Credits and Courses

Minimum degree requirement is 48 credits, 12 of which must be in complementary courses. This generally requires two years of full-time study. The student must earn at least 12 of the credits through full-time attendance on campus in a single semester.

Photo credit: Dick Blau.

MFA degree requirements

The distribution of coursework required is as follows:

12 credits in Graduate Film Studio/Seminar
12 credits in Complementary Studies (G or U/G courses)
9 credits in U/G or G Film Courses
6 credits in Professional Practice
6 credits in Graduate Thesis Studio
3 credits in Film Studies*

*Students electing the Film Studies option for complementary studies will have this course counted as one of the four necessary to complete the 12-credit complementary studies requirement. They must then increase their U/G or G Film courses by 3 credits to 12.

Graduate Seminar (Film 710, 712, 714)
Grad Seminar is a 9 credit requirement of the program. Graduate Seminar I (Film 710) and Graduate Seminar II (712) are taken in the first two semesters of the MFA. Graduate Seminar III (Film 714) may be taken in either the third or the fourth semester. The Graduate Seminar is led by a different Film Department faculty or guest faculty member each semester and varies each term. Seminar content may vary each semester. In Seminar you may make new work along a specific theme, advance works-in-progress or be exposed to ideas that may influence your thinking about your work.

Professional Practice (700)
Professional Practice is an internship or project with a media-related enterprise or non-profit organization to develop specialized skills and practical experience in the field. It is to be initiated and completed during the graduate studies. 6 credits of Professional Practice (700) are required. This is to be approved by the faculty member involved and the Director of the Graduate Program.

Examples of recent past professional practice projects:

• Assisting the director of the Fall LGBT Film Festival
• intern for the Milwaukee International Film Festival
• PR/media for community organizations
• intern with DocUWM
• assisting the instructor of FILM 302 Video in the Schools

Advanced Research in Film I & II (730, 732)
9 credits are allotted for your thesis project. Advanced Research in Film I – FILM 730, 3 credits – is taken in the Fall semester of your second year. This course is thesis preproduction and production. Advanced Research in Film II – FILM 732, 6 credits total – is taken in the Spring semester of your second year. For 732, you may register for either 6 credits in one semester, or two 3-credit installments over two consecutive semesters. Upon completion of the thesis project, your Major Professor will approve (sign) the application for graduation, stating that your thesis is completed.

Independent Study (799)
There may be times when you will need to take an independent study with a professor for a special project. A maximum of 9 independent study credits within the Film Department may be counted toward your degree. Seek approval from the professor and enroll with an add/drop form.

Progress Through the MFA

Major Professor as Advisor / Graduate Committee
The student must have a major professor to advise and supervise studies as specified in Graduate School regulations, as well as two Graduate Faculty for their end of semester review. In addition to an advisor from the Film Department Graduate Faculty, each student must select and gain consent from a faculty member representing the determined area of Complementary Study to advise the student on the construction of this program and its integration with the student's major course of work.

Complementary Studies and Complimentary Studies Advisor
A graduate student enrolls in 12 credits of Complementary Studies in their area of interest. Complementary Studies classes must be overseen by a professor/instructor on the faculty at UWM. For example, if your Complementary Studies area is History, grad level courses in the History Department are taken and a course of study is pursued with a faculty member from History. We recommend taking one complementary studies course per semester to ensure that this component is completed by the end of the MFA.

Graduate Reviews
Graduate Reviews are required each semester (except for this first; this is optional) that you are enrolled in the Graduate Program in Film at UWM. MFA candidate work is reviewed by the Graduate Committee. This committee is composed of your Major Professor, two other Film Department Faculty of your choice (Grad Seminar Professor that semester has the option to attend), and your Complementary Studies Advisor.

Thesis Presentation
At the end of the two years, each student presents a thesis exhibition program of work executed since admission to the program. The exhibition may be held either during the semester in which the student completes their coursework for the degree or in the following semester. The screening or exhibition must be open to the public and notices must be distributed in advance of the screening/event.

Graduation/Timelines
It is recommended that MFA candidates complete their course work and thesis in two years, enrolling in 12 credits per semester. The process of graduating includes submission of a graduation application (with an application fee), overview of coursework done to ensure compliance with curriculum requirements, and the final review and approval of the thesis by the Graduate Committee and Major Professor. The university's window for completing an MFA is 7 years.

updated: 11/19/07