Degree Requirements: Students must complete 72 points of course work with a grade of B or better, satisfy the foreign language requirement, pass the area examination, and write and orally defend a dissertation. Students admitted with an M.A. degree should note that previous graduate work is not automatically applied to the Ph.D. degree. Each student’s record is examined by the department chair to determine allowable transfer credit. Students who have received an M.A. degree in performance studies at New York University and who have been given permission to proceed to the Ph.D. must complete an additional 36 points for the doctorate.

There are three required courses for Ph.D. students: Advanced Readings in Performance Studies (H42.2201) and Resources and Methods in Performance Studies (H42.2616), taken during the first year of doctoral course work, and Dissertation Proposal Advising (H42.2301), taken upon completion of the language requirement, 72 points of course work, and the area examination.

The department’s Performance Composition (H42.2730) workshops are the only practical workshops counted toward the degree. Ph.D. students are permitted to take two Performance Composition courses as part of their course work. Up to 12 points of academic course work may be taken outside the department or through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium with permission of the chair.

A doctoral candidate must complete all degree requirements no later than ten years after entering the M.A. program or seven years after entering the Ph.D. program. For details regarding degree conferral, see the Degree Requirements section of this bulletin.

Foreign Language Proficiency: A candidate for the doctorate must demonstrate proficiency in at least one foreign language. Students are urged to fulfill the language requirement before they have completed course work. For further information, see the Degree Requirements section of this bulletin.

Area Examination: The area examination is offered every spring semester. At a meeting during the registration period each semester, the policies and procedures of the area examination are outlined in detail. Students must take the area examination the first time it is offered after they have fulfilled the foreign language requirement and completed 72 points of course work.

The area examination consists of three sets of take-home questions to be answered within a period of 12 days. Students are examined in one general area and two areas of their design. The areas are developed in consultation with the students’ adviser and must be approved by a faculty committee two semesters prior to the examination semester. The two topic areas may be (1) a theory area, (2) a history area, (3) a genre of performance, or (4) a geographical or cultural area’s performance. Students prepare preliminary and final reading lists for their advising committee’s review. The advising committees draft each student’s examination questions according to the approved reading lists and topic area statements. Students must answer one question in each area. If a student fails a question, the student must take the question again the following year. The student may be required to complete additional course work before taking the examination again. A student who fails one or more questions twice cannot continue in the Ph.D. program. Students should consult the department office regarding deadlines and procedures.

Admission to Candidacy: Formal candidacy is granted only after a student has been in residence for a year, demonstrated foreign language proficiency, passed the area examination, and received approval of the dissertation proposal.

Doctoral Dissertation: Dissertation Proposal Advising (H42.2301) is required the semester after the student has passed the area examination. When the dissertation proposal is completed, it must be reviewed and approved by a three-member faculty committee.

Consult the department for the procedures for defending the dissertation. Any reader who is not a member of the New York University GSAS faculty must be approved in advance by GSAS. All five members of the dissertation committee must be present when the student publicly defends the dissertation. Three of the five readers must be faculty of the Department of Performance Studies or approved faculty from another NYU department.

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