Today's academic discourse is filled with the word 'perform'. Nestled amongst a variety of prefixes and suffixes (re-, post-, -ance, -ivity?), the term functions as a vehicle for a host of contemporary inquiries. For students, artists, and scholars of performance and theatre, this development is intriguing and complex. By examining the history of theatre studies and related institutions and by comparing the very different disciplinary interpretations and developments that led to this engagement, Professing Performance offers ways of placing performance theory and performance studies in context. This 2004 book considers the connection amongst a range of performance forms such as oratory, theatre, dance, and performance art and explores performance as both a humanistic and technical field of education. Throughout, she explores the institutional history of performance in the US academy in order to revise current debates around the role of the arts and humanities in higher education.

Winner of the Lilla A. Heston Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Interpretation and Performance Studies from the National Communication Association

Winner of the Lilla A.Heston Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Interpretation and Performance Studies from the National Communication Association

the Best Book Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education

the Best Book Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education

"Highly recommended for its detailed treatment of the obstacles and promise of performance studies." Theatre Journal

"Although a relatively slim volume, Professing Performance is an unusually ambitious, far-ranging and richly textured study." The Drama Review David Savran