The MFA in Intermedia is an interdisciplinary, studio-centered program committed to hybrid creative research, experimental technological production, as well as development and production in forms of art such as time-based media, digital and video art, installation, performance art, artists’ books and multiples, community-based social art practices, conceptual art, net art, and other forms that the students may generate from their own Intermedial explorations. These newer forms are however, not without grounding in, or connections to, traditional art forms in the visual arts, music, writing, performance studies, and media studies.

The MFA focuses on the intersection of new technologies and creative production. The name of the program “Intermedia” reflects our aim and intent - that is to work with and study creative processes that fall conceptually and physically between known/used media, as well as between traditional disciplines such as photography and computer science, biology and sculpture, or music and sociology. Students will develop diverse skills grounded in methodologies from many disciplines that foster the experimental, analytic, and speculative processes necessary for innovative production and creative thinking in Intermedia.

Program Requirements

The three-year IMFA degree in Intermedia at the University of Maine provides graduate students with the opportunity to engage in innovative, creative and theoretical work in a flexible program that encourages individual research and development within an interdisciplinary context.  The 60-credit curriculum is designed for 18 credits per year with 6 credits in summer of the third year for Thesis Exhibition preparation and presentation, but it may also be completed on a part time basis over a longer period of time.

Financial Aid

In addition to University fellowships and scholarships listed elsewhere in this catalog, the Intermedia Program offers graduate assistantships to qualified students. Graduate assistantships can take the form of either a RA or TA position.  RA positions include working independently or with faculty, in a variety of research and program support roles dependent on the student’s background and skills.  TA positions are offered in conjunction with undergraduate New Media classes and thus require specific media and/or programming knowledge.  Teaching assistants are carefully supervised and develop instructional skills that prove useful in later professional careers.  Assistantships are nine-month appointments that include tuition waiver and/or monthly stipends.  Applicants interested in an assistantship should indicate this in their initial application for admission and contact the Intermedia Program for information on specific available assistantships.

Course of Study

Given the nature of Intermedia as a non-disciplinary specific, research-based activity it is central that the program be simultaneously structured but flexible to allow for varieties of student choices and areas of study.  The standard conceptual and structural elements of the program consist of the following areas or categories:

• Basic creative approaches, history and theory
• Ongoing individualized research and creative production
• Praxis production and research studio work
• Individualized technical and theoretical areas
• Field experience/study abroad experience

 

Contact Information:

Dr. Susan L Smith, Director, susan.lynn.smith@maine.edu

207.581.4470