Prospective Students

Welcome, prospective Cornell students with an interest in Performing and Media Arts (PMA)!  We hope that this section of our PMA website will provide you with helpful information as you explore Cornell for your undergraduate education. (Information for prospective graduate students.)

The Department of Performing and Media Arts leads students from all disciplines through artistic and scholarly explorations of live performance forms, such as theatre and dance, and mediated forms, such as cinema and television. Students are challenged to think creatively, critically, and historically about the world around them as they identify and interpret the power of image, sound, gesture, and movement and cultivate their own artistic and academic voices.

See the performances and events schedule for Fall 2022 (subject to change).

Transcript

Students from all of Cornell’s colleges come to PMA to combine critical and creative inquiry that can directly inform their career successes, no matter their chosen path. Those who decide to major or minor in PMA may achieve the highest honors available in our field. Our alumni include

• Tony, Emmy, and Oscar winners
• Pulitzer winners
• Accomplished professionals in a range of careers, such as law, business, and education, as well as the arts

Read examples of how Cornell alumni have used skills gained in PMA in their careers.

Our faculty’s strengths span the spectrum of expertise in the performing and media arts, with accomplished researchers and industry professionals building a robust curriculum.

Recent faculty accomplishments are detailed in our News section. 

View a full list of our faculty. 

Our vision is vitally diverse and transnational. In courses and creative endeavors, we focus on the dynamic relationship between art and community. We engage the world around us through our work and fully believe in the arts’ social, political, and cultural impact on local and global problems.

We also believe strongly that training in the arts provides highly valuable, transferrable skills that are not easily gained through work in other disciplines and that are essential in our world today. Industry leaders from a range of fields agree. Visit the links below for articles about the importance and unique benefits of arts training for our world today:

4 Great Leadership Lessons from the Arts (Inc.)

Why Theater Majors Are Vital in the Digital Age (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Are you surprised that the young leaders of the Never Again movement are theatre kids? I’m not. (The Fountain Theatre)

Why Theatre Is Essential to Democracy (TED Talk by Oskar Eustis, artistic director of NYC's legendary Public Theater)

The following links may be helpful as you explore our academic programs, our creative activities, and how to become part of the PMA community:

• Frequently Asked Questions about Cornell and PMA Admissions and the PMA Program
• Current Course Listings
• Older Course Listings
• The PMA Major
• The PMA Minors
• Information for Transfer Students and about Transfer Credit
• Current Performances and Events
• Performances and Events Archive
• Special Programs and Opportunities for PMA Students