MFA in Digital Arts and New Media

The University of California, Santa Cruz, is now accepting applications for the MFA in Digital Arts and New Media. This two-year program emphasizes collaborative interdisciplinary art practice and research that is innovative and socially engaged. With close faculty mentorship, students join a research-based cohort that focuses on artistic, critical, and curatorial projects. In addition, core and elective courses support the development of individual thesis projects that are premiered in our annual MFA Exhibition. 

DANM faculty are internationally recognized artists and scholars. Prospective students are encouraged to visit campus and discuss with faculty an application to one of the following groups:

Isaac Julien Lab
Students interested in curating, archiving, and the presentation of still and moving image works will collaborate with artist Isaac Julien and curator Mark Nash on research and artistic production. The Lab offers project-based learning opportunities to students, introducing them to the work of renowned artists and scholars. One quarter each year will take place in London at the Isaac Julien Studio, providing hands-on experiences with the world’s most important museum exhibitions and collections of art. 

Future Stages
Led by Marianne Weems, founder and director of The Builders Association, and working in an experimental theater lab, Future Stages proposes a radical rethinking of live performance which emphasizes interdisciplinarity across media, fluency in contemporary theater practices, and a critical understanding of the role of performance in the public sphere. Combining seminars in critical theory and new media theory with rigorous studio work, the two-year program culminates in a professionally produced full scale production. 

Experimental Play
This group seeks participants who will take play-oriented approaches to storytelling, ideology, sociality, performance, civic participation and other rich areas of human life. Ideal candidates will have backgrounds that are already interdisciplinary, especially including two or more of: game design & game creation, documentary practice, creative writing, computer science, digital arts, other arts, and game studies. Faculty mentors: micha cárdenas, A.M. Darke, Robin Hunicke, Susana Ruiz, Elizabeth Swensen, and Noah Wardrip-Fruin.

Visiting day for the Digital Arts and New Media program is March 2, 2020.

DANM students may be offered up to two quarters of teaching assistantships which provide tuition remission, a stipend, and some fee remission.

With completion of the MFA, many students consider applying to the PhD in Film and Digital Media. Current prospective PhD students should contact the program.