As scholars in Theatre and Performance Studies, our faculty and students use a variety of approaches to collect and analyze various forms of evidence—documents, interviews, images, and objects as well as play scripts. Our methodologies reflect the most current developments in theatre research while still respecting tried and true methods of the past. They include: Historiography, Ethnography, Cultural Studies, Performance Studies, Critical Race, Queer and Gender Studies, Phenomenology, Dramaturgy, and Textual Analysis. These methods are integrated throughout our curriculum.

Each of these methods shares a commitment to exploring performances in their social, historical, and political contexts. Faculty expertise in such areas as devised performance, the ethics of violence, and community activism provide students with examples of how theoretical ideas intersect with performances of the past and present. Our scholarship reflects the belief that performance, from ancient Greek tragedies to the most postmodern performance art, is part of a vital process through which citizens shape their communities. We consider our work as scholars, teachers, and artists integral to that ongoing process.