Visual and Performing Arts Graduate Programs
Integrate study and practice in the arts with academic enrichment from the humanities.
The graduate programs in the visual and performing arts provide an interdisciplinary context to pursue research and practice across a wide range of creative and academic traditions. You can focus your studies in film, visual art, performing arts or art history. You’ll also have the opportunity to enrich your practice in the performing and visual arts and to participate in seminars in other disciplines including history, philosophy and literature.
Doctor of Philosophy in Visual and Performing Arts
The PhD in Visual and Performing Arts degree program is designed primarily for individuals who wish to conduct advanced research and to teach at the college level, and can lead to a wide variety of non-academic careers as well. It is open to qualified candidates who desire to enhance their knowledge and skills.
The program provides students with a flexible, interdisciplinary context within which to pursue their studies, built on connections among specific courses and areas of interest. Each student plans an individual program of studies in consultation with an assigned advisor.
Students pursuing the PhD in Visual and Performing Arts may submit a creative project as part of their dissertation.
| Program Type | Doctorate |
| Format | On campus; full- and part-time options are available |
| Estimated Time to Complete | 5-7 years |
| Semester Credit Hours | 60 |
Coursework
Coursework: 42 semester credit hours
Forty-two semester credit hours of which at least 21 are taken as organized graduate-level courses in Visual and Performing Arts (VPAS).
Required Courses: 30 semester credit hours
VPAS 6300 Proseminar in Visual and Performing Arts1
ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar
15 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level VPAS courses
9 semester credit hours of VPAS 8305 Field Exam Preparation
Elective Courses: 12 semester credit hours
12 semester credit hours of electives in any graduate-level courses.
Foreign Language
Students in all PhD programs in the Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology are expected to demonstrate intermediate-level reading proficiency in a foreign language (equivalent to two years of foreign-language study at the undergraduate level). Students must fulfill the language requirement before scheduling doctoral field examinations.
As part of its approval of a dissertation proposal, the Graduate Studies Committee will consider the appropriateness of a candidate’s language preparation for the research or creative project. Faculty members chairing field examinations and dissertations should ensure that students possess the necessary language proficiency to carry out their proposed doctoral research.
The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment in a PhD program by demonstrating evidence of one or more of the following:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher (e.g., an undergraduate literature course in a foreign language) with a grade of B or better.
- Completion of a graduate course taught in a foreign language or with more than 25% of its required readings in a foreign language.
- An undergraduate major, graduate degree, or certificate in a foreign language.
- Successful completion of graded coursework at a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
- A degree in any discipline from a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
The requirement can be satisfied during graduate study at UT Dallas in one of the following ways:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher at UT Dallas or elsewhere with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of LIT 6326 Translation Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of one of the following: HUMA 6330 French Workshop; HUMA 6331Spanish Workshop; HUMA 6333 German Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Passing a written translation exam in an approved foreign language at UT Dallas.
Doctoral Field Examinations
The doctoral field examinations consist of three written sections and an oral defense. The examining committee, composed of three members of the faculty (at least two of whom are faculty in the Visual and Performing Arts Program), oversees definition and preparation of the three examination fields. Initial committee formation must take place during the semester in which students complete 36 semester credit hours of coursework, which will typically be followed by nine semester credit hours of VPAS 8305: Field Exam Preparation. Exams normally should be completed before completion of 60 semester credit hours.
Dissertation
Students are formally advanced to PhD candidacy when they have successfully completed the doctoral field examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. Students should submit a preliminary dissertation proposal for consideration during the oral section of the doctoral field examination. After that examination, a four-person supervising committee is formed, normally from the examining committee plus an additional faculty member, to oversee dissertation work. The supervising committee must then approve a formal dissertation proposal before the student submits it to the Graduate Studies Committee for final approval.
Each candidate then writes a doctoral dissertation, which is supervised and defended according to general University regulations.
