California Institute of Integral Studies
Master of Fine Arts Programs (MFA)
San Francisco, USA
Master degree
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
* 1st Priority deadline: Submit by February 15th at 11:59pm PT for guaranteed review. After this date, some programs may be full and only interview for waitlist spots or not be able to further review applications.
Key Summary
About: California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)’s Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing emphasizes dialogue, mentorship, and interdisciplinary exploration over a traditional studio component. Through classes, workshops, events, individualized faculty-adviser sessions, and up to four mentorships with art professionals, you’ll refine craft, expand creative range, and develop cross-cultural, transdisciplinary, and applied arts skills. The programme uses face-to-face, hybrid, and online pedagogy to create a personal, hands-on learning environment and supportive community.
Career Outcomes: Graduates pursue roles in media, coaching, editing and publishing, arts administration or non-profits, education and academia, arts advocacy and activism, working as artists, educators.
Our Approach
Through classes, workshops, and events, CIIS' Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing program cultivates a culture of inquiry that helps students refine and articulate their work. Unlike traditional MFAs with a studio component, this program emphasizes dialogue, mentorship, and interdisciplinary exploration as the foundation for artistic growth. We believe genuine discovery happens through conversation across the arts.
The program is uniquely personal and hands-on. Throughout the program, students have individualized sessions with faculty advisers and can enroll in four mentorships with art professionals to hone their craft or develop new skills. This one-on-one support expands students’ creative range and prepares them for the next steps as an art professional.
The MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing is a two-year, 39-unit asynchronous, online program with required virtual meetings for all courses at the start of each fall and spring semester. Our degree includes a 4-course elective storytelling focus, Story Matters. In it, students experience how stories are conveyed through multiple artforms, while also learning to tell potent stories to transform themselves and the world.
We also offer a residential course, Interdisciplinary Arts Seminar (1-2 units), each fall and spring semester that students can take once or multiple times. The course includes a 4-day residency in San Francisco and other locations. It provides opportunities to build relationships with cohort members and our MFA community, participate in events with arts organizations, visit local art spaces and venues, and work with guest artists.
Featured Courses
- Creative Inquiry for Interdisciplinary Artists
This course invites you to approach inquiry both as a specific act — asking pointed questions — and as a tool for exploring broader contexts. - The Story of Art
In this course, you explore the ways artists inquire into and engage with the world. What does their artwork embody? How do they depict their worlds and the stories within/or created through the art? - The Artist in the World: Preparing the Artist’s Portfolio
This course emphasizes professional practices at work in the world, including external research and the development of key materials such as artist statements, narrative biographies, résumés, and an action plan for creating a stable career.
The MFA curriculum prepares students to launch or expand their professional lives as artists and makers. Graduates pursue careers in:
- Media
- Coaching
- Editing and publishing
- Arts administration or non-profits
- Education and academia
- Arts advocacy and activism
