In a message dated Mon, 21 Aug 2000  5:11:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Andrew Renaut <[log in to unmask]> writes:

<< Hi, everyone, for those of us not in Northern America - is a MFA a Master of
Fine Arts? Is it 5th year level like a MA?

An MFA is on the same level as any other "master's" degrees like an MA, MS or MBA except that it is usually in a fine or performing arts discipline. My undergrad degree is in theater and while some profs had PhDs in theater, many had MFAs. Same with the music and studio arts faculty. To get an MFA, you have to have some sort of performance-based thesis like a recital or major exibition. MFAs concentrate more on perfecting your skills in your field rather than research and theory. I think it is also assumed that if you have an MFA, you will continue to work in your discipline either as a professional or in academia. For example, all the theater profs worked on at least one major show a year and were expected to. Same with the music profs; they all had at least one recital per year and usually did something else like conduct, write music or perform with one of the music groups.

There are also BFA degrees, Bachelor's of Fine Arts which work along the same lines. BAs usually require 2 years of a language, BSs require extra math and science and BFAs have more studio or performance classes. I think also because studio classes are usually not worth as much as "academic classes", it takes a bit longer to finish the degree. (My orchestra class that met for as long as any other 3-credit class was worth only 1 credit. I called it the 3-credit class that I got for the bargain low-price of a 1 credit class. Really annoying if you need 10 credits of performance classes for your BFA.) The music degree at my university was at minimum, 4 years and a summer with most people taking 5 years to complete it. All other degrees were 4 years and could be done in less if you had credits from HS or took the maximum load each semester.

Clear as mud?

Deb

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