MFA in Media Arts Production
The MFA program has a long history of teaching and researching independent and experimental media forms. Our faculty is committed to preparing students to engage with the new media forms and formats of the 21st century with courses about: film studies, film and video production, media studies, interactive media, computational media and physical computing, media networks and web-based media.
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Career Opportunities
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.
The MFA in Media Arts Production does not currently offer funding in the form of assistantships. Applicants are encouraged to explore other sources of funding, such as those outlined on the Graduate School’s website.
Learning Environment
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 their 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.
Program Requirements
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.
Coursework Required
Including 3 courses outside Media Study, included in electives or another category
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.
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.
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.
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/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.
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).
Learn more about our Graduate Programs
For more information about Media Study Graduate programs, email mediastudy-grad@buffalo.edu
