Animation Graduate Programs
Explore current methods of animation, visual effects production, and their historical and cultural contexts.
Our Animation program is STEM-designated. Employers know that STEM programs teach the analytical skills essential for business success and the designation makes our graduates more valuable to future employers.
Master of Fine Arts in Animation
Students in the MFA in Animation explore current methods of animation, visual effects production, and their historical and cultural contexts. Our courses enhance students’ artistic vision by developing their skills across the production pipeline in 3D, 2D, and experimental techniques. As a result, our students are encouraged to expand their creative aesthetic and problem-solving skills, preparing them for professions in the entertainment industry as well as university faculty positions.
The typical timeline to graduation is three years. In their first year, Animation MFA students take courses in animation aesthetics and histories, which anchors their subsequent coursework in creative inquiry and production practices. An MFA student in Animation also can expect to be introduced to or further explore the vibrant Dallas arts scene, with which our faculty and students are heavily engaged. MFA students also have opportunities to serve as teaching assistants to develop their pedagogical skills.
In addition to working closely with our award-winning faculty, MFA students join a cross-disciplinary cohort of graduate students pursuing creative and critical forms of inquiry. All graduate students have the opportunity to participate in the Bass School’s interdisciplinary lab spaces, including those dedicated to animation, and each year the Bass School hosts various showcases featuring students’ work. Our Animation MFA students have gone on to careers in the animation industry and in academia.
To learn more about our MFA in Animation, attend a Graduate Studies Overview Session. During these information sessions, our academic advisors provide an overview of our programs, the application and admissions process, funding opportunities, and are available to answer your questions. You also can learn more about graduate degree program policies and procedures here: List of Graduate Degree Program Policies and Procedures.
Program Type | Master’s |
Format | On campus, full- and part-time options are available |
Estimated Time to Complete | 3 years |
Semester Credit Hours | 54 |
Fact Sheet
Scholarships & Awards
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Meet Professors You Will Never Forget
Animation Faculty include world-renowned artists, scholars, and creative practitioners. Their diverse areas of expertise ensure that graduate students gain knowledge of breadth and depth. Our professors publish with the nation’s leading academic presses, work with top animation studios, hold patents in design, and are recognized as pioneers by peers in their field.
Areas of Faculty Work & Exhibition
3D computer animation; 3D modeling; 3D printing and projection mapping; digital fabrication; digital media and interactive art; documentary; games; new media art; photography and contemporary art; simulations
Areas of Faculty Research & Publishing
Applied media studies and remix culture; border studies; critical ethnic and race studies; critical making; digital humanities, including digital health humanities; disability and crip studies; feminist studies; game studies; infrastructure studies; literary studies; media studies and cinema studies; mobile media; new media arts and new media arts and education
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Art-Based Research & Creative Practice
We believe if you can imagine it, we can make it. Our lab and studio culture blends art, technology, design, engineering, science, and the humanities to create an incubative environment rich with possibilities. Collaboration is the heart of the Bass School. Learn how faculty, students, art-based research, and creative practice are connected.
Contact Information
Sean McComber
Associate Professor and Program Head
Katherine Schweers
Graduate Academic Advisor
Phone: 972-883-6324
Email: katherine.schweers@utdallas.edu
Office: ATC 1.602
Graduate Advising
Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology
The University of Texas at Dallas, JO31
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
Phone: 972-883-4706
Email: ahtgradvising@utdallas.edu
Office of Admission and Enrollment
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
972-883-2270 or 1-800-889-2443
admission@utdallas.edu
utdallas.edu/enroll