What is performance studies?
Our students combine creative practices and scholarly research to know the world better through performance. We study music, film, and theatre, but we also explore other cultural expressions, like rituals, festivals, religious events, public ceremonies, sports and games, dress, tourism, podcasts, dance, and even the ways we behave in everyday life. Students develop analytical, interpretive, and creative skills that prepare them for diverse careers in and beyond the arts.
Student Organizations
Gig ’em
Performance at Texas A&M Our Program
We are one of the first departments in the U.S. to offer an undergraduate degree in performance studies. Our program is distinctive in its integration of music, theatre, and film. Our faculty is made up of performance artist-scholars, film scholars, theater and music historians, ethnomusicologists, composers, and costume and theater designers.
At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, our low student-to-faculty ratio provides you with an individualized, hands-on educational experience.
Our Mission
Scholars and artists in the academic discipline of Performance Studies look at performance across all aspects of social life, from the performing arts to everyday life. We seek the knowledge performance reveals about human experience and culture.
Performance Studies at Texas A&M emphasizes collaborative research and creative activity in music and theatre, including devised performance, performance technology, ethnomusicology, and performance theory. At the graduate and undergraduate levels, we strive to cultivate the analytical, interpretive, and creative skills that will prepare students for diverse careers in and beyond the arts.