MFA in Dramatic Art

The M.F.A. Program in Dramatic Art is not accepting applications for 2023–2024 at this time.

The M.F.A. is designed to provide a program of rigorous, advanced training and practice that enables mid-career artists to explore and expand skills in order to develop artistically and professionally. With the focus firmly on interdisciplinary practice, the M.F.A. offers artists the opportunity to create  new dimensions of classical and contemporary performance. The program enables flexible interchange between artists and faculty, and the faculty mission ensures that graduates are prepared to develop their craft in new directions.  We support diversity in the makeup of our students as well as in our research and curriculum. For the latest on Grad Diversity initiatives please visit www.gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/diversity.

We focus on a collaborative curriculum of interdisciplinary seminars and practical laboratories/workshops covering a range of performance practices, including acting, choreography, design, devising and directing. Students are also encouraged to collaborate with faculty and students in other UC Davis Arts Programs (Music, Art Studio, Art History, Design, and Cinema & Digital Media) as well as with other departments across the campus.

Students expand their horizons by working with a professional faculty and with nationally and internationally known visiting artists. For twenty-five years, the department’s acclaimed Granada Artist-in-Residence program has hosted renowned directors, choreographers, actors, designers and playwrights. Each year, the Granada artists undertake special projects or theatrical productions and teach courses as part of their residencies.

 Each year several major shows and smaller performances are produced in our playing spaces. M.F.A. students participate in these productions, drawing a wide audience and significant media coverage from the region.

Furthering its remit as an acclaimed “practice-led research” department, Theatre and Dance houses the Institute for Exploration in Theatre, Dance and Performance. With a quarterly call for proposals, the ITDP provides a forum for students, faculty and staff across campus to explore creative research questions into the nature of performance-making. This unique resource has already enabled one-day performance art symposia, undergraduate-directed productions, choreographic explorations, collaborations with other departments including the production of a Spanish Golden-Age drama, investigations into cultural and racial diversity through performance, as well as numerous happenings, events, seminars and film projects.