Rationale and Background
The Master’s Degree in Performing Arts is a research-oriented postgraduate program, which began its program in September 2008 with the purpose of contributing to the training of researchers trained to study different aspects of the diversity of historical and emerging scenic manifestations that have taken place in our country, without neglecting to consider any other foreign scenic manifestation.
The Master’s Degree in Performing Arts responds to the demand for training high-quality human resources to promote research in the performing arts, and seeks permanent openness to the study of new themes and problems in the performing arts within the complexity of social phenomena. and artistic. It is also proposed to raise the level of teaching in the training of professionals in the performing arts that impact the artistic quality and renewal of scenic discourses.
In 1959, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) opened the first degree with a profile in dramatic literature in our country. For its part, in 1976 the Universidad Veracruzana was the first to consider theater education in Mexico in a more specialized and, at the same time, broader manner, in the sense of specifically training actors trained in all aspects of stage work. The educational models of the first open degrees in the 20th century obeyed the concepts of «profession» limited by the conventional division of labor. On the other hand, the models of the 21st century adopted by the Faculty of Theater of the UV operate through complex thinking, opening the areas of artistic training to their connections with scientific knowledge and those that emerge from the experience of people in their social environment.
Currently (2021) there are around 73 degree programs directly related to theater art and dance in Mexico. Most of these degrees have been opened in the last 30 years or so. A good number of these degrees have formed their teaching staff with graduates of those degrees. The teaching staff is completed with professionals from other specialties, with academics or artists with theater training who have been prepared informally, in the workplace, with experience and recognition of their artistic work. In the vast majority of cases, the members of these teaching plants lack postgraduate studies in any scenic specialty (theater or dance among the most common) which they supply through postgraduate studies in humanities or social sciences.
More than sixty years after the beginning of higher education in the performing arts in our country, with a considerable number of university schools and graduates, and in view of the demand for academic professionals specialized in the different tasks of theatrical work, among them, the teaching, creation and research, there was no higher education institution that offered postgraduate training in any area of the performing arts, a task that the Universidad Veracruzana set itself. The Master of Performing Arts (MAE) program of the Theater Faculty of the Veracruzana University was approved in December 2007 and began the first generation courses in August 2008, being the first postgraduate of its kind nationwide. The initial MAE Study Plan governed the work of the first four generations of students. In 2016, the General University Council of the Universidad Veracruzana approved the second MAE Study Plan, which was prepared by the members of the Academic Core in response to the analysis made on the strengths and limitations of the previous Plan. The current 2016 Study Plan was reviewed and updated in 2021.
Vision
The Master’s Degree in Performing Arts is a national and international reference in relation to the studies and teaching of Performing Arts, and contributes decisively to the generation of new knowledge
Mission
Train high-level professionals in research, artistic creation and teaching, whose contributions contribute to the generation of knowledge about the performing arts as an object of study related to knowledge of the humanities and social sciences, as well as to the improvement and strengthening of their practice for the benefit of society.
Objective
The Master’s Degree in Performing Arts has the general objective of training students with rigor and academic discipline, as well as with flexibility and openness to the scenic phenomenon, so that this allows them, among other skills, to discover topics that are rarely treated, propose new approaches for the study of issues that have been studied from other perspectives and temporalities, as well as developing original treatments on complex problems in the performing arts.
Curriculum Structure
General structure of the 2016 Study Plan
The Master’s Degree in Performing Arts lasts 24 months and has a flexible curricular structure. Its design has the objective of favoring curricular adaptations according to the training needs of students and their national or international academic mobility according to their particular trajectory. The flexible nature of the program allows the student to meet their training needs in a non-rigid way. This program is structured horizontally and vertically in five curricular axes that guide the study plan whose objective is to favor the development of competences. The axes of the curricular structure are the following: Basic Area, Advanced Area, Project Development Area, Specialized Seminars and Complementary Academic Activities.
The master’s study plan is made up of a total of 100 credits, equivalent to 810 hours.
