Programs
Programs
The Interdisciplinary Arts Department offers three exciting programs of graduate study designed for professional artists seeking to deepen and expand their interdisciplinary art practices. Our programs include a one-year MA in Interdisciplinary Arts, a three-year MFA in Book and Paper Arts and a three-year MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media. The department curriculum investigates specific disciplines with cross-disciplinary experiences, innovative studio
practice with historical and theoretical perspectives, and a rigorous portfolio or thesis process that prepares students for a life in the arts after graduate school. Within our three graduate programs, students create a coherent body of work, develop the verbal and written skills needed to articulate and support that work, and gain the ability to position themselves as artists in the larger world. Student work ranges from performance to installation, artist books to sculpture, video to interactive digital art.
MA IN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS
Contact: Program Director, Jeff Abell, Faculty & Associate Department Chair (312) 369-7270
The new MA in Interdisciplinary Arts can help art teachers who want to expand their repertoire of techniques, as well as assist practicing artists in expanding their practice to include new media. Our restructured MA retains its immersion in the five traditional art media that make up the heart of the program: visual art, movement, sound, writing, and drama. In addition, students take 6 hours of History and Theory, 3-6 hours of elective classes, and have a cumulative experience of the arts in the ground-breaking class Connected Images. The degree culminates in a capstone course in which students learn professional art practices and develop a portfolio of their work. Faculty are drawn from some of the most creative artist-teachers in the Chicago area.
The new 30-hour degree program is designed as something that can be taken in one intensive year (3 semesters), or on a part-time basis over a two-year time frame (6 semesters). Classes are offered evenings and weekends to accommodate people with full-time jobs.
Degree Requirements
MFA PROGRAMS
Our MFA programs conceptualize a different emphasis in each of the three years of study, and cumulatively train students to be interdisciplinary artists.
MFA IN BOOK AND PAPER ARTS
Contact: Program Director, Clifton Meador, Faculty (312) 369-6633
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 media, performance, and installation.
Degree Requirements
MFA IN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS AND MEDIA
Contact: Program Director, Jeanine Mellinger, Faculty (312) 369-7199
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 CONTACT INFORMATION
Department Chair: Michelle Citron
Graduate Contact: Kris Johnson
Office Information: 916 S. Wabash Ave. Suite 203
Phone: 312-369-7669
Email: kjohnson@colum.edu
MA IN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS
Contact: Program Director, Jeff Abell, Faculty & Associate Department Chair (312) 369-7270
"Skeleton Garden" by Interdisciplinary MA Heather Hartley, 2007
The new MA in Interdisciplinary Arts can help art teachers who want to expand their repertoire of techniques, as well as assist practicing artists in expanding their practice to include new media. Our restructured MA retains its immersion in the five traditional art media that make up the heart of the program: visual art, movement, sound, writing, and drama. In addition, students take 6 hours of History and Theory, 3-6 hours of elective classes, and have a cumulative experience of the arts in the ground-breaking class Connected Images. The degree culminates in a capstone course in which students learn professional art practices and develop a portfolio of their work. Faculty are drawn from some of the most creative artist-teachers in the Chicago area.
The new 30-hour degree program is designed as something that can be taken in one intensive year (3 semesters), or on a part-time basis over a two-year time frame (6 semesters). Classes are offered evenings and weekends to accommodate people with full-time jobs.
Degree Requirements
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| Interdisciplinary Core | |
| Sound: Theory & Practice | 3 Credits |
| Movement: Theory & Practice | 3 Credits |
| Visual Art: Theory & Practice | 3 Credits |
| Word: Theory & Practice | 3 Credits |
| Drama: Theory & Practice | 3 Credits |
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|
| Other Requirements | |
| History of Interdisciplinary Art | 3 Credits |
| Connected Images | 3 Credits |
| Art as Discourse | 3 Credits |
| Art as Practice | 3 Credits |
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|
| Electives | |
| Graduate Electives | 3 Credits |
|
|
| Total Credits | 30 Credits |
MFA PROGRAMS
Our MFA programs conceptualize a different emphasis in each of the three years of study, and cumulatively train students to be interdisciplinary artists.
- YEAR ONE focuses on discipline-based work in book and paper or media arts, and provides students with a foundation in both professional practices and art theory.
- YEAR TWO is centered on interdisciplinary work through a series of thematic classes, both studio and history/theory, which will include students from across programs. Second-year students are also required to take a studio practices course composed of students from both MFA programs, which will help them to further develop their body of work within an interdisciplinary atmosphere.
- YEAR THREE emphasizes the deepening of a student’s practice and body of work, leading to the creation and exhibition of a thesis project.
MFA IN BOOK AND PAPER ARTS
Contact: Program Director, Clifton Meador, Faculty (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 media, performance, and installation.
Degree Requirements
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|
| Departmental Core | |
| Art as Discourse | 3 Credits |
| Art as Practice | 3 Credits |
| Connected Studio Practices | 3 Credits |
| History Requirement | 6 Credits |
| Graduate Studio or 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 |
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|
| Total Credits | 60 Credits |
MFA IN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS AND MEDIA
Contact: Program Director, Jeanine Mellinger, Faculty (312) 369-7199
"Showroom no. 6" by Interdisciplinary Arts and Media MFA Jessica Hannah, 2008
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 |
| Graduate Studio or Theory/Practice | 6 Credits |
| Thesis One and Thesis Two | 6 Credits |
|
|
| Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Core | |
| Screen Media | 3 Credits |
| Media Performance | 4 Credits |
| Space & Place | 4 Credits |
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|
| Electives | |
| Graduate Electives | 22 Credits |
|
|
| Total Credits | 60 Credits |
DEPARTMENTAL CONTACT INFORMATION
Department Chair: Michelle Citron
Graduate Contact: Kris Johnson
Office Information: 916 S. Wabash Ave. Suite 203
Phone: 312-369-7669
Email: kjohnson@colum.edu