Students in the Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts use creative work to inquire and intervene in today’s most pressing social and ecological concerns. Positioned at the intersection of the visual arts, architecture, music, visual and media studies, and the expanded field of design, the curriculum supports the development of ambitious projects by a diverse, international group of creative practitioners.
Our students use the tools and insights of contemporary creative practice to intervene in public discourse and the social imagination through media, research-, and/or community-based approaches. The curriculum centers around a series of core critique seminars that provide a foundation and home base. Students then customize their education from a wide range of studio and academic courses. Regular workshops with visiting faculty emphasize hands-on engagement in the creative process of leading artists, while summer residency or co-op experiences allow students to complete self-directed projects, supported by faculty and peer mentoring. The MFA degree requires a thesis project and companion paper, as well as a minimum 3.000 GPA over 60 semester hours of study.
Over the course of the two-year program, successful students learn to articulate their goals, context, and audience and develop the professional skills necessary to sustain their practices. Successful graduates are prepared to forge their own paths as publicly engaged artists working independently or in arts organizations, social entrepreneurship ventures, the nonprofit sector, and as faculty in academic institutions.
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Core Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core | ||
| INAM 6100 | Critical Foundations of Creative Practice | 4 |
| INAM 6210 | Projects in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice | 4 |
| INAM 6300 | Models for Applied Inquiry in Creative Practice | 4 |
| Project | ||
| INAM 6301 | Integrative Research Project | 4 |
| Thesis and Exhibition | ||
| INAM 7100 | Thesis Proposal | 4 |
| INAM 7990 | Thesis | 4 |
| INAM 7996 | Thesis Continuation | 0 |
Discipline Options
For all options, students define with their faculty advisors their creative disciplines and concentrations in the form of an individual plan of study. Creative disciplines and concentrations need to be clearly distinct. Students need to demonstrate their interdisciplinarity by working with a different medium or working in a different domain. Approval of the plan of study, which includes the choice for disciplines and concentration, is required from the graduate coordinator.
Option 1: Two Disciplines
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| An option with flexibility. Students choose two distinct creative disciplines and complete a set of electives of their choice. | ||
| Creative Discipline 1 | 12 | |
| Creative Discipline 2 | 12 | |
| Electives | 12 | |
Option 2: Concentration and Discipline
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| This option allows for a deep specialization. Students declare a concentration in addition to a creative discipline that is distinct from their concentration. | ||
| Creative Concentration | 20-24 | |
| Creative Discipline | 12 | |
| Electives | 0-4 | |
Option 3: Open Discipline
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| An option that allows students to take on a third creative discipline or specialize beyond the arts. In this option, students choose two distinct creative disciplines and complete courses related to another program at or outside of CAMD. | ||
| Creative Discipline 1 | 12 | |
| Creative Discipline 2 | 12 | |
| Open Discipline 3 | 12 | |
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
60 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required
This is a sample course plan. It is highly recommended that the core requirements are taken in this sequence. Students can choose to decide when to take their option requirements. However, all students are required to take at least two courses from option requirements in Year 1.
| Year 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| INAM 6100 | 4 | INAM 6301 | 4 |
| INAM 6300 | 4 | Option coursework | 12 |
| Option coursework | 8 | ||
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Year 2 | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| INAM 7100 | 4 | INAM 7990 | 4 |
| INAM 6210 | 4 | Option coursework | 8 |
| Option coursework | 8 | ||
| 16 | 12 | ||
| Total Hours: 60 | |||