General Information

Our M.A. program in Theatre and Performance Studies offers outstanding options for scholars interested in investigating the connections between theatre and its social, political, and historical context.   The M.A. program is intended to serve as a preparatory course of study for students wishing to pursue a Ph.D. It is also suitable for teachers who wish to augment their skills so that they can teach theatre at the secondary level. The M.A. is a generalist's degree that combines scholarship and production.  

Criteria for Admission

• Quality of previous undergraduate work:. All applicants for the M.A. program must have earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and have a minimum 3.0 GPA.
  
• Three letters of recommendation: All applicants must submit three letters of recommendation from people familiar with the student's previous academic and performance/production work.
  
• GRE: Applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination and achieve at least a 1200 composite score (verbal and analytical), or a minimum 600 verbal and minimum 4.5 analytical. Please note that the University will not accept scores more than 5 years old. (International Students must take the TOEFL and achieve a minimum score of either 575 on the paper exam or 233 on the computer exam; for more information regarding international students'campus resources please see the University's International Education Services .)
  
• Writing Sample: Applicants must submit a writing sample. This sample may be either critical or historical, but must reflect the applicant's ability to think creatively, to order her/his ideas in a logical fashion, and to articulate them using the written word.

General Curricular Requirements

During their first semester of graduate study, all students are advised by the Head of the MA/PhD program. By the end of that semester, each student should have chosen her/his permanent advisor.

General Requirements: Students must complete a minimum of 31 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 3.0. If a student's academic background is inadequate for graduate study in theatre, additional courses may be required. These requirements will be determined by the graduate faculty in the student's first year. At least 21 of the required hours must be selected from courses numbered at the 600 level or above (for students selecting the thesis option, this includes 6 credit hours of thesis). No course below the 400 level and no more than 12 hours of 400 level courses may be counted toward the degree. (Please note: that does not mean students cannot take more than 12 hours of courses at the 400 level, but that only 12 hours will be counted toward the degree.)

Required Courses: All master's candidates are required to tkae a certain number of foundational courses and seminars, including:

•  Introduction to Graduate Research Methods (THET 600)

•  Framework and Approaches for Theatre & Performance Studies (THET 601).

•  One of three seminars in the History of Theory sequence (THET 685, 686, and 687).  

•  Students are also required to take a minimum of three 600-level courses in Theatre History: one in Theatre History (THET 698), one in Theory and Performance Studies (THET 608), and one elective selected with the approval of the student's advisor.

•  M.A. graduate teaching assistants must also enroll in THET 606 Teaching Basic Theatre for one credit.

•  A student may petition the graduate faculty to waive or substitute a required course, but such petitions will be considered only in the most unusual circumstances.

Beyond those requirements, they work closely with their advisors to create a unified and coherent program of study in their particular area of interest/research.   Students completing a thesis take a total of 6 credit hours of thesis research, while students electing to take the comprehensive examination take 6 credit hours of additional coursework.   Please see the example below.

Sample program for students completing the MA only (Foundation courses are marked with an *)

Comprehensive Exams: For students electing not to complete a Master's Thesis, the comprehensive exam will be taken at the end of the fourth semester. It will test not only students' general knowledge of theatre and performance history and theory, but also a declared area of interest. Students will work from two reading lists, one standard and one devised by the student and his/her advisor. The student will select a three person committee with a chair who is a member of the Graduate faculty. A student who choses the examination option must take two additional graduate level courses to aid in preparation for the exam.

OR

Thesis: Students who choose to write a thesis rather than take the comprehensive examination will engage in original research and submit a manuscript of approximately 100 pages based on independent research to his/her thesis committee. Please note: students in the "fast track" MA program will write a 50 page journal article quality thesis, while students not doing the "fast track" option will write a 100 page thesis.

