University of South Florida

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA 

Graduate Program at USF

 

About the MFA at USF

Our nationally-ranked Master of Fine Arts degree is an idea-centered program encouraging broad media exploration, interdisciplinary projects, and engagement with current theoretical and cultural issues.

It provides a dynamic atmosphere with ongoing opportunities for dialogue with the faculty, other graduate students and frequent visiting artists, critics and scholars.

Our MFA students enjoy individual studios that provide both privacy and access to learn from one another. A new 10,000 sq. ft. MFA Student and Faculty Studio Research Center affords an expanded dimension to artmaking and a sense of community (please see individual discipline webpages for facilities descriptions).

Our generous financial assistance packages include Graduate Assistantships with stipends, tuition waivers and the chance to teach courses, assist professors – or – work alongside some of the most notable artists today at USF's Institute for Research in Art. We also have fellowships, full scholarships and annual research and travel awards specifically for our Graduate Students.

The MFA @ USF is located in Tampa, a cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic city in an urban area with a population of more than two million. The region offers rich experiential raw material for artmaking, outstanding museums and alternative exhibition and performance spaces, the lively nightlife of Latin-flavored Ybor City, year-‘round sunny skies and nearby beaches. For getting away – we recommend our well-established Paris Summer Art Program, our excursions to London and the Venice Biennale or our exchange programs throughout the world.

 


About Photography

Our program encourages a broad range of experimentation with the expressive potentials of photography, as well as an awareness of contemporary practice and critical thinking on issues surrounding the medium. Students are encouraged to gain a grounding in history and criticism, while also maintaining a strong foundation in traditional photographic skills and techniques. The program is also characterized by a strong interaction between photography and other media, and photography students are often actively involved in video, digital imaging, painting, printmaking or sculpture.

The graduate programs require coursework in art history and contemporary issues. Students have several opportunities to gain experience outside of the department as well. A visiting artist program features lectures and critiques by several artists and critics each semester. The Summer Art Program in Paris provides students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in Paris through visual arts investigations under the guidance of faculty with a strong interest in the role of the city in the history and practice of modern art. Both studio art and art history courses are offered.