PhD in Performance Studies - Study of Religion in Davis United States | University of California Davis

The Performance Studies Ph.D. program spans four to five years. During the initial two years, students gain foundational knowledge by selecting from diverse course options to establish their research focus. The curriculum mandates completing four out of nine core courses, including PFS 200 and three selections from PFS 265 A-D. Additional PFS 265 courses offered quarterly can also fulfill these requirements. Students must complete four out of five core performance studies courses plus one colloquium. Their personalized academic path combines seminars, practice-based research, and independent or collaborative studies, focusing on one or more program specializations: Comparative Medias, Embodiments, Cultures/Ecologies, and History/Text. Courses are available across HArCS departments, with Designated Emphases including Performance & Practice, African American & African Studies, Critical Theory, Feminist Theory & Research, Native American Studies, Religious Studies, Science & Technology Studies, and Writing, Rhetoric & Composition Studies. A minimum of 60 units must be completed before the qualifying exam, with no more than 12 undergraduate units allowed without advisor approval.

The Designated Emphasis in Religious Studies offers graduate students interdisciplinary perspectives on religion's historical conceptualization and its ongoing influence on global thought patterns, particularly in Western contexts. Instead of treating religion as a static influence on dynamic fields like literature or society, this program examines religious study as an evolving, context-dependent discipline that actively shapes its subject matter.