Degree Program: Master of Fine Arts

Chair, Artistic Director, Department of Dance: Julia Ritter, Ph.D.

Graduate Director: Jeff Friedman, Ph.D.

The M.F.A. in dance degree is a terminal degree in dance serving working dance artists with a minimum of five years' experience in the field who want to expand their range by integrating a variety of new artistic and dance studies fields. Students engage with advanced technical training in a variety of movement methods, including contemporary, classical, and somatic practices, and apply those skills in staged performances. Students also engage in a rigorous sequence of creative; dance studies; critical pedagogy; professional practice, leadership, and advocacy; and elective coursework that fully informs returning students toward future engagement in the dance field as working professionals and potential faculty in higher education.

Guided by the belief that dance is a fundamental embodied practice for understanding the human condition in a globalized context, the degree establishes students as creatively literate world citizens who can develop interdisciplinary solutions to address complex contemporary issues. The rigorous 60-credit curriculum is led by graduate dance faculty who model excellence in interdisciplinary research.