Graduate Programs in Dance at The Ohio State University
Come as you are.
Leave as who you want to be.
Application Deadline: October 15
Dear Colleagues,
We are gearing up for our application season for our MFA in Dance and our PhD in Dance Studies at The Ohio State University, and I am writing with information about our programs to encourage your current and former students and mentees who are interested in pursuing graduate studies in dance to apply.
Our application portal opened on August 1, 2023. Our application deadline is on October 15, 2023 for matriculation in August 2024.
About The Ohio State University Department of Dance:
Through a focus on praxis, or the symbiotic relationship between theory and practice, the collective mission of The Ohio State University Department of Dance is to manifest a pluralistic and inclusive 21st century dance curriculum. We are invested in and committed to continuously deepening our engagement with underrepresented archives and repertoires in dance and dance studies. We value and provide study in a diverse range of movement practices and styles that influence the multifaceted nature of dance today.
To that end, we are committed to cultivating a rigorous curriculum that draws upon multiple disciplinary and artistic approaches while encouraging students to position their own work and development within broad social contexts. Our curriculum is designed to develop concrete skills in dance performance, choreography, wellness and conditioning, historical and critical analysis, technology, and pedagogy and to instill an intellectually broad and deep appreciation of the role that dance plays in human cultures around the world while ensuring our students are competitive in the current marketplace.
We are committed to academic excellence, inclusive diversity, freedom of expression, activism, social transformation and civic responsibility. Our department’s priority is to cultivate artist-citizens committed to leadership, community, equity and critical social justice.
The Ohio State Dance Graduate Program is comprised of two distinct paths of graduate study: the MFA in Dance and the PhD in Dance Studies. We are deeply informed by cultural studies approaches to dance on stages, screens, in multimedia environments, and in communities, supported by faculty expertise in African, Asian, European, Latinè and Jewish diasporic practices and histories.
Our programs push the boundaries of dance research through choreographic and performative exploration, innovative use of digital technologies, re-imagined documentation and analysis of dance practices, and emerging critical theory in conversation with historical and cultural contexts.
We have competitive funding packages available in both programs that include full tuition remission, a monthly stipend, and a 100% health insurance subsidy.
The MFA in Dance at The Ohio State University is an individualized three-year program of study that furthers emerging and returning professionals' unique interests in the creation and teaching of dance with a focus on the interdependence of artistry, pedagogy and critical dance studies as platforms for critical civic engagement and liberatory aesthetic practices. It is a practice-as-research-based, residential terminal degree for artists and artist-scholars who are curious, multidisciplinary, focused, and ready to go deep as makers, movers, and pedagogues. Ideal MFA candidates understand and demonstrate what it means to be working artists and reflective practitioners, and arrive in the program in a spirit of open-minded inquiry and a desire to expand their knowledge and artistry. The successful MFA candidate will have a desire to pursue practice-based projects in realms both familiar and yet unknown. The M.F.A. in Dance is a terminal degree that qualifies the successful candidate to work in a variety of academic, artistic and professional settings, including teaching at a university-level or in community-engagement contexts, directing a performance company, managing an arts organization, working as a performance curator or festival director, or devising performance work.
For more information and to apply to the MFA in Dance >
The PhD in Dance Studies at The Ohio State University is a writing- and scholarship-based, 5-year residential terminal degree for scholars and scholar-practitioners who are curious, multidisciplinary, focused, and ready to invest in becoming critical scholars and scholar-practitioners. The PhD program focuses on historical, archival, ethnographic, theoretical, and digital humanities approaches to dance research grounded in embodied knowledge. The PhD in Dance Studies culminates in a written dissertation on a topic of the student’s devising that demonstrates acumen in writing longform prose, developing and sustaining an argument, mobilizing bodily, archival, ethnographic, digital, and/or theoretical evidence, and maintaining profound awareness of developments in the student’s field and subfield(s). While the dissertation must consist of written work, it may include other forms of video or film productions with the approval of the relevant committee and the graduate advisor. Centered in movement practices, doctoral research at The Ohio State University can range from stage, to screen, to communities, to digital contexts, virtual reality, and beyond. Dance is our launching point. PhD students situate their inquiries within a broad-based understanding of dance studies research and methods by harnessing the interdisciplinary resources that the dance faculty and larger university have to offer.
For more information and to apply to the PhD in Dance Studies >
We will have a day of online information sessions on October 6, 2023 from 2:15 - 3:15 p.m. (EST) to answer applicants’ questions whether they plan on applying this year or in a future year.
The diverse world-renowned artists, scholars, and pedagogues on our faculty foster students to innovate in dance research through choreographic and performative exploration, cutting-edge use of digital technologies, engaged community-based and social justice processes, re-imagined documentation and analysis of dance practices, and emerging critical theory in conversation with transnational historical, cultural, and pedagogical contexts. Our courses, professional development opportunities, and international networks prepare students for careers as artists, scholars, teachers, social and policy advocates, curators and administrators, and careers yet to be discovered. Our state-of-the-art facilities include five spacious studios, an intermedia studio-performance space and motion capture studio, an equipped and convertible black-box theater, an hybrid studio/seminar space, a computer and media lab, technologically-equipped seminar rooms, and a light-filled office area. The Department of Dance takes seriously its responsibility to expand access to rigorous and diverse dance training as well as public understanding of and appreciation for dance- whether that be creatively, culturally, or educationally.
The Ohio State University campus is located in Columbus, the capital city of Ohio. Columbus is the Midwest’s fastest-growing city and the nation’s 14th largest city. Columbus offers a diverse array of welcoming neighborhoods, a vibrant arts and culture scene, and is home to one of the largest Pride festivals in the Midwest. Columbus is a smart, dynamic and progressive city. Additional information about all that the Columbus area has to offer is available at https://visit.osu.edu/experience.
We look forward to seeing your students’ and mentees’ applications this fall! Do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions about our graduate programs or application process. Please send inquiries to Amy Schmidt, academic program coordinator at schmidt.442@osu.edu, Dr. Hannah Kosstrin, graduate studies committee co-chair (PhD program) at kosstrin.1@osu.edu, and Crystal Michelle Perkins, graduate studies committee co-chair (MFA program) at perkins.642@osu.edu.
Warmly,
Charles O. Anderson
Professor, Chair
Interested in pursuing a graduate degree in dance at Ohio State?
Spend some time with our faculty learning about our MFA and PhD programs and the application process to apply for this year or a future year. All activities are online via Zoom. Participants must pre-register and will be contacted with additional information, including any Zoom links.
Grad Day October 6, 2023 2:15PM - 3:15PM (EST) Photo: Brother(hood) Dance! (Photo by Ryan Muir)
