Bachelor of Theater and Performance Studies at University of California, Berkeley

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Within the Theater and Performance Studies curriculum, we understand performance to be a mode of critical inquiry and research, a means of creative expression, and a vehicle for public engagement. The theater events that take place within the department are the means by which students engage with theater performance on the physical, intellectual, and aesthetic levels. It is our hope that you will not only grow as performers but also as artists, thinkers, makers, viewers, researchers, and participants in the whole of the artistic event.

The practical focus of the major is to create theater of all kinds using all its art forms. Whether new to theater or seasoned with years of training and skill, all students receive an education that engages them fully. Your focus may be on acting, dance, technical theater/design, performance studies, or some combination of these. Equally important to us is the study of theater and dance performance theory, history, culture, and literature, thereby balancing the practical with the theoretical. Students engage in other upper division electives in stage management, playwriting, directing, choreography, sound design, scenic design, costume design, or lighting design, as well as a myriad of performance opportunities.

The theater training and academic courses offered by our department are geared toward the student who is interested in learning about theater and performance from multiple perspectives. As either a major or minor in Theater and Performance Studies, you will study with nationally and internationally known faculty, respected for their scholarly research and for their creative work. Our graduates have gone on to professional careers in all theatrical fields and graduate schools all over the world. Our alumni include professional actors on stage and screen, arts journalists, stunt actors, directors, producers, playwrights, and more.

Further departmental opportunities include student-directed theater performances and projects, honors projects, internships in local Bay Area theaters, teaching courses in the department, and invitations to diverse and exciting lectures and performances. Students also have access to world-renowned visiting guest artists through our close relationship with Cal Performances and our extensive network in the field.

Declaring the Major

Most majors declare after taking 2 of their 4 lower division requirements. For more information on this, see the Major Requirements tab on this page.

Honors Program

Majors in the Department of Theater and Performance Studies with an overall GPA of 3.3 in the University may, with the approval of the department, apply to complete an honors project. There are two types of honors projects:

1. Written-Only Thesis
2. Written Honors Essay and Production

Students should apply through the Undergraduate Academic Advisor and can find more detailed information on the TDPS website. 

Minor Program

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

Transfer students can determine coursework transfers into the minor by bringing unofficial transcripts and course descriptions to the Undergraduate Academic Advisor. A course equivalent to THEATER 10 can transfer from other institutions into the minor. It is rare that another course from a junior college will transfer into the minor because equivalent coursework is seldom found. Since the minor will be from the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, it is likely students will do most of their minor coursework in the Department.

Declaring the Minor

Most minors declare after taking 1 course in the department. For more information on this, see the Minor Requirements tab on this page.

Other Programs Offered by TDPS

Dance and Performance Studies (Major and Minor)

Visit Department Website

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies teaches performance as a mode of critical inquiry, creative expression, and public engagement. Through performance training and research, the program creates liberal arts graduates with expanded analytical, technical, and imaginative capacities. As a public institution, the department makes diversity and inclusion a key part of its 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 it develops with students, staff, and faculty both in the classroom and in the production season.

Learning Goals for the Major

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 or textual and performance analysis)
3. Collaborative skills
4. Foundational stagecraft and production skills and knowledge (design, craft and technology, stage management, new media)
5. Literacy in foundational dramatic texts and fundamental concepts of performance theory
6. Basic history of Euro-American theater practice including issues of race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism in the performing arts
7. Basic acting technique

Skills

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

1. Directing
2. Playwriting
3. Acting
4. Design
5. History/Theory/Literature
6. Stage Management
7. New Media