Fact Sheet
Scholarships & Awards
Robert Plant Armstrong Fellowship
Bass School Dean’s Dissertation Completion Award
Harry W. Bass Jr. Graduate Travel Award
Harry W. Bass Jr. Graduate Research Award
Mabel H Bremer Travel Award (Preference given to Literature PhD students)
Betty and Gifford Johnson Travel Award
Edith O’Donnell Graduate Fellowship
Master of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts
The Master of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts offers either a professional option or a research option. Students pursuing the research option for the MA in Visual and Performing Arts may submit a creative project as part of their portfolio.
| Program Type | Master’s |
| Format | On campus; full- and part-time options are available |
| Estimated Time to Complete | 2-3 years |
| Semester Credit Hours | 33 |
Coursework
Coursework: 33 semester credit hours
Thirty-three semester credit hours of which at least 18 semester credit hours are taken as organized graduate-level courses in Visual and Performing Arts.
Required Courses: 21 semester credit hours
VPAS 6300 Proseminar in Visual and Performing Arts1
ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar
15 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level VPAS courses
Free Electives: 12 semester credit hours
Twelve semester credit hours of electives in any graduate-level courses.
Professional Option
Students in the professional option must complete 33 semester credit hours of coursework. They are not required to complete a portfolio or meet the foreign language requirement.
Research Option
Students in the research option must complete 33 semester credit hours of coursework, fulfill a foreign language requirement, and complete a portfolio.
Foreign Language
The research option MA degree requires demonstrated proficiency in an approved foreign language. The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment in the MA program by demonstrating evidence of one or more of the following:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher (e.g., an undergraduate literature course in a foreign language) with a grade of B or better.
- Completion of a graduate course taught in a foreign language or with more than 25% of its required readings in a foreign language.
- An undergraduate major, graduate degree, or certificate in a foreign language.
- Successful completion of graded coursework at a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
- A degree in any discipline from a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
The requirement can be satisfied during graduate study at UT Dallas in one of the following ways:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher at UT Dallas or elsewhere with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of LIT 6326: Translation Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of one of the following: HUMA 6330: French Workshop; HUMA 6331: Spanish Workshop; HUMA 6333: German Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Passing a written translation exam in an approved foreign language at UT Dallas.
Portfolio
Two research papers or a creative project plus a scholarly essay originating in or completed for graduate courses are revised and presented in a portfolio for evaluation by a master’s committee.
Fact Sheet
Scholarships & Awards
Robert Plant Armstrong Fellowship
Harry W. Bass Jr. Graduate Travel Award
Harry W. Bass Jr. Graduate Research Award
Mabel H Bremer Travel Award (Preference given to Literature PhD students)
Betty and Gifford Johnson Travel Award
Edith O’Donnell Graduate Fellowship
Program Highlights
Research and Creative Opportunities
Since our school combines the humanities and the arts, many faculty members are engaged in the creation and performance of artistic works in creative writing and the visual and performing arts.
Six centers and institutes affiliated with the Bass School promote interdisciplinary research:
Discover Our Centers, Labs and Studios →
Our graduate students conduct and present research nationally and internationally.
See our graduate student accomplishments.
Faculty Mentors
Our faculty members will help you gain the knowledge, skills and support you need for a rewarding career. Meet our faculty.
Student Organizations
Get real-world experience and leadership opportunities by performing with our musical ensembles, dance and theatre groups and more.
Explore theatre opportunities →
Explore Arts, Humanities, and Technology Student Organizations →
Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez
Chair in Art and Aesthetic Studies, professor of music
“I was among the first arts and humanities faculty at UT Dallas in 1975. My students and colleagues have brought me many joys, especially the former students who have kept in touch over the past 36 years. I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to make music on campus with my Musica Nova ensemble and to have several of my works performed and sometimes premiered here. After the next 36 years, I will be 101, at which point I hope I can afford to retire.”
Contact Information
Catherine Parsoneault
Visual and Performing Arts Program Head, Clinical Professor, Director of Music, and Assistant Dean for Assessment
Phone: 972-883-2140
Email: catherine.parsoneault@utdallas.edu
Office: JO 4.120
Pia K. Jakobsson
Graduate Academic Advisor
Phone: 972-883-4706
Email: pia.jakobsson@utdallas.edu
Office: JO 4.128
Graduate Advising
Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology
The University of Texas at Dallas, JO31
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
Phone: 972-883-4706
Email: ahtGRadvising@utdallas.edu
Office of Admission and Enrollment
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
972-883-2270 or 1-800-889-2443
admission@utdallas.edu
utdallas.edu/enroll
Our Film Studies program is hosting the Global Cinema Symposium in November 2024. Learn more and join us!