Masters of Fine Arts (MFA)
| Program | Components | Expected Duration |
| MFA | Coursework, creative practice, thesis | 18 to 24 months |
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program at UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC provides students with opportunities to develop sophisticated production skills within a variety of media.
Students thrive in a creative environment led by experienced faculty from a variety of disciplines. Here, students gain exposure to advance concepts in contemporary art while working in a mutually supportive and critical studio-and-production environment.
The MFA program includes state-of-the-art production with 21st-century digital, printmaking, sculpture and photography studio facilities. While in residence, each student has a studio space to work in an artistic environment to explore, share and develop their own artistic community in relationship to a dynamic cohort of fellow MFA students.
Students are encouraged to engage in and investigate creative practice-based research that combines an interdisciplinary approach bridging academic research and fine-arts disciplines. We also support notions of artwork that is collaborative and community-based in nature.
There are three areas of specialization to choose from:
All three areas share an MFA Colloquium course that helps to develop bonds between differing areas while promoting innovative and interdisciplinary artistic opportunities.
Creative Writing and Visual Arts specializations have focused disciplinary production courses to develop advanced skills in their areas.
The Interdisciplinary Studies specialization allows students interested in Visual Arts, Creative Writing, Performance or Curation to explore these methods of production while engaging in a secondary, complimentary academic area of study.
The MFA program also allows for students to explore non-traditional community or collaborative creative practices.
All MFA students are required to complete 30 credits as follows: 6 credits of methodology (CCS 506 and CCS 507 MFA Graduate Colloquium I and II); 9 credits of additional coursework, 6 of which must be in the student’s area of creative practice specialization; and the MFA Thesis (15 credits) which requires students to produce a significant body of original artistic work.
View the MFA Program Handbook for a guide to program progression and requirements.
The specialization in Visual Arts requires an exhibition of a body of work completed during residency in the program, a written thesis, and an oral defence of both the exhibition and written thesis. Students are required to exhibit their thesis work as part of a cohort ‘MFA Thesis Exhibition’ scheduled sometime during May-July in the second year. Exact dates and exhibition venue to be determined on a yearly basis.
Students specializing in Visual Arts must complete the following 30 credits:
The specialization in Creative Writing requires a full-length work of publishable quality (book-length poetry, fiction, or non-fiction manuscript, full-length stage play, libretto or screenplay) with a 2,500 to 5,000 word introductory support paper, and an oral defense.
Students specializing in Creative Writing must complete the following 30 credits:
The specialization in Interdisciplinary Studies is comprised of the production of a body of work and a written research paper in a secondary area of study (or occasionally a creative work in a different field from the primary area)—generally a substantial, scholarly work between 8,000 to 10,000 words in length in the student’s secondary, complimentary discipline. The written research paper and the creative and/or curatorial body of work should have substantial linkages in theoretical or topical context. An oral defense of both the artistic and/or curatorial body of work and the written support paper is required.
Alternate thesis structure and content, such as the completion of two creative works, may be considered if planned ahead, especially in cases where a student’s work is interdisciplinary in nature.
Thesis descriptions of the primary creative disciplines for students in the specialization of Interdisciplinary Studies:
Students specializing in Interdisciplinary Studies must complete the following 30 credits:
Our research focus in the Masters of Fine Arts program include:
The success of UBC Okanagan’s MFA program depends on exceptional students.
Applicants should indicate their preference for a supervisor in the statement of intent or in the application. Supervisors will be assigned once applicants are admitted. We look forward to hearing about your research interests and career goals.
FCCS students are significant contributors of artistic and cultural events on campus and off in Kelowna, the Okanagan Valley and beyond.
Fine Arts Students have participated in many exhibitions, readings and performances on and off campus. View fine arts student work on our art blog.
Explore the following UBCO student-led groups that promote interest and community within their respective disciplines: Visual Arts Course Union; Creative Writing Course Union; Theatre Course Union.
View the MFA Program Handbook for a guide to program progression and requirements.
Search all UBC Okanagan MFA student publications at cIRcle, the university’s digital repository for research and teaching materials.
Some of our students have provided profiles for you to discover more about them and their research.
