Department of Art Guidelines for Master of Fine Arts Degree
The
Master of Fine Arts degree program is designed to enable mature and
committed students to achieve a high degree of professional competence,
both technical and conceptual, and is considered the terminal degree
for the studio arts. Many candidates plan teaching careers at the
college and the university level. Our program includes apprenticeship
training as assistants in the undergraduate program and as instructors
in the School of Continuing Studies, excellent training grounds for
such goals. We believe that the development of artistic breadth, personal
accomplishment and critical maturity is the best preparation for college
teaching in the visual arts.
A
graduate applicant is recommended for admission to the Graduate School
following a review and consideration of an applicant's recent work,
transcripts and letters of recommendation. The faculty is especially
concerned that an applicant has attained sufficient artistic maturity
to meet Graduate School standards for course work and thesis requirements
within a two-year period. The first semester following admission is
considered a probationary period pending a faculty review of work
done during the period.
An
important aspect of the program is the experience gained by working
within a community of serious and involved faculty and fellow students.
A studio, in which a student is expected to work, is provided each
M.F.A. candidate.
Tuition
waivers and teaching-assistantship stipends are awarded on a limited
basis to first and second-year students. Full-time assistantship stipends
are currently $13,000 per year. As a teaching assistant, a candidate
contributes 12 hours a week to the department: six hours are usually
in a teaching capacity and six hours assigned as facilities or other
departmental duties.
Two
years of full-time residence are required to complete the degree.
Curriculum
Requirements
1.
Sixty (60) hours of graduate level courses are required for the M.F.A.
1. Two courses in art history (6 hours) at the graduate level are
required, as is attendance in the M.F.A. seminar classes (12 hours)
held each semester.
2. The remaining
courses (42 hours) are in the studio discipline and are designed
to meet individual needs and interests. These are mainly of a “workshop”
or “atelier” nature.
1st
Year
Fall
ARST 701: 3, 702: 6, Art History: 3, ARST 780-01: 3
Spring ARST 703: 3, 704: 6, Art History: 3, ARST 780-02: 3
2nd year
Fall
ARST 740: 6, 741: 6, ARST 780-03: 3
Spring ARST 742: 3, 743: 3, 745: Thesis Project: 6, ARST 780-04: 3
3.
Thesis: A body of work demonstrating professional maturity constitutes
the thesis proper. It is completed by the end of the second year and
exhibited in the Department of Art galleries. In addition, an oral
examination is conducted by an appointed faculty thesis committee.
It
is a universally accepted fact that the ultimate truths of art, and
the inner processes of the working artist, are at times not within
the province of verbal thought. However, a master's degree does connote
a measure of achievement in the command and presentation of ideas
and their communication.
The
following guidelines for oral defense of thesis are suggested
1.
The candidate for the Master of Fine Arts degree should be able to
discuss his or her work in relation to art in general and to the traditions
of the discipline and the medium of expression.
2. The candidate should offer evidence that he or she has given serious
thought to artistic involvement, its possible relevancy and its potential
contribution to contemporary art.
3. The candidate should possess critical maturity in discussing the
achievement of other artists beyond a statement of personal “taste.”
4. The candidate should demonstrate a clear awareness as to how one's
technical concerns and concepts are relative to one's vision as an
artist and not as ends in themselves.