Advisory Committee: For M.A. students, the advisory committee consists of three faculty members with a chair who is a full-time member of the Graduate faculty (a student may have more committee members if s/he wishes, but three is the minimum). One member of the committee must be a full (rather than associate) member of the graduate faculty. Normally, the student's advisor will chair the committee and s/he will choose the other members in consultation with the student. An oral defense of the thesis will be held by the committee when the student has completed the thesis to the satisfaction of the advisor, provided the student has completed all other requirements for the degree and has maintained a minimum 3.0 GPA average, computed in accordance with the regulations set forth by the Graduate School.

Transfer Credit: No more than 6 semester hours of graduate level credit earned at a regionally accredited institution may be applied toward the M.A. degree. Transfer credits must be approved by the student's advisor in consultation with the Graduate Director. Please note that transfer work normally satisfies only the 400 level requirements for the M.A. degree and does not apply to upper level requirements.

Overall Program: All M.A. students must be in residence at the College Park campus for a minimum of two consecutive semesters and all requirements for the M.A. degree must be completed within five years.

Recommended production component: Master's students are expected to enter the program with training and experience in the artistic and production areas of theatre. Persons without such training and experience are urged to obtain it before earning the degree by enrolling in appropriate classes or engaging in production activities appropriate to the student's skills and areas of interest (e.g. directing, dramaturgy, stage management, film, acting, video production, etc,)

Creating a fast-track in the doctoral program from the MA: More and more frequently, we have highly qualified students in the MA program who we would like to encourage (or who indicate an interest) in moving directly to the doctoral program after completing the MA. The course THET 601, Frameworks and Approaches to Theatre & Performance Studies, will function as a "gateway" to the PhD program. At the end of this seminar, students will submit a paper of 20-30 pages to the History/Theory faculty. Those who are adjudged capable of advanced research will be encouraged to apply to the doctoral program. (Please note that all students are welcome to apply from the MA to the PhD program, and we will encourage students to work closely with their faculty advisors to develop their skills accordingly.) Students who demonstrate ability and show interest in tracking towards the PhD will be advised to befin taking doctoral methods courses in their second year of the MA degree. With careful planning and advising, they may be able to complete the required four doctoral methods courses by the end of their fourth semester. They will thus enter the doctoral program having completed four of the required courses for the degree (600/700. 711. 712, 713). In lieu of a comprehensive examination or a thesis, fast-tracked students will submit a 30-40 page publishable quality manuscript based on independent research to a committee selected by the student and his/her advisor. Please see the sample course plan below.

Sample program for student with interest in transferring in the doctoral program (Foundational courses are marked with an *)

Student Opportunities

Our graduate students enjoy a strong record of success in publishing and presenting their work, and in securing prestigious research fellowships.   They have penned articles in The Journal of American Drama and Theatre , Theatre Symposium, and The New England Theatre Journal , and four of our current students have contributed chapters to forthcoming works published by Routledge and other significant scholarly presses.   Our students regularly present their research at national conferences and have received awards from the Black Theatre Network and the American Theatre and Drama Society.   Maryland graduate students have also secured fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, Gilder Lehrman and Mellon Foundations, as well as the Maine Women's Writers Group, the Society of Early Americanists, and the American Society for Theatre Research.

Financial Support

We offer Fellowships and Teaching Assistantships, both of which include tuition remission.  Our Graduate Teaching Assistantships offer students opportunities to teach in our undergraduate program, to develop new courses, and to collaborate on faculty research projects.

We also offer a variety of fellowships, including two specialized ones for students with interest in the following areas of research:

•  The Driskell Center Fellowship for the Study of Theatre and Performance in the African Diaspora

•  The Shakespeare Globe Center-USA Fellowship for the Study of Renaissance Theatre and Performance

In the past, Globe Fellows have traveled to England to work with actors at the reconstructed Globe Theatre, while our 2004 Driskell Fellow spent two months in Brazil, conducting an on-site investigation into the transformation of African culture in the South American diaspora.

For additional infomation contact:

Director of Graduate Studies:
Dr. Franklin J. Hildy
2828 Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742-1610
Office: 301.405.3157
Fax: 301.314.9599
hildy@umd.edu