M.F.A. Visual Arts
Michaela Bridgemohan is a multidisciplinary artist of Jamaican and Australian descent who grew up in Mohkinstsis, also known as Calgary, located on the traditional territories of Treaty 7 Land. After receiving her BFA (with Distinction) from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2017, Bridgemohan continued her artistic research confronting criticism and concepts of Black biracial subjectivity. Her work engages personal mythology as a way to access cultural memory and examines Caribbean folklore, horror, and the Transatlantic slave trade, to navigate racial ambiguity. By using her body as a duppy, a malevolent entity, she attempts to mimic occupying two worlds at once. These shape-shifters inhabit a liminal, in-between space that pronounces bodily shedding, transformation, and subjugation as to confront ideas of shame, identity, racism, cultural erasure, and trauma. By blending photography, sculpture, and drawing, she seeks to contextualize the Black biracial woman’s experience.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Xiao Xuan / Sherry Huang is a poet. In her work, she considers love, (peri-) performativity, and intimate traces. She believes poetry is both a technology for tenderness as well as a critically rigorous discipline, something with world-making potential. Her first full-length publication, Love Speech, (Metatron Press 2019,) is an intersection between poetry and epistolary auto-theory.
Her roots are connected to the city of Shanghai, where she was born, as well as to various artist-run venues around a small-town in Ontario, where she grew up as an immigrant-settler. The contours of these places extend into her poetic practice, informing the way she treats poetry simultaneously as a tangible art object and as a happening with a time and place. As such, she values independent, ephemeral, and experimental ways of producing creative culture (tapes, zines, broadsides, shows,) alongside traditional practices of printing and publishing.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Caolan Leander is a writer and graduate student exploring the interstices of material culture and hauntological ethics. He holds a BA in Creative Writing with a double minor in Art History and Film Studies from Concordia University. Merging his background in storytelling and interdisciplinary analysis with a zeal for the environmental humanities, Leander’s current research focuses on the posthuman entanglements of technology, ecological futures, and deep time. His creative project will examine processes of ruination and re/worlding in the temporal landscapes of rural Quebec.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Justin graduated with an English BA from UNBC in his hometown of Prince George back in 2020. He spent a year as a radio and web journalist before deciding to pursue an MFA. He has also worked as a part time stand-up comedian, which has heavily influenced his writing style.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Claire Miller-Harder is a writer and MFA student from Abbotsford, BC. In 2021, she graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Her current research interests include folklore, Mennonite literature, and gothic fiction. You can find her work in Room magazine and filling Station. Most recently, her poem “Dishwashing” was listed as a notable poem in Best Canadian Poetry 2020.
M.F.A Interdisciplinary Studies
Shimshon Obadia is an interdisciplinary artist and activist who’s work uses the practice of self-advocacy soft activism to engage the communities their intersectional identity as a queer identified trans-non-binary, autistic neurodiverse, mixed person of colour ties them to and defines them by. Their research explores how this practice can be used to envision a more optimistic future for those who have been systemically disadvantaged and historically prevented from accessing popular creative modes of seeing themselves in such futures. Specifically, they interrogate this question through the disciplines of Creative Writing and Digital Media Art, within the framework of the field of Creative Activism. They do this with a focus on narrative storytelling and audio media in a community-based application. Obadia approaches this from the perspective of intersectional minority identity points of view such as their own. Thus their research operates as a social justice act of racial imagination.
M.F.A Visual Arts
Nasim Pirhadi is a graduate of painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran (BA, 2013) and Azad University (MA 2017). She makes works that are mainly a compilation of spatial installations, video art, sound, and drawing. She is interested in creating interactive experiences to facilitate narratives in her works. Her research-oriented practice engages with feminist approaches on female identity and subjectivity and gender performativity. Another theme in her works is the instability in society. She has presented at festivals and artist residencies across Iran and internationally including Germany, Austria, Greece, the USA, England and Sri Lanka. Nasim won the selected award of the third contemporary drawing Festival in Iran in 2011 and has been shortlisted as eight finalists of the Behnam Bakhtiar Award in Monaco, in 2017. nasimpirhadi.wixsite.com/myportfolio
M.F.A Creative Writing
Larissa is an avid traveller, sports enthusiast, woodworker, amateur photographer, and food fanatic. Originally from the Okanagan, she is excited to return for a new adventure.
