Performance Studies at the University of Sydney

Performance Studies considers the whole extended field of aesthetic, social and everyday performance across a range of cultural and historical contexts: from theatre, dance, popular music and contemporary performance through to the performative dimensions of rituals, sport, politics and the law. This is an exciting area of interdisciplinary study (drawing, for instance, on anthropology, history, cultural studies, theatre studies, musicology, dance and movement studies) in which we seek to explain the phenomenon of performance as a complex, collaborative endeavour, involving performers and audiences alike in the production of meaning, feelings, a view of the world as it is and as it might otherwise be.

The Department of Performance Studies at Sydney University was one of the first to be established in the world and regularly attracts visiting academics from the US, Europe and Asia who come to observe our unique program. Some of our graduates move into professional theatre, dance, production management, drama teaching or arts administration. Others use insights from this discipline and the research skills they have acquired to inform their careers in law, medicine, public administration, foreign affairs and so on. As a leading centre for performance research, we also have many students who undertake postgraduate study and teach at tertiary level.

Performance Practice

One of the features of our department is the way we engage with performance practice. All of the academic staff, in addition to being leading researchers, have significant professional experience in areas such as directing, acting/dancing and script development: most units of study will therefore involve a minor strand of practical workshop–style activities to complement text-based teaching methods and as a way of grounding the major theoretical concerns of the course.

We also have excellent contacts with professional artists and companies working in Sydney, many of whom are involved in our regular artists-in-residence scheme. Much of the teaching and learning in Performance Studies involves versions of participant-observation fieldwork and ethnographic research methods. Through the artists-in-residence scheme and other avenues, students have the opportunity to observe training, creative development and other kinds of performance preparation across a wide range of genres.

Some artists-in-residence are also Honorary Artistic Associates with the Department - see Honorary Artistic Associates

Undergraduate and Fourth Year Honours Courses

Undergraduate units in Performance Studies are open to almost any student enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts, in any of the other degrees based in the Arts Faculty (Bachelor of Media and Communications; Bachelor of Languages etc.) or, indeed, in any of the degrees based in other Faculties (Science, Education, Economics etc.) which provide for students to take some subjects in the Arts Faculty.

There are no junior (first-year-level) units in Performance Studies but there are more than enough senior units offered at second and third-year levels for students who want to make Performance Studies a major in their degree (a ‘major’ means six units of study, each of which is worth six credit points – you can, of course, decide to do fewer units in Performance Studies if you’re simply wanting to explore another interest and/or complement a major that you’re doing in another discipline).

For students with a major in Performance Studies and a strong academic record, there is the possibility of extending into our Fourth Year Honours program, one of the most successful in the Faculty of Arts and of any similar department at other Australian universities. The preparation for Honours begins with two Special Entry units which are normally taken at third year level, in addition to the six units required for a major.

Former Students speak about their Honours Experience at Performance Studies

"As an Honours student I felt very included in the research culture of the Department and was inspired by the support, pride and encouragement staff and post-grad students had for the breadth of research and Honours projects undertaken there now and in the past. A feeling of being able to study almost anything emerged, and in my year alone research topics ranged from Australian Fashion Week to investigations into the history of performance companies and their production spaces, to studies of football and mountain bike riding as performance events as well." Kath Bicknell (Honours 2007)

For more testimonials go to Fourth Year Honours program

Postgraduate Study

The department has a very strong research culture and an excellent track record in supervising the work of our numerous postgraduate students through to successful completion. We are able to support students enrolled in ‘thesis-only’ research degrees as well as students enrolled in some of the newer research degrees, where a thesis is preceded by some coursework units. These postgraduate coursework units are also available as stand-alone, cross-listed options to students from some other programs and subject areas, including Development Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Work and Education.

Please refer to the Postgraduate Section for full details on programs, available units and how to apply.

Credits for images

On front page:

• "Nerve 9" at The Performance Space, Sydney
  Performer: Tess de Quincey
  Visual Poem: Amanda Stewart
  Photograph: Russell Emerson

On this page:

• Top: Barbara Campbell,
• Centre: "Wages of Spin", Version 1.0, Performance Space, 2005.
  Photograph: Heidrun Löhr
• Bottom: