Kulmala, Daniel Wayne. The Absent Other: Absent/Present Characters as Catalysts for Action in Modern Drama. Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 61-08, Section A, page 3172. 2002. 157 pages.This dissertation assesses the role of the absent other in four American plays, including Glengarry Glen Ross. Characters such as Mitch and Murray serve as a mirror by which we judge characters who do appear before an audience.

Kuo, Chiang-Sheng. The Images of Masculinity in Contemporary American Drama: Albee, Shepard, Mamet and Kushner. Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 60-01, Section A, page 0025. 1999. 323 pages. Albee, Shepard, Mamet and Kushner challenge critical receptions of masculinity in American theater by disclosing masculinity as conceptual rather than biological. This study shows how the images of masculinity portrayed in their plays are subversive of the patriarchal, heterosexual hierarchy.

McDermott, James Dishon. Literary Minimalism: Austere Style from Wittgenstein to Mamet. Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 63-06, Section A, page 2222. 2002. 222 pages. This study expands the term “minimalism” to signify a means of criticizing and reforming discourses perceived to be inauthentic. In this context, McDermott discusses Mamet’s critique of mass-media entertainment and its claims to cultural hegemony.
 
Patton, Paul Douglas. The Prophetic Passion and Imagination of David Mamet. Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 63-02, Section A, page 0424. 2002. 227 pages. This study asserts that Mamet’s work is partially attributable to his prophetic imagination and that his work parallels the vision and passion of the biblical prophets.

Price, John Alden. Signs of Shakespeare: Alternative Theory and Postmodern Practice.Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 62-05, Section A, page 1640. 2001. 197 pages.  Applying literary theory and contemporary theater practice, Alden looks past Strasbergian realism to discover a theatrical methodology better suited to the language-based plays of Shakespeare, Pinter, Mamet, and Churchill.

Rhinehart, Brian Ray. Acting Comedy: In History, Theory and Practice. Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 64-03, Section A, page 0726. 2002. 181 pages. By studying acting theory from Aristotle to David Mamet, Rhinehart offers a system of comedic acting designed to overcome problems specific to the comedic genre.

Strasburg, Jeffrey Otto. ‘The only way to teach these people is to kill them’: Pedagogy as Communicative Action in the Major Plays of David Mamet. Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 63-04, Section A, page 1344. 2001. 329 pages.  Strasburg uses the communicative action theory of Habermas and the banking concept of Freire to analyze the mentor/student relationship in Mamet’s major plays.

Truffin, Sherry Roxane. Schoolhouse Gothic: Haunted Hallways and Predatory Pedagogues in Late Twentieth-century American Literature and Scholarship.  Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume 63-06, Section A, page 2245. 2002. 181 pages. The Schoolhouse Gothic draws on Gothic metaphors and themes that represent and interrogate the contemporary Western educational system. Truffin analyzes Oleanna, among other pieces, as indicative of a cultural mistrust of the academy and its guardians.