Larissa completed her undergrad at the University of Vicotria in 2018, obtaining a double major in Writing and Sociology with a minor in Italian Studies. Afterward, she began training for a career in the Human Services sector and took a hiatus from writing. While that career path was rewarding in many ways, Larissa found herself fulfilled most when she returned to writing. During her graduate program at UBCO, Larissa will focus her research on stories written from multiple perspectives. She finds tales shown in multiple lenses fascinating and believes literary fiction could utilize this more often. Larissa also aspires to explore blending literary and genre fiction an interesting topic to delve into while completing her Master’s program.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Natalie Rice is a poet. She is interested in creating a poetics that generates a non-linguistic knowing of the natural world and does this challengingly and paradoxically through the use of language. Her current work operates within the narrative of ecological crisis, specific to the Okanagan valley. Natalie holds a BA in Creative Writing from The University of British Columbia, Okanagan. She has been published by Gaspereau Press: Devil’s Whim Chapbook Series (26 Visions of Light, 2020), The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy, Event Magazine, The Dalhousie Review, The Malahat Review, Contemporary Verse Two, and Lake: Journal of Arts and Environment.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Andrea Routley is the author of two books of fiction, Midden (forthcoming, 2022) and Jane and the Whales (Caitlin Press, 2013), which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction. Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in magazines such as The Fiddlehead Review, Room, and Geist, and in 2020 she was shortlisted for the Malahat Review Novella Prize. Her research-creation thesis, a novel titled Field Guide to Bats and Other Damage, seeks to discover how queerness and disability might be envisioned as central to ecological narratives of survival, and the implications of such a revision in our understanding of–and relationship to–nature. Andrea was born and raised on BC’s south coast, primarily in Kwantlen territory, in Fort Langley.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Andisha Sabri is an Australian writer who has also lived in Israel, England, and the Czech Republic. She now lives in Canada where she is working on a historical novel set around the turn-of-the-century in England. Her current work borrows from both the social satire and gothic themes of her nineteenth-century literary influences, and explores how a child is socialized to conform to the expectations of her social class and gender as well as how a more critical view of imperialism impacts how we interpret the past. Andisha also has an MA in English and a BA in English and Ancient History. She has always been interested in exploring how our past, present, and future are interpreted in fiction and her research is often preoccupied with liminal spaces between genres, between eras, and between the real and the unreal. In addition to prose fiction she also writes poetry on both similar themes and more personal subject matter.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Umar Turaki is a writer and filmmaker from Jos, Nigeria who now calls Kelowna home. His thesis, a novel, aims to explore masculinity (toxic and otherwise), familial and sibling relationships (a recurring theme in his work), the interaction between identity and disability, climate change, and how these intersect against the backdrop of history and historicity. His first novel is SUCH A BEAUTIFUL THING TO BEHOLD (Little A, 2022). His work can be found on his website, www.umarturaki.com.
M.F.A Creative Writing
Mandy Wallace is a poet and fiction writer from California with work in Plath Poetry Project, Writer’s Digest, and Hobart after Dark. She shares writing resources through her website, Write or Die (mandywallace.com), which grew to 60k readers in its first three months and was named one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers. It’s also where she taught her signature course, Blog Your Way to a Writing Career, to beginning writers—one of whom became a NYT-bestselling author. Her workbook for new writers, Landing Your First Publication, is a textbook in college creative writing courses and includes writing prompts, worksheets, and submissions strategies. In 2021, she was selected for a competitive poetry mentorship through Association of Writers and Writing Programs and is an MFA candidate at University British Columbia Okanagan. She has an honors BA in English from CSUB and studied German language and literature at Universität Tübingen in Germany.
Admission to UBC graduate programs is competitive. Applicants must meet the following criteria.
Applicants to the MFA programs are expected to have a BFA, with a B+ (76%) in third-year level and above courses or at least 12 credits in third- and fourth-year classes in their intended field of study with an A- (80%) or better average. An applicant’s background must sufficiently prepare them for advanced work in creative practice.
