Graduate Assistantships and Fellowships
All applicants may apply for graduate assistantships. PhD students may be awarded half-time (.5) assistantships paying a minimum of $18,026.00 for nine months and quarter-time (.25) assistantships paying $9,013.00. MA students’ half-time assistantships pay a minimum of $16,389.00 ($8,194.00 for .25 assistantships). Holders of half-time or quarter-time assistantships are eligible for a full tuition waiver. Graduate Assistants may be assigned teaching, research, Box Office Management, or other administrative duties.
Theatre graduate students are also eligible to compete for university graduate fellowships, which pay a stipend either in addition to a graduate assistantship or in lieu of one. The Office of Graduate Studies Fellowships includes George Washington Carver and Gus T. Ridgel Fellowships, which are intended to increase the number of underrepresented minority Americans (African Americans, Hispanic Americans and American Indians/Alaskan Native Americans) enrolled in and successfully completing graduate programs. AmeriCorps/VISTA/Teach for America/Missouri Advising Corps
Graduate Fellowships are designed to reward volunteers who recently completed
assignments in these service organizations and are accepted into master’s or doctoral degree programs in fields related to their prior service and oriented toward a relevant career. Graduate students may be nominated for fellowships after they have been accepted into an MU graduate program.
Teaching Opportunities
Our Department is strongly committed to developing outstanding theatre and performance educators. We therefore offer Graduate Students extensive teaching opportunities, including assisting faculty, co-teaching with faculty, and teaching independently. MA students may be assigned to assist faculty teaching Introduction to Theatre (Theatre in Society), Script Analysis, and Beginning Scenic Construction. Doctoral students may assist in these courses but are also instructors of record for a wide range of courses, including Theatre in Society, Acting for Non-majors; Beginning and Intermediate Playwriting; Screenwriting; Introduction to Performance Studies; Introduction to Theatre History; African-American Theatre and Drama; Adaptation of Literature; Stage Movement; and Stage Make-up. Graduate students have developed and taught new courses, including interdisciplinary and Honors courses. Graduate students are also offered opportunities to teach during summer sessions. Since 2011, graduate students have TA’d and taught special courses in creativity under the supervision of Dr. Suzanne Burgoyne, including Gen Honors 3120H “Creativity for the Non-Arts Major,” Gen Honors 1030H Honors Discussion Group: “Rediscovering Your Creativity,” and a special mini-course in creativity for Bioengineering 4980.
Special employment opportunities
Graduate students may work with our Interactive Theatre Troupe as performers, writers, directors, or administrators and may serve as Managing Director of the Mizzou Playwrights Workshop. In addition, Graduate students may be hired to participate in MU’s professional Summer Repertory Season as performers, dramaturgs, designers, stage managers, or in design/tech positions.
To apply for a graduate assistantship, please include a brief statement of interest in your application package and inform us which of the assignments described briefly above best matches your background, experience, and interests. Cite formal training and work experience; also indicate which jobs you'd most like to do even though you may not feel qualified. Please note that the policy of the Theatre Department is to rotate graduate assistants through most of the positions above, meaning you may not be assigned your first choice when you enter the program. This rotation is designed to build your resume.
After admission to our program, qualified graduate students in theatre may also apply for teaching assistantships in the Department of Communication and the Department of English.