M.A. Comparative Dramaturgy and Performance Research

A new master’s programme is currently being offered within the scope of a partnership between five European universities. It is aimed at students who are interested in working in international and intercultural contexts such as festivals, co-productions, exchange programmes and collaborations.

This master’s programme is a response to the challenges being posed by increasing international and intercultural collaboration in the performing arts, and is establishing a new field of study, that of general and comparative dramaturgy. Going beyond the classical understanding of dramaturgy, it aims to establish dramaturges as experts for international and intercultural issues, who can help people to view the proximity of the Other – too often perceived as threat – as an opportunity. The programme’s comparative approach intends to connect different theatre cultures with one another and to mediate between them. At the same time, the attribute of “general” dramaturgy means that these dramaturges, as the theoretical minds of theatre, will be equipped to answer questions that go beyond day-to-day operations and examine the foundations of theatre. These are both questions of aesthetics and interdisciplinarity which have resulted from a broadening of the concept of theatre and changes to the job profile of the dramaturge that have taken place over the course of the last few decades due to developments such as the “post-dramatic theatre” and the “performative turn”. Therefore it is a central part of the programme to discuss questions from the fields of philosophy, sociology and politics.

This master’s programme aims to prepare students for positions in international cultural collaborations, in cultural education and in multinational cultural productions during a study programme that focuses on both research and practice. It is open to students in the participating countries who have a pronounced interest in transnational collaborations in the arts. During their studies at two European universities, they will become familiar with theatre practice and research in different national contexts and will receive profound insights into a wide variety of production conditions and processes in the different countries during a mandatory internship abroad.

Students will graduate from the two universities that they studied at with a double degree M.A. in Comparative Dramaturgy and Performance Research.