Applicants need to submit a portfolio of creative work (see How to Apply below)
MORE INFORMATION
Visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar* for full admission and program requirements information; the calendar is a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services and academic policies at the University of British Columbia.
* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
Applicants to the MFA programs are expected to have a BFA, with a B+ (76%) in third-year level and above courses or at least 12 credits in third- and fourth-year classes in their intended field of study with an A- (80%) or better average. An applicant’s background must sufficiently prepare them for advanced work in creative practice.
Applicants need to submit a portfolio of creative work, see How to Apply below.
Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must present English language proficiency tests. Test scores must have been taken within the last 24 months.
The requirements for the MFA program are specific as outlined below and differ from the minimums outlined on the College of Graduate studies web site.
IELTS average score accepted
TOEFL average score accepted
MORE INFORMATION
Visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar* for full admission and program requirements information; the calendar is a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services and academic policies at the University of British Columbia. Find out more about how to submit your English language proficiency test scores.
* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
Grades and degree credentials required by UBC vary by country. Search the Required Grades and Credential Guide — a guide to assist international students in estimating their eligibility.
An international student advisor can answer questions about immigration, medical insurance and the transition to UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC. Visit the International Programs and Services website to meet the team.
UBC Okanagan’s tuition and fees compare favourably with universities of the same high calibre.
| Program | Schedule | Domestic (per year) | International (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFA | Full-time | $5197.59 | $9131.31 |
Tuition amounts presented here are estimates only and all fees are subject to change. For official tuition and fee information, visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar*, a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services and academic policies at the university of British Columbia.
Tuition is paid three times a year at the beginning of each term, and on the first day of the term, as per the Academic Calendar: Winter Term 1 (September), Winter Term 2 (January), and Summer Term (May).
* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies is committed to financially supporting our graduate students to the best of our ability and providing a variety of funding options.
Currently, the Faculty can provide up to two years of support for Masters students through a combination of Graduate Entrance Scholarships (GDES), Teaching Assistantships (TAs), Research Assistantships (RAs) and University Graduate Fellowship (UGFs) funding. The specific source of the funding for an individual student will depend on a number of factors and may include a mixture of TA, RA and UGF support.
TAs pay approximately $11,500 annually and we prioritize graduate students for these positions—Masters students have two years of priority for placement. The number of available positions is contingent on Faculty budget and overall student numbers. TA positions are posted online.
RAs are employment opportunities for qualified students offered by faculty members with research grants and contracts. As a paid research assistant, graduate students assist their supervisor or other researchers in conducting high-level research, which often contributes to the student’s thesis or dissertation. RAs are not guaranteed because they follow the financial cycles of the supervisor’s external grants and contracts.
The College of Graduate Studies administers merit-based graduate awards at the Okanagan campus. The College manages a number of award competitions each year and administers payment of all internal awards and selected external awards, including:
Submit an application package and portfolio. Creative Studies Faculty will review this and determine if your application has the support of a supervisor and potential supervisory committee. Please contact the MFA Program Coordinator if you need any further information. Admission to the program requires a complete application package and meeting program-specific criteria. Applicants do not need to find a supervisor ahead of time, but rather, applicants should indicate their preference in the statement of intent or in the application. Supervisors will be assigned once applicants are admitted.
A complete application package will contain:
All areas of specialization are required to prepare a cohesive portfolio package, which may be submitted along with your application or mailed directly to the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. One PDF document containing images, description of images and/or links to film, online media or performances is preferred.
All portfolios should include the following:
Creative Writing – 30 pages of published or unpublished work in two genres. The work can be photocopies of published material (providing bibliographical information about the publication) or can be in manuscript format (double-spaced, one side of the page)
Visual Arts – 15-20 images submitted as as one PDF document, or by a direct link to a site containing the images. If you are linking to a website or otherwise posted materials, include a one-page PDF document which clearly describes the work with the title and specifics, and include the links. Make sure it is a direct link to the images. The committee will not search a website for the material.
