The Department of Theater Studies combines cutting edge theater research with the creation and development of new works for the theater and offers new approaches to the study and interpretation of the riches of world drama.
Among our majors we create enlightened artists and scholars. The hundreds of students who take our courses each year gain an appreciation of the value of the imagination in their approach to their work and their lives.
We are a strong force in the culture of Duke University, always searching out ways in which live theater can support and illuminate various types of intellectual inquiry. The interdisciplinary nature of our field is of central importance to us and we continually seek ways to be in productive dialogue with other disciplines.
Our highest goal is to represent the idea that theater is an art and a discipline that can explore and express the concerns and hopes of every type of human community.
Our unique role within the university is to marry theory and practice in both our research and teaching through scholarly and creative endeavors that earn national and international attention.