Performance and Culture: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Entry requirements

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a relevant/related subject.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

Months of entry

September

Course content

This pioneering MA offers interdisciplinary perspectives on international performance, and aims to understand performance in relation to the culture to which it contributes. The MA takes in diverse forms of theatre, including multicultural and street theatre, and such practices as performance art, dance, ritual, site-specific performance and a wide range of hybrid forms. It leads you to explore performance as sociocultural process by using analytical principles from sociology, the sociology of culture, cultural theory, anthropology, history, philosophy, politics and theatre and performance.

We have numerous links, locally and internationally, with a wide variety of theatres, companies and performers, all of which enhance your research possibilities.

What you study

There are three compulsory core modules which focus on a range of issues concerning performance as a sociocultural practice. They involve:

• conceptual and theoretical material, their interweave and their relationship to performance
• historiographical methodologies and textual issues
• analysis of live performances
• cultural difference, ethnicity and cross-culturalism
• questions to do with corporeality, alternative spaces and performance in terms of social inclusivity

A choice of options or independent study constitutes the fourth component, and a dissertation on your individual research completes your programme of study.

Goldsmiths is ranked in the 42nd in the world for Performing Arts (QS World University Subject Rankings 2021).

Information for international students

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Fees and funding

Find out more about postgraduate fees and explore funding opportunities. If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline.

Assessment