The M.F.A. in Performance Pedagogy is a terminal degree focused on intensive training in the area of actor training, designed for individuals with a professional performance background who are interested in developing as teachers of acting. Students take courses in acting theory, pedagogy, directing, design, theatre history and dramatic literature in order to develop as teachers at the secondary and university levels. In addition to teaching classes in theatre and performance, students study directing and are required to direct a production for the thesis.
Through mentoring by master teachers, the experience of teaching undergraduates under the guidance of an experienced teacher, and coursework in theatre history, dramatic literature, theatre theory, production, directing, design and theatre pedagogy the student learns how to be a teacher of theatre at the university and professional level.
Our students will be able to take advantage of LMU’s premier location in Los Angeles, the second-largest media/entertainment/artistic market in the United States. Our program is ideally situated to provide our students with dynamic educational experiences that bleed the borders between campus and community for personal and professional enrichment, and connecting students with the diverse cultural and ethnic communities that define the Los Angeles area.
Our program offers an academically rigorous graduate education in the teaching of the arts and humanities, with a focus on how the study of theatre engages the whole person (body, mind and spirit), encouraging students to see their studies in a broad social, ethical and cultural context. The program approaches the study of theatre with the view that theatre is a laboratory for the study of the whole of life.