A Master of Fine Arts (MFA, M.F.A.) is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree (BFA), although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts. Coursework is primarily of an applied or performing nature with the program often culminating in a major work or performance.
Master of Fine Arts programs have generally required a bachelor's degree prior to admission, but many do not require that the undergraduate major be the same as the MFA field of study. The most important admissions requirement has often been a sample portfolio or a performance audition.
The Master of Fine Arts differs from the Master of Arts in that the MFA, while an academic program, centers around practice in the particular field, whereas programs leading to the MA usually center on the scholarly, academic, or critical study of the field.
In the United States, a Master of Fine Arts is seen as a terminal degree, meaning that it is considered to be the highest degree in its field. In the interest of extending the connection between creative production and continued academic research, however, some universities have established competing Ph.D programs in fields such as creative writing, visual arts, and theater.
Famous quotes containing the words master of, master, fine and/or arts:
“If you are really Master of your Fate,
It shouldn’t make any difference to you whether Cleopatra or the Bearded Lady is your mate.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)
“Such thought such though have I that hold it tight
Till meditation master all its parts,
Nothing can stay my glance
Until that glance run in the world’s despite
To where the damned have howled away their hearts,
And where the blessed dance....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Lars Jorgensen: It’s this country killed my boy. Yes, by golly, I tell you Ethan—
Mrs. Jorgensen: Now Lars. It just so happens we be Texicans. A Texican is nothing but a human man way out on a limb, this year, and next, maybe for a hundred more. But I don’t think it’ll be forever. Someday this country’s going to be a fine good place to be. Maybe it needs our bones in the ground before that time can come.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“For me, the principal fact of life is the free mind. For good and evil, man is a free creative spirit. This produces the very queer world we live in, a world in continuous creation and therefore continuous change and insecurity. A perpetually new and lively world, but a dangerous one, full of tragedy and injustice. A world in everlasting conflict between the new idea and the old allegiances, new arts and new inventions against the old establishment.”
—Joyce Cary (1888–1957)