DTS student in The White Quadrangle by half/angel March 2005 Photo: B. Ferriter ©

University College Cork has developed a national and international reputation for its innovative programmes in Drama & Theatre Studies. This twelve-month (90 credit) Masters programme offers students a number of pathways for progression, with opportunities to engage with contemporary theatre practice and criticism through seminar and studio work, productions and individual projects. As a final project, students opt to write a full research dissertation of 12,000 words, or to engage in a practice-based research project in combination with a shorter dissertation of 8000 words. Recent graduates have developed final projects in drama-and-education, theatre production and performance, play translation, performance & disability and theatre and new technologies.

This MA is run by The Board of Drama & Theatre Studies at U.C.C., and draws on staff from Drama & Theatre Studies, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. There is a lively context of debate around theatre and performance at The Granary Theatre. This includes PERFORUM (a fortnightly series of talks and performances), and a programme of workshops given by visiting professional practitioners.

This one-year fulltime programme runs from late September to the following September. Below is an outline of how the programme is structured and a copy of the current College Calendar entry covering the programme. Module descriptions can be found on the current Book of Modules via the UCC website.

• Non-EU students apply through the International Education Office, UCC: http://www.ucc.ie/en/international/ and follow the links from there for the full details.
• Entry to the programme involves an interview with staff. For overseas applicants this can be done by phone.
• Entry favours graduates with a high quality theatre studies background but also includes students who come in through a professional route and those who come with other specialisations (such as education, for instance). The nature of the applicant's background and ambitions will play a large part in determining which strand they might follow.
• We use cumulative GPAs or their equivalent as a guideline but we are really interested in assessing the totality of the applicant's profile to date in considering applications.
• The level of practical work varies, depending on the strand chosen, but the overall educational philosophy of the programme stresses what are called Active Learning Strategies and the integration of theory and practice. Virtually all our classes are held in studio and use a form we call the "practical seminar" which tends to combine practice-based methodologies with reading, analysis and discussion.
• We 15 students in the programme in the current year. We hope to increase that number next year. As the year progresses the class splits into specialist strands.
• Class composition varies radically from year to year in terms of age profile, nationality, background etc. It is part of our policy to encourage diversity among course participants.

This is a 12-month programme (end of September to end of September) and experience suggests that it really does take the full year. Formal classwork finishes in April/May and the final few months are spent working on your research project. The nature of the research project may determine where you work during that time but meetings with your supervisor will almost certainly be necessary.

For general information on Drama & Theatre Studies in UCC visit our website: http://drama.ucc.ie

For full details of the programme, visit the general University website: http://www.ucc.ie

For enquiries contact the administrator Ms Siobhan Keane-Hopcraft s.hopcraft@ucc.ie or a member of Drama & Theatre Studies staff or a member of the Board of Drama & Theatre Studies.

*note: This information is for general guidance only. Course details and schedules may change from year to year. No guarantee is given that the schedules, entry requirements or regulations mentioned here may not be altered, cancelled or replaced by UCC at any time.

MA DRAMA & THEATRE STUDIES – STRUCTURE IN CURRENT YEAR 2007-08

Week 1: Introductory Session, settling of timetable etc. Weeks 2 – 9: Research Methods (taken by all MA DTS students) An introduction to some of the fields of enquiry, issues, questions and methods of research in theatre and related fields. Presentations and seminars supported (where appropriate) by workshops etc. This will include two-week generic introduction into research questions and issues and six weeks of seminars (two weeks on each specific programme area) identifying research fields, questions and methodologies, writing and documentation issues. This will be followed throughout the year by PERFORUM attendance and regular seminars in which issues related to formulation, development and presentation of research projects will be explored. 20 CREDITS
IN CONSULTATION WITH STAFF, STUDENTS THEN FOLLOW ONE OF THE THREE SPECIALISED STRANDS OF STUDY, LEADING INTO THE FINAL PART OF THE PROGRAMME, THE RESEARCH PROJECT.
ADVANCED THEATRE PRACTICE weeks 10 –24 Co-ordinator: Dr Franc Chamberlain The main focus of this course is on performance. Improvisation, devising, and physical theatre practices will form a significant part of the course. 30 CREDITS	APPLIED THEATRE & DRAMA weeks 10 - 24 Co-ordinator: Dr Manfred Schewe Main focus will be on educational drama in various forms. Consideration will also be given to some other applications of theatre/drama: community theatre/drama; therapeutic applications of theatre & drama et al. 30 CREDITS	THE PLAYWRIGHT IN CONTEMPORARY THEATRE Co-ordinators: Dr Mary Noonan & Dr Ger FitzGibbon Focus will be on the practices and issues surrounding the development of texts for theatre performance. Work of some major 20th century playwrights will be studied, along with strongly-related issues: the work of the dramaturg and dramaturgical analysis; issues relating to adaptation of classic texts; text devising and other writing practices; the text and performance. 30 CREDITS
INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECT* weeks 25 – 52 Dissertation or Practice-Based Research or Practice-As-Research. *supervised by staff on the MA teaching team or members of the Board of Drama & Theatre Studies or members of staff supported by consultants expert in the field. 40 CREDITS

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