Career prospects
A rough inventory of our alumni’s careers indicates that about 20% of our students find a job immediately after graduation; about 50% find a job within a year; and about 75 % within 2 years.
Graduates of the Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy have gone on to work as:
- theatre or dance dramaturge
- theatre or dance critic
- dramaturgy instructor
- researcher
- public officials for cultural affairs
- employees at training centres for the arts
- director of cultural programmes on radio, television or internet platforms
- curators, organisers and programmers of theatre or dance festivals
- public relations or education employee with theatre or dance companies or performing arts houses
Many of our international students use their knowledge and skills to become a dramaturge, writer, artistic advisor, or organizer of performance events in their homeland, or to start up platforms for the exchange of artistic knowledge.
Towards the job market
Examples of where students found job positions after graduation:
Dries Verhoeven | Nicole Beutler | ICK Amsterdam | Waag Society | ArtEZ School of the Arts Arnhem / Master of Choreography | TM/Theaterkrant | Cinedans | Amsterdam Fringe Festival | Grand Theatre Groningen | Theater Kikker Utrecht | Chassé Theater Breda | Spring Performing Arts Festival Utrecht | Innovation Lab at Theater Utrecht
Alumni on LinkedIn
Anne-Marije van den Bersselaar
Founder of the Concept Store for Artistic Strategies and Coordinator of the Master Institute of Visual Cultures in Tilburg
Jeroen van Wijhe
Teacher Dramaturgy at Fontys Hogescholen
Fabian Pikula
Programmer at Schuur in Haarlem
Academic careers
This MA programme does not directly prepare students for PhD studies, but occasionally, a student begins a PhD project after finishing this programme. If you wish to pursue an academic career, you might be interested in our Master’s programme in Media, Art and Performance Studies.
Career development
Tutorial sessions
During the internship, we organise a select number of tutorial sessions in which you exchange your experiences with other students through peer feedback. You will receive instructions on how to use this peer feedback in order to create a productive dialogue and to learn from each other’s experiences.
Collaboration
All our staff members maintain extensive national and international networks of contacts within the field, both in academia as well as in practice. While completing their studies and research, students collaborate with artists, dramaturges, critics, theorists, artistic directors and related staff of festivals and theatre and dance companies.
Among the visiting scholars and practitioners are for example Manuela Infante, Mike Pearson, Jon McKenzie, Carl Lavery, Ruairi Glynn, Suzan Tunca, Peter Eckersall, Peggy Olislagers, Adelheid Roosen, Dries Verhoeven, Lotte van den Berg and various PhD researchers.
Career Services
Career Services offers events, tests, coaching and training in and outside your Master's programme, related to professional self-analysis, career orientation and job application skills. You can find more information about career services on Career Services for Dutch students or Career Services for international students.
Other career events
- Your Perspective is a monthly career orientation meeting for students and alumni of the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University.
- The Faculty of Humanities organises a Career Night Humanities with interesting partners who will illustrate the diversity in career opportunities for humanities graduates.
- Once a year Utrecht University organises a Careers Day. This Careers Day offers the opportunity to sign up for workshops and trainings, and to meet recruiters at the careers fair.