Overview

The Theatre and Performance program from Columbia University is designed at once to provide the opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with the prevailing traditions of Western and non-Western drama, theatre, and performance scholarship, as well as to identify a specific trajectory of individual research.

Overseen by an interdepartmental committee — faculty are drawn from the Theatre Program of the School of the Arts, the Institute for Comparative Literature, and the departments of English and Comparative Literature, Germanic Languages, Philosophy, Classics, the Barnard College Departments of Dance and Theatre, and others—the program encourages students to pursue interdisciplinary research across the wide spectrum of theatre and performance studies.

The relatively small size of the program ensures a close working relationship with supervising faculty; doctoral students in Theatre also work with doctoral students in other humanities fields, as well as with Theatre Program MFA students in directing, dramaturgy, and playwriting.

Doctoral students are typically admitted with a six-year package of funding, which combines both fellowship and teaching support. In the past decade, PhD students from the program have been appointed to tenure-track positions in a range of fields (English, theatre, performance studies) at Stanford, Princeton, Boston University, Indiana University, King's College London, the University of Texas at Austin, and elsewhere.

Fellowships

Fellowships are awarded in recognition of academic achievement and in expectation of scholarly success. Teaching and research experience are considered an important aspect of the training of graduate students. Thus, graduate fellowships include some teaching and research apprenticeship.

Programme Structure

Subjects:

Traditions of Western

Traditions of non-Western

Drama

Theatre

Performance

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 84 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2027-09-08 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-12-12 00:00:00

Language

English

TOEFL^® IBT

100

Schedule TOEFL®

IELTS

7.5

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Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Manhattan, United States

Disciplines

Drama Music Performance View 67 other PhDs in Music Performance in United States

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Academic requirements

We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.

English requirements

TOEFL^® IBT

100

Schedule TOEFL®

IELTS

7.5

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Other requirements

General requirements

Students must submit one transcript showing courses and grades per school attended, a statement of academic purpose, and three letters of evaluation from academic sources.

All international students whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate degree is from an institution in a country whose official language is not English must submit scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS.

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

56840 USD / year

≈ 56840 USD / year
Out-of-State

56840 USD / year

≈ 56840 USD / year
Domestic

Applies to you

In-State

56840 USD / year

≈ 56840 USD / year

Living costs

Manhattan

United States

2638 - 5751 USD / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find PhD's scholarship opportunities for Theatre and Performance.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

About

Overview

Fellowships

Programme Structure

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Prepare for Your English Test

Delivered

Campus Location

Disciplines

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Prepare for Your English Test

Other requirements

General requirements

Tuition Fees

International Applies to you

Domestic

Living costs

Manhattan

Funding

Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

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