. Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures; PhD. UC Berkeley; Children’s Literature; Chinese Popular Music; East Asian Languages and Cultures; Literary Translation; Media Technology; Modern Chinese Fiction; Sonic Culture.
Faculty Profile

Anton Kaes, Professor. Department of German and Film Studies; PhD. Stanford University; modern German theater (Expressionism, Brecht; and the theater of the 1920s); postmodernist theater and film; the relationship between theater and film; theory of film, Critical Theory, and Cultural Studies.
Faculty Profile

John Lie, Professor. Department of Sociology; Chair, Center for Korean Studies; PhD. Harvard University; social theory, political economy, Korean diaspora.
Faculty Profile

Susan Schweik, Professor. Department of English; PhD. Yale University; Disability Studies; Poetry; 20th-Century American Literature; 19th-Century American literature; Cultural Studies; Gender & Sexuality Studies; Race and Ethnicity.
Faculty Profile

Linda Williams, Professor. Departments of Film Studies and Rhetoric; PhD. University of Colorado; Popular Moving-Image Genres (Pornography, Melodrama, and “Body Genres” of all sorts); Eastern and Western Forms of Melodrama; Film Theory.
Faculty Profile

Affiliated Associate Professors

Paola Bacchetta, Associate Professor. Department of Gender & Women’s Studies; PhD. in Sociology from The Sorbonne, Paris; transnational feminist and queer theories; inseparabilities of gender, sexuality, “race”-racism,postcoloniality; Hindu nationalism; global political conflict; feminist and queer of color, and right wing, movement discourses and practices in the U.S., India  and France; transnational feminist and queer alliances.
Faculty Profile

Saba Mahmood, Associate Professor. Department of Anthropology; PhD. Stanford University; Anthropology of Subject Formation, Liberalism, and Secular Modernity; Feminist and Poststructuralist Theory; Religion and Politics; Islam, the Middle East, and South Asia.
Faculty Profile

Emeritus Faculty

Vasudha Dalmia, Professor. Department of South and South East Asian Studies; PhD. Jawaharlal Nehru University; Hindi Drama and other Indian Theater traditions; Brecht.
Faculty Profile

Mel Gordon, Professor. Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; PhD. New York University; Modern and Contemporary European Theater; Popular entertainment.
Faculty Profile

Contact Information

Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

15 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-1677

Fax: 510-643-9956

tdps@berkeley.edu

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Lisa Wymore, MFA

15E Dwinelle Hall

lisawymore@berkeley.edu

Department Vice-Chair

Abigail De Kosnik, PhD

15M Dwinelle Hall

adekosnik@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student Academic Adviser

Michael Mansfield, MFA, DMin

15B Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-643-4050

tdpsugadvisor@berkeley.edu

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