The Graduate Group in Cultural Studies at UC Davis offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture and society that highlights how sexuality, race, ability, citizenship, gender, nationality, class and language organize embodied identities, social relations and cultural objects. With the close guidance and supervision of a faculty committee, students in the program pursue interdisciplinary research in areas including studies of comparative and critical race, ecocriticism, fashion, queer theory, media and popular cultural representation, science and technology, Marxist theory, travel and tourism, food, physical and cognitive abilities, cultural geography, transnational culture and politics, globalization, religion, rhetoric, performance, and critical theory. Although both the Ph.D. and M.A. are offered, applications are only accepted for the Ph.D. program, and the M.A. is available as a terminal degree in route to the Ph.D.
The DE in Studies in Performance and Practice presents a critical way of thinking about practices of communication, from film and stage, to sports, religion, and everday behavior, among many other areas. This DE is inherently interdisciplinary and collaborative, and interacts closely with the proliferating new media for communication. Studies in Performance and Practice engages students in critical approaches to theory and practice.