Explore performance in all aspects of social life with the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Performance Studies. Through performance, you will engage creatively with the world around you in an on-going process of investigation and meaning-making.
At Texas A&M, you can do it all — you don’t have to specialize in music or theater. We offer a program that allows you flexibility to combine music, theater, and technology that will satisfy your curiosity, too.
Performance Studies invites students to ask questions about the world through performance. We take an interdisciplinary, liberal arts approach to the study of performance. We emphasize project-based learning, trans-disciplinary research, and community involvement.
Through this program, you will develop the skills to become a critical thinker and engaged citizen. We cultivate analytical, interpretive, and creative skills that prepare creative individuals for diverse careers in and beyond the arts.
Areas of Emphasis
Music theory
Acting and directing
Music and theater technology
Cultural history
Creating and analyzing performances
Four Pillars of the B.A. in Performance Studies
Performance as Research
In Performance Studies, we embrace the fact that live, embodied performance provides a unique way to know and understand the world. A musician, an actor, a dancer, or performer of any stripe knows the world differently by virtue of their performance practice; we teach our B.A. students to harness that knowledge and share it widely.
Intercultural Performance Practices
We privilege performance as a location of intercultural encounter — a way for us to understand each other through performance. We bring artists from around the world to our campus to work with our students on research and performance projects, and we equip our students with the tools they need to be responsible global citizens and make ethical choices.
Performance and Technology
We train students to take advantage of technological advances in their creative and professional lives, and to recognize the risks and rewards ongoing technological progress can provide to our communities.
Performing Communities
Our courses emphasize the use of performance to create and circulate knowledge for and within a variety of communities. In courses on topics ranging from arts administration to activist performance, B.A. students learn to use the arts to promote resilient communities and drive social change. We make informed and responsible citizens, who use performance to serve their communities and the wider world.
Curriculum
Our B.A. provides a foundation in critical reflection, analysis, and creative practice from which students can launch a variety of careers. In their core Performance Studies courses, B.A. students are immersed in performance theory, learn the craft of creating live theatrical and musical performance, and cultivate essential research and writing skills to be successful citizens, scholars, and artists in the 21st century.
The four-year performance studies undergraduate degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours.
Survey of topics in the interdisciplinary field of performance studies, including forms of performance, performance in everyday life and performance in global and intercultural contexts; in-class performance exercises and discussions; major writing component.
American history
3
Courses in this category focus on the consideration of past events and ideas relative to the United States, with the option of including Texas History for a portion of this component area. Courses involve the interaction among individuals, communities, states, the nation, and the world, considering how these interactions have contributed to the development of the United States and its global role. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.
Creative arts
3
Courses in this category focus on the appreciation and analysis of creative artifacts and works of the human imagination. Courses involve the synthesis and interpretation of artistic expression and enable critical, creative, and innovative communication about works of art. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, team work, and social responsibility.
Foreign language
4
Complete 14 hours of a foreign language through the intermediate level. If you choose to enroll in a language you have studied previously without receiving college credit, you must first take a placement test. See academic advisor.
General elective
3
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
Spring Semester – 16 credit hours
ENGL 104
Composition and Rhetoric
3
(ENGL 1302) Composition and Rhetoric. Focus on referential and persuasive researched essays through the development of analytical reading ability, critical thinking and library research skills.
Prerequisite: Freshman or sophomore classification; also taught at Galveston and Qatar campuses.
Foreign Language
4
Complete 14 hours of a foreign language through the intermediate level. If you choose to enroll in a language you have studied previously without receiving college credit, you must first take a placement test. See academic advisor.
Mathematics
3
Courses in this category focus on quantitative literacy in logic, patterns, and relationships. Courses involve the understanding of key mathematical concepts and the application of appropriate quantitative tools to everyday experiences. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, and empirical and quantitative.
Social and behavioral sciences
3
Courses in this category focus on the application of empirical and scientific methods that contribute to the understanding of what makes us human. Courses involve the exploration of behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on the individual, society, and culture. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, empirical and quantitative, and social responsibility.
Application of the tools of performance studies to explore the enactment of the arts in world cultures and the ways the people of every society express themselves in performance; examination of different genres of performance through music, theatre, verbal art and dress.
Communications/English
3
Select one of the following: COMM 203 — Public Speaking; COMM 205 — Communication for Technical Professions; COMM 243 — Argumentation and Debate; ENGL 103 — Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition; ENGL 203 — Writing about Literature; ENGL 210 — Technical and Professional Writing.
