The Area Exams offer Ph.D. students the opportunity to demonstrate expertise in Performance Studies at an advanced level. Ph.D. students typically take the Area Exams during the fall semester of the third year of study.
The following items pertaining to the Area Exams are due to the Administrative Director complete with all requisite committee signatures and attachments by the dates published below. These are important deadlines and promptness is required!
2004 Area Examinations
Application: Friday, May 2, 2003
Preliminary Reading Lists: Friday, November 21, 2003
Final Reading Lists: Friday, April 30, 2004
Exam Dates: Thursday, October 28, 2004-Tuesday, November 9, 2004
2005 Area Examinations
Applicaton: Friday, May 7, 2004
Preliminary Reading Lists: Friday, November 19, 2004
Final Reading Lists: Friday, April 29, 2005
Exam Dates: Thursday, October 27, 2005 – Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Preparation for the Area Exams begins three semesters in advance; i.e. Ph.D. students taking exams in Fall 2005 semester begin preparation Spring 2004. An information session is given each spring semester to explain procedures and deadlines.
A brief explanation of the preparation procedure follows. It is crucial to plan sufficiently in advance in order to meet all deadlines. Ph.D. students will need to meet with their advisors at least a month before each deadline to discuss preparation requirements.
Ph.D. students must consult with their academic advisor about forming an examination committee and developing area statements. The examination committee consists of three faculty members; generally the faculty advisor serves as the committee chair. The examining committee advises on the preparation of the statements and reading lists, writes questions and evaluates exam answers.
1. Area Exam Application
The application requires signatures from all three members of a Ph.D. student's exam committee indicating approval of the area statements.
Developing the Areas: Exam areas are not the place for original research, but an occasion for consolidation of what students have mastered. Building on coursework, areas lay a foundation for dissertation writing (without duplicating the dissertation topic) and demonstrate focus as well as breadth. In assessing the appropriateness of the areas, Ph.D. students should think in terms of courses they might teach, one of them being an Introduction to Performance Studies.
Ph.D. students take three exams from the following areas:
1.) The "general" Performance Studies area should be broadly configured to demonstrate depth in one of the main lines of inquiry in the field. For example, the relationship between ritual and performance, or the connection and tensions between the linguistic performative and performance events. This area can be shaped as part of the larger terrain of your dissertation.
2. & 3.) The remaining two areas should be chosen from a theory area, a history area, a genre area, or a geographical area's performance. This is not the place to be "creative." It is an opportunity to define recognizable areas of expertise and to demonstrate mastery of an established body of scholarship.
2. Preliminary Reading List Approval Form
All three members of the committee must be consulted regarding the development of all three area reading lists because the entire committee must approve all three reading lists. Students are expected to do a thorough literature search, especially in recent periodicals, to find the best new work on area topics. The entire faculty will meet to discuss all students' committee-approved preliminary reading lists and each student will receive recommendations for revisions.
Area reading lists are evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Comprehensive coverage of the topic
- Inclusion of the most important works, both primary and secondary, on the subject
- Substance, quality and importance of work selected
Reading Lists Guidelines:
- The General Area consists of 25 books selected from the "Performance Theory" and "Performance Analysis" lists. There should be 12 books from one list and 13 from the other. On the reading list, indicate the headings "Performance Theory" and "Performance Analysis" and list the books under the appropriate heading. The selection should provide enough range (historical, cultural, theoretical, methodological, medium/genre) for addressing questions about the field of Performance Studies.
- For the other two areas, a minimum of 20 books is required for each area.
- Submit a separate reading list for each area.
- In each reading list, list books and articles under separate headings.
- 200 pages of articles equals one book length. On the reading lists, note the number of pages in each article and indicate when the book length equivalent of article pages (200) is reached.
- Secondary readings, in addition to the 20 core readings per area, are encouraged but not required.
- In each reading list, distinguish between the core list of 20 readings (substantive, theoretical, key works, etc.) and secondary readings (reference or resources materials, picture books, play scripts, bibliographies, biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias, general histories, popular press, etc.).
3. Final Reading List Approval Form
After consideration of the faculty's recommendations on preliminary lists, each Ph.D. student will consult with his/her committee regarding the final reading lists for each area. The final approval form confirms the version of reading lists which will be referenced by the committees when writing exam questions.
4. Writing the Area Exams
Each member of your committee will draft two questions pertaining to the area s/he has been designated. The entire faculty meets to review and approve all questions. When writing the exams, you will choose to answer one out of the two questions for each area. You will be given 12 days to complete the Area Exams.
Please adhere to the following points when answering exams:
- Do not duplicate what is (or will be) your dissertation proposal
- Do not recycle your term papers. The faculty has already read that work.
- When choosing examples, demonstrate your range of expertise by choosing different kinds of materials for each answer.
- With respect to the general Performance Studies area, you will be asked a more general question and will be expected to demonstrate the ability to think in more general terms, while focusing on particular texts and examples.
5. Exam Results
If the student passes all three exam areas, he or she registers to take Dissertation Proposal during the following spring semester. If the examining committee determines that he or she has failed an area, the student must retake that area. If exams are failed a second time, the student will not be allowed to continue in the program. If there is a question about your knowledge of the area(s), your committee may choose to administer an oral examination as well.
