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Master of Arts
Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities

Application Extended: Still Accepting Applications

Prepare to work as a theatre artist and educator in arts organizations, private and community colleges, galleries, museums, and a broad range of cultural settings. You’ll develop new strategies focused on teaching and learning through drama while experimenting in the creation and presentation of theatre for diverse audiences.

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Degree Details

Official Degree Title

Master of Arts in Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities

Format
Full-time or Part-time
Credits
36
Start Date
Fall
Application Deadline

Your faculty and advisors will collaborate with you to create a program that authentically reflects your burgeoning interests, needed support, and relevant expertise, ensuring that you learn: 

  • How to design, implement, and evaluate culturally responsive theatre by and for myriad constituents
  • How to appraise and analyze the changing roles of theatre and education within complex and politicized transnational spaces
  • How to identify gaps in the field from theoretical, practical, and aesthetic perspectives, generating new knowledge accordingly
  • How to formulate, implement, and modify teaching and learning strategies using drama frameworks to explore content
  • How to experiment in the creation and presentation of theatre in formal or informal settings, using a variety of methods and structures

You can choose an area of specialization from Applied Theatre, Drama Education, and Play Production for Artists and Educators; in addition, you may opt to craft your own pathway of study.

You can complete this degree while working, and have options for global study or a three-summer course sequence.

This degree is designed with flexibility and individuality at the forefront. You will complete course work that includes: 

  • Seminal research in the field
  • Investigations of pedagogy and aesthetics
  • Practical application of educational theatre content

You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in the Educational Theatre program’s two annual main-stage shows, author production-specific curriculum guides and supplementary materials, design the accompanying learning segments, and facilitate workshops with members of our student audiences. 

Alumni pursue aesthetic, educational, and administrative opportunities that do not require certification, including positions at private and community colleges, arts organizations, galleries, museums, educational outreach centers, behavioral health and prevention facilities, community and housing programs, youth and adult detainment centers, and theatre/arts agencies

You’ll also be well prepared to continue your graduate study in the form of a terminal degree, seeking an EdD or PhD in a related field.

Educational Theatre Scholarships

Graduate and Doctoral students in the Program in Educational Theatre may receive scholarships through one or both of the following methods. The first is through completing the Steinhardt Financial Aid process and potentially receiving merit or need based scholarships. Information on this process is available through the Financial Aid website for graduate students.

The second method is by applying for Educational Theatre Scholarships directly through the Program.

Eligibility Criteria for Educational Theatre Scholarships

  • Educational Theatre Scholarship applicants must be graduate or doctoral students in the Program in Educational Theatre who demonstrate service to the Program, academic merit, or artistic merit.
  • Doctoral students can receive scholarships up to two times, but not in consecutive semesters. Master’s students can receive a scholarship only once.
  • If doctoral students who have already received the award apply again, information included in the statement should only pertain to work completed after the previous award.
  • Priority is given to students with financial need.

Awards

Up to a $5,000 bursary will be awarded to students and applied to their Bursar account in one of four areas: Service-based, Academic Merit, Artistic Merit, or Study Abroad.

Note that these scholarships can only be applied towards tuition and/or registration fees for NYU/Educational Theatre courses.

Application Procedure

Students can apply for these scholarships after completing one semester of study. An application form will be circulated to current students through the program’s list serve approximately two - three weeks prior to the start of registration for the upcoming term.

Application Deadlines

  • Fall – April 1
  • Spring – November 1
  • Summer – January 24

The application form requires:

  • a faculty member to support the application
  • selection of one of the four award areas (Service-based, Academic Merit, Artistic Merit, or Study Abroad)
  • a statement of no more than 500 words responding to a corresponding prompt

Statement Prompts:

Service-based:
Statement of Service describing the ways in which you have provided service to the Program that is deserving of acknowledgement.

Academic Merit:
Statement of Academic Merit describing the ways in which your academic work is deserving of acknowledgement.

Artistic Merit:
Statement of Artistic Merit describing the ways in which your artistic work is deserving of acknowledgement.

Study Abroad:
Statement of Service, Academic Merit, or Artistic Merit describing the ways in which your work is deserving of acknowledgement through scholarship for the study abroad program.

Scholarships

Nancy and Lowell Swortzell Permanent Fund in Educational Theatre Scholarships

This scholarship honors the legacy of Nancy and Lowell Swortzell, distinguished professors who founded the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU Steinhardt in 1966, and continued teaching in the program for 40 years. In the spirit of their work, we are pleased to support the financial needs of students as they work toward completion of their degree. Awards are available to students at the graduate and doctoral levels.

Myoung-Cheul Chung Scholarship in Educational Theatre

This scholarship for Educational Theatre students was created by one of the Program's alumni, Mr. Myoung-Cheul Chung, MA '95. The scholarship has supported graduate students in Educational Theatre since its inception in 1999. Mr. Chung was a student of Nancy and Lowell Swortzell, the founders of the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU.

Email Jonathan Jones for more information.

Questions 

If you have any additional questions about our degree, please feel free to contact Jonathan Jones at jonathan.jones@nyu.edu.

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