Program Overview
M.F.A. in Design Program Overview
The Master of Fine Arts in design program is a highly competitive, pre-professional, terminal degree program that offers superior students advanced training in costume, lighting, scenic, or projection design in preparation for the professional theater and entertainment fields. The program emphasizes the development of specific production-related skills under the mentorship of internationally renowned faculty and gives students numerous internship and professional opportunities to work with more than 75 professional theaters in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region.
Program Structure
The program is a 60-credit, three-year, full-time, and fully funded M.F.A. degree. Students must present and pass three formal design portfolio reviews at the conclusion of their second, fourth, and sixth semesters in the program. In addition, portfolio interviews take place at the end of the first, third, and fifth semesters.
Design Areas
The program offers training in the following design areas:
- Scenic design: Studies in scenic design put emphasis on intellectual and artistic rigor, with key assignments and projects concentrating on visual and plastic imagination, state-of-the-art design techniques, and artistic collaboration.
- Costume design: The course of study emphasizes play and character analysis, dramaturgy, and the creation of original costume designs for theater, dance, opera, film, and television.
- Lighting design: The curriculum is designed to facilitate the development of both theoretical and practical compositional skills, with an emphasis on dramaturgical analysis, communication with collaborators, and a rigorous understanding of the lighting design process.
- Projections and media design: The program trains multimedia artists who are invested in facilitating a new dialogue with today's audiences, exploring interactive differences and similarities between digital performance and live performance.
Application Requirements
To apply, students must have earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution with at least a 3.0 GPA. The program does not require the GRE but does require an audition/portfolio review and interview. International students must show evidence of acceptable scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Application Process
The application deadline for domestic students is Friday, February 14, 2025, and for international students, it is Friday, February 15, 2025. Students are encouraged to contact the head of the M.F.A. in design program or an individual faculty member in their respective design area of specialization directly to set up a preliminary interview.
Financial Assistance
The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies is committed to fully funding all graduate students accepted into its programs. Assistantships are available for graduate study and are awarded by the TDPS graduate program only after a successful Graduate School acceptance. Competitive support for workshops, conference presentations, summer study, and other projects is also available.
Curriculum Requirements
The program includes the following courses:
- THET 606 "Teaching Theatre" – 1 credit
- THET 788 "Master's Tutorial" – 1 credit (5 credits overall)
- THET 669A "History of Fashion" – 3 credits
- THET 670 "History of Architecture and Decor" – 3 credits
- THET XXX "Elective Seminar" – 3 credits
- THET 799 "Master's Pre-Thesis Research" – 3 credits
- THET 799 "Master's Thesis Research" – 3 credits
- THET 789 "Master's Practicum" – 3 credits
- THET 639/649/659/679 "Design Studio" – 15 to 18 credits
- THET 672 "Theory of Visual Design in Scenery / Scenography" – 3 credits
- THET 678 "Theory of Visual Design for the Performing Arts / Master Class" – 3 credits
Thesis
For their theses, M.F.A. design students create and realize a scenery, costume, or lighting design for a major production. Each student must meet all deadlines for that production, and the design and execution must be acceptable to all members of their thesis committee. The written component of the thesis includes all relevant visual material, including research images, drawings, renderings, and production photographs.
On- and Off-Campus Opportunities
M.F.A. in design students typically design three or four productions in the main season during their three years in residence. The program has a partnership with the Maryland Opera Studio, which gives second and third-year M.F.A. students an opportunity to design two mainstage operas every year. Students also design numerous mainstage dance shows produced by TDPS graduate students, guest artists, and dance faculty. The program has a 95 percent graduate student placement record in the industry, and many third-year M.F.A. students are already working professionally.