Focused upon social equity and the support of cultural community growth, this two-year master’s program integrates administrative tools and techniques with socially engaged leadership through the blending of organization skills and community outreach programming.

The IAIA Masters in Cultural Administration program recognizes that an in-depth knowledge of cultural heritage sustainability and active community engagement practices are critical requirements for successful cultural-based institution administrators to possess.

The MFA in Cultural Administration program is comprised of online coursework, summer residencies, and a community-driven thesis project in which the student practices collaborative models of leadership and community support.

Students will choose one of two areas of emphasis: either Tribal Museum and Cultural Center Administration, or Arts Administration.

Cultural Administration Emphasis Tracks

Tribal Museum and Cultural Center Administration: Across the globe culturally-based museums and cultural centers are becoming extremely popular as audiences seek to understand and appreciate diverse cultures.  And in the current political environment, an awareness of the rich fabric of humanity needs to be offered to a wide array of peoples. Tribal museums and cultural centers act as a strong support system for cultural heritage and as a grounding space for cultural events, community meeting places, and places of education for all age ranges and walks of life.

Arts Administration: Arts administration is a field that facilitates art programming within cultural organizations and communities. With the continuing need of tribal communities to be able to support their artists financially and publicly, a culturally-centered degree allows students to enter into the field of arts administration geared towards aiding tribal communities in their impetus to support and advance both their traditional and contemporary Native American art genres – thus, acting as a continuum of Native American culture.

The Low-Residency Model

While course work for the two-year MFA in Cultural Administration is conducted fully online, students are expected to attend a week-long intensive residency during two summers. This week-long residency is comprised of seminars by professionals in the museum/cultural center and arts administration fields. Workshops and field trips are also offered during the residencies, as well as providing a platform for upper-level students to present upon their thesis research proposal.

The residencies are designed to offer students the opportunity to learn about current trends and wise practices, build upon their administrative knowledge by providing hands-on, experiential workshops, and to build a rapport with their cohort, faculty, and visiting professionals in the field.

Campus housing and meal plans are available through a competitive fee based upon Santa Fe, New Mexico costs, although students are welcome to set up their own lodging and meal plans.

How the Program Works

The IAIA Low-Residency MFA in Cultural Administration Program begins in June with an introductory eight-week intensive course in cultural administration. The week-long residency begins immediately after the summer course concludes, usually the last week of July.

During their two years of study students generally take three courses per semester (fall and spring) with their final year of studies focusing upon conducting a semester-long internship with the community/institution of their choice. The MFA in Cultural Administration thesis focuses upon the collaborative work that the student has accomplished with their chosen host site.

This program and its curriculum is designed to help the student produce a substantial thesis by the end of their academic studies, and support for obtaining a meaningful and rich internship position is available in the event that the student does not have a host community or institution in mind.

The Requirements of the Program

Following is a breakdown of the course work and residency requirements:

First Year Requirements:

First Summer Semester:

• CADM500 Cultural Administration (3 credit hours)
• Residency I: Seminars on Cultural Administration (2 credit hours)

First Fall Semester:

• ARTA514 Cultural Arts Policy OR MUSM517 Protocols Surrounding ethnographical Material (3 credit hours)
• ARTA521 Art Marketing & Promotion Management OR MUSM526 Curatorial & Collections Administration (3 credit hours)
• CADM532 Collaborative Research for Cultural Heritage Sustainability (3 credit hours)

First Spring Semester:

• ARTA565 Grant Writing for the Professional OR MUSM543 Legal & Repatriation Issues in Museum Administration (3 credit hours)
• CADM564 Human Resource Administration & Labor Relations (3 credit hours)
• CADM580 Focused Readings & Research (3 credit hours)

Second Year Requirements:

Second Summer Semester:

• Open Elective – can include courses from other emphasis track (3 credit hours)
• Residency II: Seminars on Project Based Research (2 credit hours)

Second Fall Semester:

• CADM680 Community Based Internship (4 credit hours)
• CADM681 Thesis Production (2 credit hours)
• Open Elective – can include courses from other emphasis track (3 credit hours)

Second Spring Semester:

• CADM688 Project Based Community Outreach & Dissemination (3 credit hours)
• CADM695 MFA Thesis (6 credit hours)

Students must complete 46 credit hours in order to graduate. Requirements include:

• Students must receive a P in all required coursework (courses are Pass/Fail only)
• A bibliography of no less than 10 focused readings through the Focused Readings & Research course – to be decided upon by the student and their Thesis Committee members
• A successful semester-long internship with a chosen host community, during which the student will work collaboratively with the host community on a mutually chosen project; the student will be expected to utilize their acquired collaborative models of leadership
• A successful presentation of the student’s research topic(s) for the IAIA community during the second residency
• A 35-50 page master’s thesis following the Chicago Manual of Style and a Works Cited page
• A successful defense of the master’s thesis with the student’s Thesis Committee members at the end of the MFA Thesis course

Deadline and Application

The deadline to apply for the academic year is February 15 by 5 pm (MST). Decisions will be made by February 28. Each academic year begins with one 8-week intensive June course and a late July or early August Residency. Applications received after the deadline will be reviewed for the waitlist and for the following semester. The Institute of American Indian Arts’ Low-Residency MFA in Cultural Administration program is among the most affordable MFA programs in the country. For a detailed accounting, see Tuition and the college catalog.

MFACA 2024 Residencies

Attending the Virtual Residency and Online Courses

During the week of residency, seminars and workshops will be held virtually from 9 am–5 pm.

During the remote semesters, students will generally enroll in 3 online courses each semester and will have off-campus access to IAIA’s database as well as the IAIA Library’s collection of e-books.

Philosophy

We fully support students who are seeking administrative skills involving both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. This requires qualities of kind leadership, the capacity to integrate multi-perspective ideas and visions into positive action, projects, policies, and procedures, and the ability to allow communities to decide the best ways that cultural support systems can be achieved.

Guiding Statement

The curriculum of the two-year, low residency MFA in Cultural Administration is focused upon the support of community-led growth and preservation of cultural arts, histories, and philosophies.

Goals

Our commitment is to assist up-and-coming leaders and supporters of cultural-based arts programming and institutions.

Learning Outcomes

Students in the MFA in Cultural Administration Program will demonstrate the ability to:

• Assist communities in their impetus to preserve traditional history, arts, and culture
• Support cultural communities’/tribal nations’ efforts in sustaining and building strong and vibrant cultural heritage
• Utilize collaborative-based and community-driven administrative skills regarding eh maintenance and preservation of cultural heritage