MFA in Media Arts Production

The MFA program encourages students to learn new media making skills and to produce work that challenges and extends conventional forms of media practice. Students finish their degree prepared to work as independent artists, media makers and/or producers for networks, studios, companies or nonprofits. Considered a terminal degree in the field, the MFA also allows the department’s graduates to teach in universities and colleges as professors or instructors. This program is appropriate for students whose primary focus is the process of media art making with a secondary focus on theorizing how their work is situated within the media field.

Students in the program have the opportunity to become acquainted with many types of media production while becoming expert in the practice of one or more modes of production. The degree culminates in the student authoring a thesis including both a media project and a written component. Production classes help students prepare for their final media project technologically, aesthetically and methodologically. Theoretically focused media courses help students situate their art and research within the field. Early in the program, students choose one faculty member in the Department of Media Study as their primary mentor and advisor who helps to guide their coursework and their research interests. Students completing their first year formally report to the assembled faculty on their progress and receive constructive feedback. Later in the program, the student selects additional thesis committee members who bring in their own expertise to the student’s work. Each student has a large degree of independence in his/her choice of curriculum. A close relationship with DMS faculty results in the MFA degree being an effective means to becoming a media artist and scholar in the field of Media Study. The program is designed to be completed in three years.

Sixty credit hours are required alongside the completion of a final thesis consisting of a media project and written component. 

The MFA Requirements Manual offers a more comprehensive explanation of degree requirements.

Progress toward curricular requirements can be tracked through the student's Academic Advising Report on their student center, and students should work with advisor to make sure that all courses are being appropriately counted.

Requirements are slightly different for students entering in 2021 or after than for those having entered previously.  Credit numbers for students beginning in Fall 2021 are listed first, with the credit numbers for students entering before that semester below.

Fall 2021 Entrants

Production (21 credits): A variety of production courses are offered by the department each semester, sometimes in concert with undergraduate courses and often in graduate only sections. Students in these classes build on their existing knowledge and progress toward expertise in multiple modes of production. 

Media History/Theory/Interpretation (12 credits): The required course DMS 570, Media Theory, provides a graduate-level introduction to media theory. Students then take at least two more courses in media history, theory, or interpretation.  

Grad Seminar (6 credits): Students should plan to take these courses (I and II) in semester 1 and semester 4. Graduate Seminar I is a formative course in the theory and practice of media arts, with emphasis on research practices and methods. Continuing the thread of the first course, Graduate Seminar II includes a graduate student exhibition and the preliminary formulation of the final thesis topic. 

Directed Electives (15 credits): Working with their faculty advisor, students may choose any UB graduate courses that support their thesis research, provided they operate on the level of DMS graduate courses. Students must keep records (course work and syllabi) of all course activities performed outside of DMS. This information will become important when applying for MFA candidacy. 

Thesis and Project (6 credits): Thesis/project work is usually credited by registering for DMS 598 Project Supervision during the penultimate semester, and DMS 700 Thesis Guidance in the final semester, in any combination of credits suited to the work. 

Required Coursework outside DMS: Students must take at least 3 classes outside of DMS as part of their overall requirements for the major. Students are required to obtain approval from their faculty advisor for these courses, which normally count toward the student's directed elective requirements.  All credits must be in graduate level courses (500 level and above).

Requirements for Students Entering Before Fall 2021

Production (24 credits)

Media History/Theory/Interpretation (12 credits)

Grad Seminar (4 credits)

Directed Electives (13 credits)

Thesis and Project (7 credits)

[including 3 courses outside Media Study, included in electives or another category]

The University at Buffalo's Department of Media Study is committed to enrolling MFA students that we can fund. Unfortunately, we will not be able to fund any new MFA students during the 2024-25 academic year. The department will not be accepting any applications to the MFA in Media Arts Production program during the 2024-25 admissions cycle. We are sorry for any confusion this may cause.

If you would like to receive updates regarding our MFA program (and other graduate programs), please fill out this form.

We plan to resume accepting applications for the MFA in Media Arts Production in Fall 2025.

For more information about Media Study Graduate programs, email mediastudy-grad@buffalo.edu