Student Resources
Professional Development
Externships
Externships for credit with professional theater institutions are encouraged, and students desiring such advanced training have been placed under appropriate direction to function as literary advisers or dramaturgs, administrators, archivists, and curators and to study and explore various other production procedures.
Professionalization Event Series
The Professionalization Committee provides a series of in-house events with the aim of preparing students to become professionals in the field of theater and performance studies. Areas covered include events related to demystifying the profession, which cover conferences, publishing, and the academic job search. Learn more »
Mentoring and Advising
All entering students are assigned a faculty adviser to help them with course selection and other program requirements and to act as mentor during the course of their academic career at the Graduate Center. Advisers provide academic, professional and career guidance and are focused on preparing students for impactful and fulfilling careers in the field of Theatre and Performance Studies.
See the Program Handbook for more on faculty mentoring »
Organizations and Interest Groups
Doctoral Theatre Students' Association
The Doctoral Theatre Students' Association (DTSA) is comprised of all the students enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Theatre and Performance at The Graduate Center. The DTSA fosters a sense of community and organizes events that are of benefit to the entire student population. Eleven DTSA officers are elected each spring and operate under the Doctoral and Graduate Students' Council (DGSC) as per the DTSA Constitution. DTSA board members serve as student representatives for the Executive, Admissions & Awards, and Curriculum & Membership Committees, as well as to The Graduate Council and DGSC.
Visit the DTSA website »
The DTSA holds an annual conference along with carious student-led events throughout the year, and sponsors the Edwin Booth Award.
The Edwin Booth Award was established in 1983 by the DTSA to honor an individual or organization that has had a significant impact on theater and performance in New York. Named after the 19th-century actor who was also famed for his intellect, the award seeks to unite the professional and academic theater communities. Award recipients are nominated and elected by members of the DTSA, who also produce the ceremony. Recipients choose the format of the event, which has varied from panel discussions to personal testimony.
The event is recorded and the video kept in the Theatre and Performance Program's video collection. The transcript for the 1997 Booth Award, presented to Richard Foreman, was published in Theatre (vol. 28, no. 1).
Previous Award Recipients:
2019 - Ishmael Houston-Jones
2018 - Young Jean Lee
2017 - Taylor Mac
2016 - Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir
2015 - María Irene Fornés
2014 - Elevator Repair Service
2013 - Woodie King Jr.
2012 - Split Britches
2011 - Stephen Sondheim
2010 - Charles Mee
2009 - Judith Malina
2008 - Karen Finley
2007 - Mabou Mines
2006 - HERE Arts Center
2005 - Paula Vogel
2004 - The Classical Theatre of Harlem
2003 - The New York Theatre Workshop
2002 - Tony Kushner
2001 - Anne Bogart and The S.I.T.I. Company
2000 - Performance Space 122
1999 - Dixon Place
1998 - Hal Prince
1997 - Richard Foreman
1996 - The Brooklyn Academy of Music
1995 - Anne Hamburger and En Garde Arts
1994 - JoAnne Akalaitis
1993 - The Wooster Group
1992 - Arthur Miller
1991 - Al Hirschfeld
1990 - Robert Whitehead
1989 - Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival
1988 - The Ridiculous Theatrical Company
1987 - Joseph Chaiken
1986 - Stanley Kauffmann
1985 - The Negro Ensemble Company
1984 - Ellen Stewart
1983 - The Royal Shakespeare Company