The Department of Art’s MFA in Intermedia is a three-year (60 credits) interdisciplinary, studio-centered program committed to hybrid creative research, experimental technological production, and practices in time-based media, digital and video art, installation art, performance art, artist books and multiples, community-based social practices, conceptual art, and other forms that students may generate from their own explorations. The program approaches such practices as grounded in, or connected to, traditional practices and forms in the visual arts, music, writing, performance, and media studies.

The MFA focuses on creative production that transcends individual disciplines. The name of the program “Intermedia” reflects its aim and intent - to work with and study creative processes that fall conceptually and physically between known/used media, as well as between traditional disciplines such as, for instance, photography and computer science, biology and sculpture, or music and sociology. Students 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 arts-based research.

 

Master of Arts in Intermedia

The Department of Art’s Intermedia MA is a two-year (33 credits) interdisciplinary program within Intermedia Programs. It is designed for graduate students interested in pursuing advanced, interdisciplinary creative work and research in areas of inquiry pertaining to arts praxis, fine arts, media arts and technologies, creative studies and applied arts. As in the MFA, the aim of the work in the MA program is to learn by doing and making, emphasizing hands-on projects with a practical concern for outcomes and engagements.

The overarching goal of the MA in Intermedia program is to re-envision creative teaching/learning/research models with an aim to resituate creative practice within larger knowledge-making practices and expand its impact and range. To do this the program is designed to support the creation of a diverse collaborative ecology of experimental research and pedagogy.

 

Financial Aid

In addition to university fellowships and scholarships, the Intermedia Program offers graduate assistantships to qualified students. These take the form of either a Graduate Assistantship (GA) or Teaching Assistantship (TA). GA 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 a 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.

 

Intermedia Programs Curricula
Course of Study for the MFA in Intermedia - 60 credits (minimum)

The Intermedia MFA is a three-year program - 18 credits per year with 6 credits in the summer of the third year for Thesis Exhibition preparation and presentation. The curriculum for the Intermedia MFA is a combination of core classes, elective classes, field research, and thesis research and production. The specific divisions and classes required for each area are as follows:

Area One Basic creative approaches, history and theory: consists of two foundational classes, IMD 500: Creative Concept Development and IMD 501: Histories and Theories of Intermedia. These two classes are required of all first year MA and MFA students and provide a strong foundation in diverse approaches to creative and research work as well as historical and theoretical foundations in Intermedia.

Area Two Ongoing individualized research and creative production: consists of Intermedia Studio Critique classes (IMD 570, IMD 571 and IMD 572). These classes invite further exploration of history, theory, tools, and technology as appropriate to each student’s research. Additionally, students gain practical experience in conceptualization of work, design implementation, physical production, and presentation of research/creative work. The development of textual, visual, and digital analytical/critical tools related to research and creative production in Intermedia will also be stressed. For MA students these classes are required in their first year and for MFA students they are required every semester for the first two years, with the possibility of additional sections in the third year.

Area Three Praxis production and research studio work; consists of three classes: IMD 560: Research Studio I - Critical Research Methods for Arts Production; IMD 561: Research Studio II - Projects in Collaborative production; and IMD 562: Research Studio III - Professional Practices for Creative Producers.

Area Four Individualized, technical and theoretical areas; consists of elective classes that allow students to develop specific technical and production skills based in traditional disciplinary areas. Through the course of study in these classes, students will have the opportunity to select four technical and/or theory-based courses relevant to their individualized directions in Intermedia research and production. Some of these classes will be selected from existing areas of advanced and graduate study on campus, including New Media, Art, Art History, Communications and Journalism, Theater, and English, as well as Engineering Technology, Computer Science, and Business.

Area Five Field experience/study abroad experience; consists of field work that broadens and deepens interdisciplinary research and creative practices. This component, required only for MFA students, is aimed to offer flexible possibilities to students, allowing them to choose either continuing study at a collaborating institution as arranged by the student, or to spend a semester doing in-depth study in an appropriate discipline outside the arts and related to their primary interdisciplinary pursuits.

 

Core Classes: 15 Credits (5 x 3)

• IMD 500: Creative Concept Development
• IMD 501: Histories and Theories of Intermedia
• IMD 560: Research Studio I - Critical Research Methods for Creative Production
• IMD 561: Research Studio II - Projects in Collaborative Production
• IMD 562: Research Studio III - Professional Practices

 

Core Creative Production: 15 credits (5 x 3)

• IMD 570: Intermedia Critique I
• IMD 571: Intermedia Critique II
• IMD 572: Intermedia Critique III (optional)

 

Field Research: 3-9 Credits (1-3 x 3)

Electives: 12 Credits (4 x 3)

• IMD 520: Topics in Media Production
• IMD 530: Topics in Technical Development
• IMD 540: Topics in Intermedia Theory/History

 

Thesis Work: 12 Credits (4 x 3)

• IMD 600: Readings for Thesis Conceptual Development
• IMD 699: Thesis Research (5 credits)
• IMD 670: Without Borders Exhibition
• INT 601: Responsible Conduct of Research (1 credit)

Course of Study for the MA in Intermedia - 33 credits

 

The MA in Intermedia is a 33 credit non-thesis, project-based degree that draws from the core classes of the Intermedia MFA. The four core classes drawn from Intermedia are as follows:

• IMD 500: Creative Concept Development
• IMD 501: Histories and Theories of Intermedia
• IMD 561: Research Studio II - Projects in Collaborative Production
• IMD 562: Research Studio III - Professional Practices

Additionally, students will take 6 credits in individualized research and creative production (IMD 570/571); 9 credits in elective courses relative to their area of research/creative production; and 6 credits pursuing an individualized final creative/research project. Here are the specific divisions and classes required for each area:

 

Core Classes: 12 Credits

• IMD 500: Creative Concept Development
• IMD 501: Histories and Theories of Intermedia
• IMD 561: Research Studio II - Projects in Collaborative Production
• IMD 562: Research Studio III - Professional Practices

 

Core Creative Production: 6 credits

• IMD 570: Intermedia Critique I
• IMD 571: Intermedia Critique II

 

Electives: 9 Credits selected from:

• IMD 520: Topics in Media Production
• IMD 530: Topics in Technical Development
• IMD 540: Topics in Intermedia Theory / History

 

Final Project Work: 6 Credits (3, 2 and 1 credits)

• IMD 699: Thesis Research (5 credits)
• INT 601: Responsible Conduct of Research (1 credit)

 

The above courses will normally be taken in the following sequence:

Year 1 - 15 credits

• Fall: IMD 500 and elective 1
• Spring: IMD 501; IMD 570; and elective 2

Year 2 - 18 credits

• Fall: IMD 571 and elective 3
• Spring: IMD 561; IMD 562; and Final Project
• Summer: Final Project

 

Contact Information:

Dr. Susan L Smith, Graduate Coordinator

susan.lynn.smith@maine.edu

207.581.4407

 

Applications

Applications are accepted once a year. The priority deadline is February 15th (for consideration for GA/TA Awards) of the year in which you wish to start your graduate studies. Rolling acceptance continues through June until all open positions are filled. Applicants must complete an application to the Graduate School which requires a CV, portfolio, and letters of reference.

 

Correspondence

Intermedia Program

126 IMRC Center

University of Maine

Orono, ME 04469

um.intermedia@maine.edu

207-581-4470