The focus of the MFA degree is on creative performance in design. Its goals are to promote strong and creative conceptual thinking, exploration, interpretation, innovation, and overall excellence in design execution.
Students interested in the MFA should refer to the named option in Design Studies.
Funding
Graduate School Resources
Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.
Program Resources
Funding opportunities for Human Ecology graduate students are available and made possible, in large part, by generous donations to SoHE. Every year, these funds are used to fund teaching or project assistantships, award academic excellence scholarships, and provide students doing their masters or doctoral research or final MFA project with conference travel scholarships and graduate research scholarships. See the School of Human Ecology Enrollment Policy on Funding Eligibility and view current funding opportunities on our program website for more information.
Minimum Graduate School Requirements
Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements, in addition to the program requirements listed below.
Major Requirements
Curricular Requirements
| Minimum Credit Requirement | 51 credits |
| Minimum Residence Credit Requirement | 24 credits |
| Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement | 30 credits must be graduate-level coursework. Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1244. |
| Overall Graduate GPA Requirement | 3.00 GPA required. Refer to the Graduate School: Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1203. |
| Other Grade Requirements | n/a |
| Assessments and Examinations | Required Milestones -Second Year MFA Exhibition -Second Year Reflection -Third Year Thesis Proposal -Third Year MFA Exhibition |
| Language Requirements | n/a |
Required Courses
Select a Named Option for courses required.
Named Options
A named option is a formally documented sub-major within an academic major program. Named options appear on the transcript with degree conferral. Students pursuing the Master of Fine Arts in Human Ecology must select the following named option:
Professional Development
Graduate School Resources
Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career.
Program Resources
The School of Human Ecology Graduate Program values the professional development of graduate students and provides financial awards to those who are invited to present at professional conferences/exhibits. The purpose of the support is to encourage participation in professional development, scholarly research, and/or creative endeavor and to help cover expenses not covered by other sources. Students may receive a maximum award of $650 for travel ($750 for international travel) to support conference participation in a single academic year. Students are encouraged to seek conference and travel funding from the Graduate School as a first step and apply for supplemental funds through SoHE as needed.
In addition, each academic department within the School of Human Ecology may offer additional professional development grant opportunities. See the program Events Calendar for the most up-to-date information on professional development opportunities.
Learning Outcomes
- Articulate challenges, frontiers and limits with respect to theory, knowledge or practice within the area of study.
- Formulate ideas, concepts, designs, and/or techniques beyond the current boundaries of knowledge within one's area of study.
- Create research, scholarship or performance that makes a substantive contribution to one's field.
- Foster ethical conduct and professional guidelines.
People
Human Ecology Directory: listing of all faculty, staff, and graduate students; searchable by association, department, and name
Department of Civil Society & Community Studies (Civil Society & Community Research: CSCR graduate program)
Department of Consumer Science (Consumer Behavior & Family Economics: CBFE graduate program)
Department of Design Studies (Design Studies: DS graduate programs)
Department of Human Development & Family Studies (Human Development & Family Studies: HDFS graduate program)