Senior Thesis in Theater and Performance Studies 2023-2024
The Senior Thesis asks you to engage with theater, dance, and performance studies as fields that are interdisciplinary in scope and global in perspective. Your semester-long project may make use of multiple approaches to research (historical, textual, archival, embodied, ethnographic, and more) in order to investigate questions that are of compelling interest to you and your collaborators and that also address contemporary issues and concerns in the public sphere.
As a culmination of your study in the major, your senior thesis is an opportunity for you to develop your own methodology, ask your own questions, and imagine your own contexts for the study of theater, dance, and performance. Successful senior projects may be successful in different ways. In addition to the quality of the final, culminating work(s), your achievement may be demonstrated through the significance of your research, the rigor of your methodology, the originality of your approach, your commitment to collaboration, the degree of your engagement with texts, ideas, histories, etc., the insights you develop, the risks you take, and the agility of your imagination.
Thesis Projects Categories
Writing a Full-Length Essay and Giving a Presentation
Using a current journal as a model, conduct original research in any area of theater, dance, and performance studies and write an essay of at least 30 pages (double-spaced). Your essay should deploy appropriate scholarly apparatus, including proper and consistent use of citations, footnotes/endnotes, and bibliography. Give a 20-minute presentation of your work-in-progress to your adviser, DUS, second reader, and other invitees. The presentation, which you are responsible for organizing, should be scheduled early enough for you to incorporate the feedback you receive into your final draft. Please discuss the specific requirements of this research project with your adviser.
Writing a Full-Length Play and Presenting a Reading
Write a full-length play, to be presented in a reading attended by your adviser, second reader, and DUS (among other invitees), and followed by a post-reading discussion. The reading, which you are responsible for organizing, should be scheduled early enough for the feedback you receive to be incorporated into your final draft. Please discuss the specific requirements of this research project with your adviser. Along with the final draft of your play, submit a statement of purpose (200-300 words) and a project abstract (200-300 words). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser
Prerequisite: B or above in at least one Yale course in playwriting
Designing a Curricular Production
In addition to designing a curricular production, present a portfolio consisting of a statement of purpose (200-300 words), a project abstract (200-300 words), designer drawings, collected research (images and otherwise), paperwork (Q sheets, plot, etc.), and an essay of at least 15 pages (double-spaced). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Directing a Curricular Production
In addition to directing a curricular production, submit a statement of purpose (200-300 words), a project abstract (200-300 words), an annotated prompt book or process journal, and an essay of at least 15 pages (double-spaced). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Prerequisite: B or above in at least one TAPS course in directing
Acting in a Curricular Production
In addition to acting in a curricular production, submit a statement of purpose (200-300 words), a project abstract (200-300 words), an annotated script or process journal, and an essay of at least 15 pages (double-spaced). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Preconditions: An acting-focused senior project must provide you with ample opportunities to conduct embodied research. You must also enlist a director who has earned a B or above in at least one TDPS course in directing.
Creating an Original Choreographic Work: Curricular Production or Non-Curricular Presentation
A senior project in dance will involve the creation of an original choreographic work and a 15-page accompanying essay, statement of purpose (200-300 words), and project abstract (200-300 words). The original choreographic work may focus exclusively on movement, or explore dance in dialogue with other disciplines, including visual art, theater, music, and/or forage within the humanities, social sciences, or sciences for its point of departure. The project extends the strategies of movement research developed through the course work, giving students the opportunity to shape their own methods and process. A dance-focused project cultivates a strong authorial voice and clarity of ideas expressed in movement. Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Prerequisites: THST 235: Dance Theater or THST 387: Advanced Dance Composition (or alternate course with approval of the Director of the Dance Studies Curriculum).
Creating an Original Work of Musical Theater: Curricular Production or Non-Curricular Presentation
Projects in musical theater can take the form of an original one-act or full length musical and culminate in either a reading or a curricular production. Your proposal should stipulate whether the project’s focus would be the book, lyrics, or score (or some combination thereof) and should list the collaborators who would complete the team. A 15-page accompanying essay is also required along with a statement of purpose (200-300 words) and a project abstract (200-300 words). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Prerequisite: B or above in at least one course in the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater. Precondition: for curricular productions, you must enlist a director who has earned a B or above in at least one Yale course in directing.
Creating an Original Inter-Media Performance: Curricular Production or Non-Curricular Presentation
Projects must explore the intersection of recorded media and live performance, integrating two or more of the following into a live performance framework: film, dance, theater, music, video games, mobile communications, social software and/or other media of representation. Project formats can vary but must be approved by the adviser and DUS. Inter-Media performance projects must be accompanied by an essay of 15 pages along with a statement of purpose (200-300 words) and a project abstract (200-300 words). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Creating an Original Film Documentary
The documentary you create must focus on some aspect of theater, dance, and performance and can be proposed for Documentary Film Workshop. These projects must have a co-adviser on the faculty of Theater and Performance Studies other than the course instructor. Projects must be accompanied by an essay of 15 pages along with a statement of purpose (200-300 words) and a project abstract (200-300 words). Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser.
