About
The Center for Performance Studies was formed in 2005, supported by the Deans of the School of Theater, Film, and Television, the School of Arts and Architecture, the College of the Humanities, and the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor. We use performance as an organizing concept for studying a wide range of behaviors and situations, from tourism to tango to the internet. Unlike some other understandings of Performance Studies, we invite all approaches to the study of performance. For example, we have enjoyed working with our colleagues in Classics, English, and Musicology who reconstruct performative historical events. Performance Studies also provides a theoretical lens for thinking about how gender, race, and sexuality are both performative and performed.
Our participating faculty and graduate students belong to the departments of Theater, Film, Anthropology, Design, Art History, Musicology, Ethnomusicology, Women’s Studies, World Arts and Cultures, English, French, German, and Comparative Literature. The Center seeks to provide a resource through which students and faculty can come together to consider the study of performance across disciplines and schools.
We host guest lectures, conferences, and performances. In addition to the other participating centers at UCLA, CPS is also an affiliate of the Hemispheric Institute: http://hemisphericinstitute.org.
We invite you to join us as a participating member or as a guest at one of our events.
Sue-Ellen Case, Director