Curriculum Degree Requirements

The core curriculum required of all students includes the following courses (24 credit hours):
ARTC 5340 Contemporary Issues and Criticism
ARTC 5341 Modernism and Design
ARTC 5342 Post-Modernism and Typography
ARTC 5343 Visual Communication Theory
ARTC 5370 Professional Practice (2 times: 6 SCH)
ARTC 5399A Thesis I
ARTC 5399B Thesis II

The prescribed elective curriculum required of all students includes the following courses (30 credit hours):
ARTC 5200 Art Direction Seminar
ARTC 5201 Digital Media Design Seminar
ARTC 5202 Graphic Design Seminar
ARTC 5310 Art Direction
ARTC 5320 Web Design
ARTC 5330 Typography
ARTC 5331 Corporate Identity Systems
ARTC 5332 Corporate Marketing Materials
ARTC 5333 The Experimental Book
ARTC 5350 Special Problems in Communication Design
ARTC 5360A Digital Imaging
ARTC 5360B Word and Image

The freely elected curriculum by students (6 credit hours):
Students may elect six credit hours from 5000 level approved courses in the M.F.A. Communication Design program or 5000 level—approved by the Program Director—courses in the Department of Art and Design or 5000 level approved courses in Business Administration, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mass Communication, Creative Writing, or Technical Communication. All students must meet prerequisites for courses taken in other disciplines.

Additional Degree Requirements

Mid-Program Portfolio Review
The degree requires a Mid-Program Portfolio Review. The review will occur after students successfully complete 30 credit hours. The review will consist of a visual presentation of twenty completed works of design and an oral examination. The Program Director and the M.F.A. core faculty will review and make recommendations––satisfactory or not satisfactory—to the Department Chair and Graduate Dean. Satisfactory completion of the Mid-Program Portfolio Review will allow the student to continue with his or her graduate study. The student with an unsatisfactory Mid-Program Portfolio Review will be allowed to make portfolio work revisions, and then resubmit (two resubmissions only) the portfolio work for reassessment (two times).

Professional Practice
Graduate professional practice consists of experience in an advertising agency, a graphic design firm, or a digital media studio. Design responsibilities and procedures broaden a student’s understanding of the profession through a real job situation. Students in the program will be required to complete 6 hours.

Comprehensive Examination
Each student will take a written comprehensive examination. The examination includes six questions addressing knowledge in communication design attained in graduate study. The questions will be answered by the means of a comprehensive paper in American Psychological Association (APA) format.

Formal Thesis Topic Proposal
A formal thesis topic proposal will be presented to the student’s advisor and thesis committee by the means of a comprehensive paper in APA format.

Master of Fine Arts Thesis
Each student will be required to write a formal thesis. The thesis represents researching, creating, designing, and documenting an original hypothesis in communication design. The thesis will be in APA format. The student’s research advisor and thesis committee—consisting of three members—will administer the M.F.A. thesis. Students are required to present an oral defense of the completed thesis to the Thesis Committee. Research advisors will be members of the M.F.A. core faculty.