Creating an Original Digital Media Performance: Curricular Production or Non-Curricular Presentation
The project should bring a programming/digital media project, overseen by advisers in Computer Science, into the space of a live performance, overseen by an adviser in Theater and Performance Studies. Digital Media Performance Projects must be accompanied by a statement of purpose (200-300 words), a project abstract (200-300 words), a detailed description of the programming portion of the project, a bibliography of sources and models upon which the programming and performance drew, and an essay of 15 pages comprised of a critical analysis of the design and performance concept, research questions that guided the programming and/or performance design, and critical reflection on the performance itself.
Prerequisite: THST 376 Digital Media in Performance or another digital media course. Precondition: only for seniors in Computing and the Arts, concentrating in Theater and Performance Studies
Breaking New Ground …
If you find that none of the above categories fits the research you hope to conduct for your senior project, let that not be a barrier. Past senior projects have conducted research through methods involving solo performance, devising, dramaturgy, stage management, community-engaged performance, and more. We hope and expect that future senior projects will continue to break new ground. Proposals for senior projects involving methods not described in a category above will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Although it is not possible to establish prerequisites or preconditions in such cases, your adviser or DUS may place such conditions on the project prior to approval of your proposal in order to ensure its viability. In addition to a statement of purpose (200-300 words) and a project abstract (200-300 words), you must submit additional materials that are commensurate with the goals of the project and with the requirements of other types of senior projects listed here. Please discuss the specific requirements of each part of this research project with your adviser and DUS.
Advisers and Second Readers
Well before you submit your proposal on March 18th, you must invite a faculty member to serve as your adviser. You must give them sufficient time to review your proposal(s) and materials and provide you with feedback before asking for their signature on your proposal submission. Please consult with your DUS if you are not sure who to approach or how to discuss your research goals and ideas. It is a good idea to talk to potential advisers as soon as possible as you may find that the adviser you were hoping to work with is not available. If, despite your best efforts, you are unable to confirm an adviser prior to submitting your proposal, please consult with your DUS. Depending upon a variety of factors, including your own preference, your adviser may be more or less involved in the development of your senior project. In all cases you are responsible for clarifying expectations, meeting deadlines, and communicating with your adviser about your progress. In consultation with your adviser, your DUS will also assign to your project a second reader who may or may not be part of the faculty of Theater and Performance Studies. In general, the role of the second reader is to serve as an external reviewer who evaluates and provides feedback only on the final, culminating work(s). You may not recommend or request a second reader for your project. Please consult with your adviser about the role of the second reader in the process of evaluating your Senior Project research as this may be different from project to project.
Grading and Evaluation
If the culminating work of your Senior Project research is a full-length essay or play, it will be evaluated by your adviser, whose grade will comprise 80% of your Senior Project grade, and by a second reader, whose grade will comprise 20% of your Senior Project grade. If the culminating work of your Senior Project research is a production (accompanied by an essay, portfolio, and/or other materials) these will be evaluated by your adviser, whose grade will comprise 35% of your Senior Project grade, and by a second reader, whose grade will comprise 15% of your Senior Project grade. Your grade for production given by the TDPS accounts for 15% of your grade. The remaining 40% of your grade will come from your work in THST 491a/b: The Senior Project in Theater Studies (see below). We encourage you to talk with your adviser about how and when you will receive feedback during the semester in which you will conduct your research. It is also a good idea to discuss with your adviser how your work will be evaluated and graded and to make sure that your goals and your adviser’s expectations are well aligned.
THST 491a/b Course Enrollment
If your Senior Project requires a production in order to achieve its research goals, you must enroll in and attend The Senior Project in Theater Studies (THST 491a/b) during the semester in which your project is scheduled to be presented. Please note that seniors whose project is scheduled as the first production in the Spring term generally attend the seminar in the Fall, but enroll in the Spring. The Senior Project in Theater Studies is a weekly seminar designed to support projects whose research methods require production processes. Your grade in the course will comprise 40% of your Senior Project grade. If the culminating work of your Senior Project research is a full-length essay or play, you must also enroll in THST 491a/b. However, you need not attend on a weekly basis as it is assumed that you will need this time for meetings with your adviser. You will not be expected to do the work involved in THST 491 a/b though your senior thesis grade will be submitted through the course.
Provisional Due Dates for Drafts and Final Project Materials
FALL 2023
First Draft of Materials
- Via email to advisor and DUS
- Friday 5 pm, end of 11th week of classes
Final Submissions
- Upload to Yale Box Folder
- 12 noon (sharp) on the first day of Finals.
SPRING 2024
First Draft of Materials
- Via email to advisor and DUS
- Friday 5 pm, end of 11th week of classes
Final Submissions
- Upload to Yale Box Folder
- 12 noon (sharp) on the first day of Finals.
Submission Requirements for Final Project Materials
You must submit all final project materials to a Box folder assigned to you no later than due dates and times listed above. All final project materials must be submitted at the same time for the project to be considered complete. There are no exceptions to the due dates above. Failure to meet the due dates for final project materials will result in a reduction of your final grade by a third of a grade (A to A-, B+ to B, etc.) for every day that final project materials are either late or only partially submitted.