Applicable only to students admitted during the 2025-2026 academic year.

World Arts and Cultures/Dance

School of the Arts and Architecture

Graduate Degrees

The Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance offers the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in Choreographic Inquiry and the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Culture and Performance.

Choreographic Inquiry

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

The M.F.A. degree in Choreographic Inquiry is organized around the relationship between the individual student, the student’s adviser, the full
M.F.A. faculty, and once the student’s Capstone Proposal has been accepted, the student’s M.F.A. Capstone Plan Committee. Entering students will be assigned a faculty adviser from among the department’s M.F.A. faculty for the first year. This adviser will take primary responsibility for academic counseling. The student may request a change of adviser, depending on the student’s focus of studies. Before requesting a change, however, the student must justify the change with their current faculty adviser. Students meet with their respective faculty adviser each quarter to plan their program of study for the subsequent quarter. Each student’s progress is assessed periodically by the full M.F.A. faculty.

Areas of Study

The WACD MFA in Choreographic Inquiry is a two-year program designed to support and focus the research interests of choreographic artists and, for those who wish, to prepare them for teaching at the university level. The program focuses on the ethics and aesthetics of art-making, exploring cultural and political issues that arise for contemporary artists, with an attention to dance-making in a global and interdisciplinary context. These interests may be pursued in consultation with the faculty academic adviser.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students must successfully complete a total of 72 units. The 72 units of course work required for the degree must include a minimum of 44 units of graduate and professional courses (200 and 400 series). Courses must be taken for a letter grade (unless a course is offered as S/U only) to count towards degree progress and students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.0. No more than four units of WL Arts 596A may be applied toward the degree, and the course must be designed in consultation with the faculty adviser.

The required courses are distributed as follows:

1. Creative practice – 20 units (Dance 211A-D; additional units may be selected from Dance 274B or 490)
2. Theoretical/critical studies seminars – 12 units chosen in consultation with student’s faculty adviser (Dance or WL Arts 200-series courses). Up to 4 of those units may be taken from appropriate graduate-level courses outside the department, with approval from the student’s faculty adviser or Capstone Plan Committee Chair
3. Production/practicum experience – 12 units (Dance C243; additional units may be selected from production/design courses: Dance 441, C271 or others in consultation with student’s faculty adviser)
4. Electives in all areas (e.g., education, movement studies, internship, field work, movement practices) – 28 units

Students are expected to be actively engaged in movement practice(s) throughout their studies. To continue into the second year of the program, students must successfully complete the first-year curriculum by earning a minimum grade of B in Dance 211A-C.

Required Courses	Units
Dance 211A	4
Dance 211B	4
Dance 211C	4
Dance 211D	4
One creative process course (may be 490, 274B)	4
Three 200-series theoretical/critical studies seminars	12
Dance C243 (offered every other Fall quarter: 2023, 2025, 2027…)	4
Three production courses in addition to C243 (may be 441, 271)	8
Elective courses (may be 100, 200, 400 or 500-series)	28
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	72 Units

Teaching Experience

Teaching experience is not a requirement. However, it is highly recommended for those who plan to teach in their area of specialization. Students receive a questionnaire each year from the Department Chair to establish their teaching interests and credentials for the following academic year.

Field Experience

Field experience is not required. However, engagement with local communities is strongly encouraged.

Capstone Plan

The M.F.A. program follows the Capstone Plan towards completion of degree. An individual project evaluated by the candidate’s proposed three-member Capstone Plan Committee is required. Prerequisites for the individual project include a substantial research paper, a written proposal for the student’s Capstone Project, and presentation to members of the M.F.A. faculty of the proposed work(s). The research paper must be completed prior to submission of the Capstone Project written proposal and presentation. The written proposal must include fundamental concepts, objectives, and production plans for the Capstone Project. M.F.A. candidates under the Capstone Plan prepare a culminating presentation (Concert Model) in the second year, or a series of presentations (Portfolio Model), for their respective Capstone Projects. Students may obtain specific guidelines from the department for the completion of the research paper, written proposal, and the Capstone Project presentation.

After passing the preliminary requirements for the Capstone Project, the student formalizes their proposed three-member M.F.A. Capstone Plan Committee, which advises the student in developing the Capstone Project. Students may obtain specific guidelines for nominating the Capstone Plan committee from the department. The student may form an M.F.A. Capstone Plan Committee when Dance 211A-C are completed, Dance 211D and C243 are underway, and the proposal for the student’s Capstone Plan has been accepted by the M.F.A. faculty. The student is advanced to candidacy once the required course work and all portions of the preliminary requirements of the Capstone Plan are passed. An oral defense of the Capstone project concert material is held with the candidate’s M.F.A. Capstone Plan Committee, immediately after the Capstone Project has completed.

A written production book with analysis and critique and a short form video about the Capstone must be completed after the Capstone Project. Students may obtain specific guidelines from the department. The production book is filed in the department archives along with the video of the candidate’s Capstone Project.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Students normally complete the M.F.A. requirements within six quarters of full-time study. The number of required quarters is dependent on the student’s need to complete prerequisites or additional coursework on choreographic investigations, but may not exceed nine quarters.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.F.A.	6	6	9

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.