Ph.D Requirements
Entrance Qualifications
The Doctor of Philosophy program is open to all qualified students who have completed, or will have completed prior to registration, a Master of Arts degree or its equivalent. An M.A. in Theatre Arts is not a prerequisite for admission to the program. The Department admits some highly qualified students with B.A.s directly into the Ph.D. program. These students proceed to the higher degree more efficiently, receiving an M.A. enroute.
Admission Procedures
Students applying for the Ph.D. program are expected to demonstrate superior writing and research abilities, and to have substantial background in dramatic literature, theatre history and criticism. They must also have a demonstrable interest in, and disposition for, the Special Option with a view toward developing a specialized professional skill.
Note: As of Sep 1, 2004, Pitt no longer accepts paper applications - please apply online.
Curriculum
Beyond the Masters Degree
Required Course Program:
- Materials and Methods of Research in Theatre Arts (can be waived)
- Eight additional courses in dramatic literature, theatre history, criticism, performance studies or in a related field
- At least one course in theory
- Normally at least six of the eight required courses will be advanced graduate seminars in the Department. The others may be undergraduate (1000 series) or graduate (2000 series) courses listed in any appropriate University department. Courses labeled "research," "directed study" or "independent study" cannot be used to fulfill this requirement, except by approval of the Graduate Faculty. The student's advisor will regularly monitor selection of courses, and approve the overall sequence chosen.
Special Option Program
Concurrent with preparation for scholarship and research in the field, the candidate prepares an additional specialization. It may be in theatre administration, practical theatre (e.g., acting, directing, design, playwriting or dramaturgy), children's theatre, specialized educational skills or in fields related to theatre. The key to the Special Option is its practicality and relevance to the candidate's professional career goals.
The resources to be used by the candidate in pursuing the Special Option need not be confined to coursework within the Department. They embrace in principle a variety of means of study and training in the forms of independent and supervised study, course work outside the Department and in-training programs that make use of theatrical and institutional resources both in and out of the University. An essential feature of the program is its flexibility, intending to be responsive to the training objective of the individual candidate.
The structuring of each candidate's Special Option Program, the documentation of its progress and results, and the forms and procedures for its evaluation, are determined in consultation between candidate and advisor, and are then submitted to the Graduate Faculty for approval. The nature of the Special Option and the procedures for accomplishing it should be determined no later than the second year of the candidate's residence.
The Special Option Program is an integral part of the candidate's period of residency. The Program is assigned an equitable proportion of credit hours (normally 15 credits) toward the completion of the candidate's residency requirements.
Requirements for Completion
Residency
A minimum of three years or six terms of residency is required.
Courses
72 credit hours are required past the B.A., made up of courses stipulated in the curriculum and electives (including independent study, directed study, in-training programs, and dissertation credits).
Transfer of Credits
On request, a maximum of 24 credits may be accepted toward the requirements for the Ph.D. degree for a master's degree earned in another approved graduate school. Normally credit transfer will be allowed only for courses in theatre or a related field. No more than 12 additional credits may be accepted for work beyond the master's degree and directly related to the students' Ph.D. program.
Exemption from Materials and Methods of Research, without transfer of credit, may be granted on request to students who took similar courses in an M.A. program in theatre arts at another institution.
Language Requirement
Students are required to demonstrate advanced knowledge in one foreign language, sufficient to read criticism and drama in the language, and sufficient to allow them to attend a play in the language and understand it reasonably well.
Theory Requirement
During the time of their residence, Ph.D. students are expected to become familiar with some of the major contemporary theories of or approaches to theatre, drama, literature or art. This requirement will normally be satisfied in two parts: Students must participate at least twice in a Department of Theatre Arts Ph.D. colloquium on theory. These colloquia join faculty and students together to discuss and evaluate recent developments in theory as they apply to theatre and drama.
Teaching Requirement
Since students who receive the Ph.D. normally anticipate a career in teaching as well as research, all doctoral candidates will receive training as teachers of theatre and performance subjects. Usually this will be accomplished as part of the student's assistantship and will include supervised teaching experience, seminars on method, and other practical advice. Those students who do not receive teaching assistantships will nonetheless be given teaching experience.
THE Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam
After passing the qualifying exam, the candidate should submit for approval a choice of three areas of study from the categories listed below. The areas are designed to ensure the student's wide understanding of the theatre process and of intellectual approaches to it. The student's proposal of the areas must be prepared at least 8 months prior to the anticipated date of the comprehensive exam. The proposal should be in the form of a short paper to the Graduate Faculty, defining the subjects and outlining a course of preparation for the exam. A committee composed of at least three faculty members is formed; the committee and the student arrive at an agreement over the main issues to be covered.
Area One: Theoretical Discourses
This area of study involves Structures, Approaches and Genres. It is designed to cover the theoretical basis of theatre and performance study. Students choose a single conceptual construction and prepare it in detail.
Theoretical discourses include: theatre historiography, theatre semiotics, Marxist theory, feminism and theatre and drama, cultural studies and performance, ritual and performance, structuralist and post-structuralist methods, genre theory and neo-Aristotelianism, psychological, phenomenological, and response theories, theories of acting, theories of scenography, and so on.
Students may prepare a combination of two structures or approaches (e.g., cultural semiotics, or Marxist historiography), or may propose alternatives to the above list.
Area Two: Historical Discourses
Area Three: Textual Discourses
The work of one major dramatist, or of two related dramatists, is investigated in detail. Three "texts" are relevant:
- the written drama
- the history and tradition of its theatrical production (including its contemporary performance)
- the history and tradition of its reception.
More Information
Jami White
Graduate Admissions/Department Secretary
Department of Theatre Arts
1617 Cathedreal of Learning
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
(412) 624-0466