Foreign Language
3
Complete 14 hours of a foreign language through the intermediate level. If you choose to enroll in a language you have studied previously without receiving college credit, you must first take a placement test. See academic advisor.
Government/Political science
3
Courses in this category focus on consideration of the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. Courses involve the analysis of governmental institutions, political behavior, civic engagement, and their political and philosophical foundations. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.
General elective
3
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
Spring Semester – 15 credit hours
Foreign Language
3
Complete 14 hours of a foreign language through the intermediate level. If you choose to enroll in a language you have studied previously without receiving college credit, you must first take a placement test. See academic advisor.
Government/Political science
3
Courses in this category focus on consideration of the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. Courses involve the analysis of governmental institutions, political behavior, civic engagement, and their political and philosophical foundations. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.
Life and physical sciences
3
Courses in this category focus on describing, explaining, and predicting natural phenomena using the scientific method. Courses involve the understanding of interactions among natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, empirical and quantitative, and team work.
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
Year 3
30
Fall Semester – 15 credit hours
American history
3
Courses in this category focus on the consideration of past events and ideas relative to the United States, with the option of including Texas History for a portion of this component area. Courses involve the interaction among individuals, communities, states, the nation, and the world, considering how these interactions have contributed to the development of the United States and its global role. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.
Life and physical sciences
3
Courses in this category focus on describing, explaining, and predicting natural phenomena using the scientific method. Courses involve the understanding of interactions among natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, empirical and quantitative, and team work.
Mathematics
3
Courses in this category focus on quantitative literacy in logic, patterns, and relationships. Courses involve the understanding of key mathematical concepts and the application of appropriate quantitative tools to everyday experiences. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, and empirical and quantitative.
Live and mediated performance; techniques and skills for performance; practical experience; discussion and critical analysis of performance; strategies for devising performance.
Language, philosophy and culture
3
Courses in this category focus on how ideas, values, beliefs, and other aspects of culture express and affect human experience. Courses involve the exploration of ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in order to understand the human condition across cultures. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.
Life and physical sciences
3
Courses in this category focus on describing, explaining, and predicting natural phenomena using the scientific method. Courses involve the understanding of interactions among natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, empirical and quantitative, and team work.
Performance studies seminar
3
Select from PERF 450-480.
General elective
3
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
Year 4
28
Fall Semester – 15 credit hours
Language, philosophy and culture or creative arts
3
Courses in this category focus on how ideas, values, beliefs, and other aspects of culture express and affect human experience. Courses involve the exploration of ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in order to understand the human condition across cultures. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.
Social and behavioral sciences
3
Courses in this category focus on the application of empirical and scientific methods that contribute to the understanding of what makes us human. Courses involve the exploration of behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on the individual, society, and culture. The following skills will be addressed in the courses that comprise this area: critical thinking, communication, empirical and quantitative, and social responsibility.
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
Spring Semester – 15 credit hours
PERF 481
Capstone Seminar: Performance as Research
3
Capstone senior project on an individually-chosen research topic, presentation of a performance or interdisciplinary project; major writing and oral communication components.
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
General elective
1
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere, up to 12 hours of courses from PERF 300-499 or FILM 300-499 may be applied.
FAQ About the Program
How much does it cost to attend?
The cost to attend varies depending on a variety of factors, including semester of admission, student type, how many hours you take per semester, and rate type. Use the Texas A&M Tuition Calculator to get the best estimate of your tuition cost per semester.
Additional costs to consider include course materials, housing, meal plans, parking, and fees.
What financial aid and scholarships are available to students?
Numerous scholarships and financial aid are available through Texas A&M University and the School of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts. Incoming freshmen applicants are considered for university scholarships through the ApplyTexas Application or the Coalition Application. Continuing students can apply for additional scholarships through the University Scholarship Application for Continuing Students. For more information about university scholarships, visit scholarships.tamu.edu.
Who can I go to with questions?
For more information about the B.A. in Performance Studies, please contact Dr. Kim Kattari at kkattari@tamu.edu.
How do I declare a major in Performance Studies?
To declare a major in Performance Studies, please contact your academic advisor.
How will the program prepare me for a career?
A Performance Studies degree prepares you for multiple career paths in a changing and dynamic world. In Performance Studies, we seek the knowledge performance reveals about human experience and culture.
There are many resources available to you at Texas A&M that can help you identify and prepare for your future career. The best resource is the TAMU Career Center, which houses several mentors experienced with Performance Studies majors.
Faculty Expertise
Our faculty bring to the programs their expertise in: