I、Brief Introduction

MFA (Master of Fine Arts) has been available at Tongji University since 2009 upon approval of the Academic Degrees Committee, State Council of China.In order to implement the national strategy of cultural industries, to cultivate more high-level professionals of cultural (art) industries, and to develop the discipline of cultural (art) industries at Tongji University, as a qualified degree-conferring entity, the School of Humanities offers graduate courses of Master of Fine Arts.

      Candidates of MFA need to study basic theories of cultural creativity and basic methods of cultural investment and financing, they also need to master basic skills and techniques of art creativity, devising and operating through various and intensive practical trainings, so as to let creativity to play its role through marketing and communicating media. Although the MFA program is led by principal theories of cultural (art) creative industries, its ultimate purpose is to train and promote students’practical skills.

    We are a creative community led by scholars of art theory as well as practitioners in the creative industries. High-level research teams include: Art History and Art Theory led by Professor Professor Wang Hanwei; Contemporary Art, led by Professor Lu Xinghua; Art and Cultural Industries Management, led by Professor Xie Xuefang；Creative Writing, led by Professor Zhang Yongsheng. Our Department brings together a well-knit community of leading scholars and a group of promising young scholars, representing the essential foundation for securing a better future of our department and the MA program. In addition, our team of tutors also include a group of excellent external tutors with rich professional experiences.

    This field awards Master’s Degree in Master of Fine Arts.

II、Objectives

To cultivate high-level and innovative talents with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique, art and labor to become social pillars and professional elites leading the future.

To have a firm and correct political orientation loving our socialist motherland and supporting the leadership of the Communist Party of China; to study Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of “Three Represents,” the scientific outlook on development and Xi Jinping's socialist ideological system with Chinese characteristics in the new era; to dedicate oneself to serving the people and striving hard for the prosperity and strength of the motherland; to abide by the law and regulations; and to obtain good moral characters.

 To lay a solid foundation in the basic theory and professional knowledge; to exhibit a strong ability to solve practicable problems and undertake professional, technical or management work; to achieve proficiency in a foreign language; to develop a strong ability in cooperation, organization and leadership.

Graduates of our MFA Program should have a broad academic vision, mastering basic knowledge and research methodologies of art design. They should be competent for works of designing, teaching, management and creative devising in areas of art, cultural industries and other related disciplines, and be able to contribute to the development of cultural (art) creative industries.

III、Research Orientations

1.Arts Administration

2.Curating

   3.Creative Writing

IV、Program Duration

 The duration of schooling is 2 years with a maximum of no more than 4 years.

V、Credit

Non-engineering full-time professional graduate students should complete at least 51 credits, including 5 credits for public degree courses, 10 credits for professional degree courses, 9 credits for non-degree courses, and 27 credits for compulsory courses(including 1 credit for dissertation topic selection, 2 credits for the graduate students' dissertation writing and academic norms，12 credits for professional practice, and 12 credits for graduation project).

VI、Dissertation

Graduate students should complete their theses independently under the supervision of their tutors.

Thesis Topic Selection: The discussion of the master theses topic selection should be organized by each discipline according to the time required by the university, usually no later than the third semester. Students who fail to pass the first report may re-select the topic 3 months later. If the student fails to pass gain, this will be regarded as an automatic termination of study and the student will be dropped out. In the course of the research, if there are significant changes in the thesis topic , the topic selection meeting shall be reorganized.

Mid-term assessment: The mid-term assessment of master graduate students should be organized by each discipline according to the time required by the university. The mid-term assessment of graduate students with a 2 or 2.5-year schooling system should be completed no later than the third semester after admission. Students who fail to pass the mid-term assessment for the first time may be reexamined after six months. Students who fail to pass the re-examination again shall be dismissed from school.

Blind trial: it should be conducted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the university and its colleges.

Review and Oral defense: For the form and writing requirements, the organization and process of the thesis’s review and deferred oral defense, please refer to the Regulations on the Granting of Degrees of Tongji University、Specifications on paper Topic Selection and Review and Oral Defense of Tongji University .

   Confidential theses: Confidential management of secret-related thesis and applications for the academic degrees shall be carried out in accordance with the Regulations on the Management of Confidential Graduate Students and Confidential Thesis of Tongji University (No. 65, Tongji Graduate School, 2018).

VII、Achievements

    The Master's Degree students of the School of Humanities are not required to publish academic achievements, but are encouraged to contribute to regular journals, graduate academic journals and forums established by universities.

VIII、Dismissal Policy

If students fail to pass more than three (including three) courses during the period of study, they shall be dismissed from school.

    Students who fail to pass the topic selection or the mid-term assessment twice shall be regarded as automatically terminating their studies and shall be dismissed from school.

 Students who fail to pass the mid-term assessment within schooling shall be dismissed from school.

IX、Remark

Courses are generally arranged in the first to 1 academic years. In the compulsory links, dissertation writing and academic norms, topic selection and Tongji advanced lectures must be completed before the mid-term assessment.

There should be at least a 2-month interval between the topic selection and the mid-term assessment and a 6-month interval between the mid-term assessment and the thesis defense. Thesis research should be combined with professional practice and there should be no shorter than one year professional practice.

   Students need to complete two professional practices. Professional practice 1 is to carry out cultural and artistic activities and to complete a research report of no less than 3500 words; Professional practice 2 is to carry out special research on project planning or to hold a workshop on theme works and to complete a research report of no less than 3500 words.

X、Curriculum