The Master of Fine Arts in New Media at the University of Lethbridge is a research-creation program that supports a broad range of artistic, design, and media practices through making, research, and critical reflection. Grounded in the understanding that making is a vital mode of knowledge production, the program invites students to pursue questions that emerge from their own areas of practice and study.

The MFA (New Media) provides a framework for rigorous exploration of established, contemporary, and emerging forms of media while supporting a broad range of creative, theoretical and transdisciplinary approaches. Students engage media and technologies as tools, materials and sites of inquiry, using them to develop original work while critically examining the cultural, social, political, economic and environmental conditions in which they operate.

The Department of New Media supports a wide range of creative practices, including:

• Design and visual communication
• Interactive and participatory media
• Analog and digital game-based/ludic media
• Audio, video, and moving image practices
• Creative coding and computational art
• Networked and platform-based media
• Immersive and spatial media
• Digital fabrication and emerging technologies
• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary creative practice

As a small graduate program situated within ULethbridge's Liberal Education philosophy, the MFA (New Media) offers exceptional opportunities for close mentorship and sustained engagement with faculty who are artists, designers, researchers and scholars working across diverse media, methodologies and fields of inquiry. 

The MFA culminates in a substantial thesis project that combines creative production with critical reflection and demonstrates the student's ability to make an original contribution to the field of new media. Graduates leave the program with advanced creative, analytical and research capacities that prepare them for professional artistic and creative practice, cultural leadership, teaching, further graduate study and a wide range of careers in the creative and cultural sectors.

Program Facilities and Equipment  

Located in the University Centre for the Arts, the New Media Department is supported by excellent studios, labs, specialized workshops and digital facilities, including:

• Computer labs with advanced graphics workstations
• The Game Research Lab
• The Cove Studio with VFX green screen infinity cyclorama
• An extensive media production equipment loan centre that supports experimentation across a wide range of media

Funding Opportunities

• University of Lethbridge Graduate Research Award (ULGRA)
  • Eligible students are offered ULGRA as part of their admission into their program, up to a maximum of $21,000 per year.
• Graduate Assistantships (teaching/non-teaching)
  • Students are offered this funding opportunity with offers of admission, with assistantships valued at $3,916.51 for a full GA, and $1,958.25 for a half GA, as of 2026.

Program Requirements

During the first year, students complete coursework and studio development. In the second year, students focus on thesis research and production.

The required courses for MFA (New Media) majors are:

• Fine Arts 5020 - Information Literacy for the Fine Arts (3.0 credit hours)
• New Media 5148 - Graduate Studio I (6.0 credit hours)
• New Media 5149 - Graduate Studio II (6.0 credit hours)
• New Media 5151 - New Media Theory and History (3.0 credit hours)
• Two electives at the 5000 level (6.0 credit hours) chosen in consultation between the student and the supervisor