You must also include an accompanying image description document (maybe in the PDF). Do not send PowerPoint or other presentations. The PDF document should contain one image per page, listing the title, date and medium, please ensure that your images are sized down. Short Video documentation of work may also be submitted if appropriate as a link to the video site.
Video/Film – A selection of recent video work on USB stick submitted with your application, or provide links to online material in your application. If you are linking to a website, or other posted materials. include a one-page PDF document which clearly describes the work with title and specifics, and include the links. Make sure that it is a direct link to the video. The committee will not search a website for the material. The department may request additional original work for further evaluation purposes.
Performance – Students who plan to work in the area of Performance will be able to do so under the MFA with a specialization in Interdisciplinary Studies: Support material will be accepted of video documentation of performance work on DVD, 30-minute maximum or a specific link to website. If you are linking to a site or other posted materials include a one-page PDF document which clearly describes the work with title and specifics, and includes the links. Make sure that it is a direct link to the video. The committee will not search a website for the material.
Performance texts: maximum 30 pages; 15-20 images of performances; digital sound recordings. Applicants may choose to provide support material in more than one format if appropriate.
Applying takes time. We recommend you start your application two months in advance.
For full consideration students should submit all application materials by the following:
| Intake | Application Deadline |
|---|---|
| MFA Visual Arts and Creative Writing (Domestic & International) | |
| September | January 15 |
| MFA Interdisciplinary Studies | |
| September | January 15 (Domestic & International) |
| May | October 1 (International) January 15 (Domestic) |
The University of British Columbia is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the 40 best universities in the world. In the psychology program at UBC’s Okanagan campus, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally respected university while studying in a close-knit learning community.
UBC’s Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic development with a population of about 150,000 people—the fourth fastest growing population in Canada. In fact, the Okanagan Valley is rated one of the best communities in Canada to grow your business.
More than 160 buses travel daily from campus to key locations such as Kelowna’s cultural district and thriving downtown waterfront. The campus is two minutes from the Kelowna International Airport, one of the top 10 busiest airports in Canada.
UBC Okanagan is situated within the First Nations territory of the Okanagan Nation, whose spirit of stewardship for the land is reflected in the university’s respect for sustainability.
A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards and orchards, and snow-capped mountains, the Okanagan Valley features sweeping stretches of lakeside and endless mountain trails for biking and hiking.
Check out this 360-degree video: Kelowna From Above.*
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Events: See what’s happening with FCCS News & Events, including readings by visiting authors and artist talks, performances, the AlterKnowledge Discussion Series, Film Series, Okanagan Short Story Contest, the popular annual Art on the Line fundraiser, and much more.
Stay Connected: and keep in touch with us, too—by following the FCCS community on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the UBCO Grad community on Twitter and keep up to date with what is happening in the English program.
Stay active: Take advantage of the many opportunities to get involved and play—from workout space in the new Hangar Fitness and Wellness Centre and our 1,561 square-metre gymnasium, to athletic courts, intramurals, fitness classes and nationally ranked varsity athletics. Have a ball in Sports and Recreation.
Relax: The Graduate Collegium is a gathering place where grad students can hang out, eat lunch, spend time with their fellow students, and attend or host special events. The lounge-style room is open seven days and week and is outfitted with comfortable furniture, kitchen facilities, and individual and group-work spaces.
Community: The Aboriginal Centre is a home away from home for all Aboriginal students by providing a sense of belonging and community, a place to catch up, wind down, make lunch, share opportunities and celebrate success.
College of Graduate Studies: Your hub for administrative support and such things as graduate workshops for professional development and for assisting you from the admissions process through to your graduation
Centre for Scholarly Communication (CSC): Supports graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff and faculty in disseminating their research. The CSC provides one-on-one consultations and workshops, including writing support for theses, dissertations, journal articles and grant proposals.
Centre for Teaching and Learning: Provides support related to teaching, TA training and use of technology in educational programming.
Learn more about graduate student resources and support in FCCS.
Map out your future and prepare to hit the ground running with resources and services provided by the Advising & Involvement Centre.
Tell your story with resumé and cover-letter strategies, and search Work Study jobs for experience relevant to your degree and career goals. You can also book an appointment to meet one-on-one with our career advisor.
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