Graduate Programs
The Interdisciplinary Arts Department offers students access to equipment, laboratories, and spaces for exploration that are designed to expand their technical and creative skills. They have tools that I as a student could only dream of. Their teachers are experienced masters of their craft, expertly able to guide and support the students, teaching them how to bring their inner vision into the world.–Bill Viola
Artists who seek to deepen and expand their practices and pursue a truly contemporary, interdisciplinary course of study will thrive in one of our three innovative graduate programs:
- MA in Interdisciplinary Arts
- MFA in Interdisciplinary Book + Paper Arts
- MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts + Media
MA in Interdisciplinary Arts
Contact: Program Director Jeff Abell. jabell@colum.edu | (312) 369-7270
Skeleton Garden by Interdisciplinary MA Heather Hartley, 2007
The MA program guides and supports artists and educators who wish to expand their creative practices and deepen their understanding of interdisciplinary art theory, history, and technique. Students are immersed in an innovative curriculum focused on building connections among visual art, movement, sound, writing, and drama. Graduates of the MA program emerge with a broader and more coherent understanding of contemporary art practice, new and expanded technical skills, and a professional portfolio that will accelerate their creative careers. Designed to be completed in one calendar year, this energizing and transformative program is organized as an accessible and viable option for working professionals.
Degree Requirements
| Interdisciplinary Core | Credits |
| Sound: Theory & Practice | 3 |
| Movement: Theory & Practice | 3 |
| Visual Art: Theory & Practice | 3 |
| Word: Theory & Practice | 3 |
| Drama: Theory & Practice | 3 |
| Other Requirements |
|
| History of Interdisciplinary Art | 3 |
| Connected Images | 3 |
| Art as Discourse | 3 |
| Art as Practice | 3 |
| Electives |
|
| Graduate Electives | 3 |
| Total Credits | 30 |
MFA Programs
Our two MFA programs encourage students to create a body of work that reflects the complexity of their world. Students are asked to consider the context for that work—who is the audience, where will it be seen, how will it be presented? The emphasis on both creative practice and professional practice gives students an advantage—they become not only innovative practitioners, but sophisticated professionals who understand how to position themselves in the contemporary art landscape. In three years of focused study, students explore the history, theory, tools and techniques of numerous creative disciplines, learn to effectively integrate those methodologies around a conceptual framework, and ultimately shape their ideas into radically new art forms made manifest in a significant body of work. During the development of their thesis, students work closely with a committee of their selection, whose composition includes faculty mentors and artists from outside the department. Additionally, each year, the department invites prominent arts professionals from outside the college to meet with candidates several times during the thesis process for additional critique. Recent external reviewers include: Joline Blais, Melissa Ragona, Amy Youngs, Betty Bright, and Gail Deery.MFA in Interdisciplinary Book + Paper Arts
Contact: Program Director Melissa Potter, mpotter@colum.edu | (312) 369-6633
Combat Paper Project by Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts MFA Drew Matott, 2008
The Interdisciplinary MFA in Book and Paper enables students to participate in the contemporary art world by encouraging them to consider book and paper as a site for interdisciplinary practice. We promote the understanding of hand papermaking and the book arts as artistic media with applications in cultural discourse, community building, and collaborative practice. We seek students who want to pursue a course of study that integrates experimentation with both technical and conceptual considerations in these media. With access to some of the finest bindery, papermaking, and printing equipment and facilities in the country, students pursue their course work in collaboration with new media, performance, and installation.
Degree Requirements
| Departmental Core | |
| Art as Discourse | 3 Credits |
| Art as Practice | 3 Credits |
| Connected Studio Practices | 3 Credits |
| History Requirement | 6 Credits |
| Theory/Practice | 6 Credits |
| Thesis One and Thesis Two | 6 Credits |
| Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Core | |
| Thinking Through Making | 6 Credits |
| Electives | |
| Graduate Electives | 27 Credits |
| Total Credits | 60 Credits |
MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts + Media
Contact: Program Director Paul Catanese, pcatanese@colum.edu | (312) 369-8785
Waking the Invisible by Interdisciplinary Arts and Media MFA Candidate Nicholas Sagan, 2009
The MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media fosters an innovative dialog between the fine, performing and media arts. This is a graduate program for traditional and performing artists who want to incorporate media into their artistic practice and for media artists who want to expand into areas such as performance, installation, interactive, and relational art forms. We seek students who are committed to making art, who want to pursue a course of study that integrates experimentation and collaboration, who are flexible and willing the be self-reflexive in their art practice, and who can engage art from the hands-on practical to the meta-level. We believe that individual art practice must be developed in relationship to the larger world. Access to affordable technology is stimulating artists to incorporate new media forms into an increasingly diverse array of work. Our goal is to be at the cutting edge of this exploration.
Degree Requirements
| Departmental Core | |
| Art as Discourse | 3 Credits |
| Art as Practice | 3 Credits |
| Connected Studio Practices | 3 Credits |
| History Requirement | 6 Credits |
| Theory/Practice | 6 Credits |
| Thesis One and Thesis Two | 6 Credits |
| Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Core | |
| Silence/Sonorous Objects | 2 Credits |
| Excavating the Image | 2 Credits |
| Code/Language | 2 Credits |
| Shaping Solid Light | 2 Credits |
| Media Performance | 3 Credits |
| Space & Place | 4 Credits |
| Electives | |
| Graduate Electives | 18 Credits |
| Total Credits | 60 Credits |
for the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts