UNI is unique in the state of Iowa because we are the only university with comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs in Performance Studies. The performance studies program is part of the Department of Communication Studies and is multi faceted, including: (1) a curriculum of courses at the introductory and advanced undergraduate level and seminars on varied topics at the graduate level, (2) an on-campus Interpreters Theatre laboratory series for student and faculty directors, (3) an outreach performance group, and (4) research projects in performance, social issues, and oral history.

Courses currently taught in the Department of Communication Studies reflect our emphasis on cultural, societal, and aesthetic performance: for example, Performance Texts and Contexts; Performance in Social Contexts; and Oral History. Our performance studies program focuses on areas of academic interest such as: culture and performance, performance in everyday life, narrative and storytelling in a variety of contexts, performance as a research method, oral history, ethnography, and performance as social change, all of which are not otherwise a part of the university curriculum in any other discipline. Several of the advanced and graduate courses merge communication theory, interpersonal communication, discourse analysis, ethnography, and performance studies.