MFA Visual Narrative Curriculum
The MFA Visual Narrative is a flexible, low-residency program designed for working professionals and students of visual storytelling alike. Three onsite summer sessions are connected by two years of online study during the fall and spring semesters. After each summer session and academic year, students must receive an acceptable review from a faculty panel in order to continue in the program. Degree candidates must successfully complete 60 credits, including all required courses.
During the eight-week summer sessions, students attend classes and seminars, and work in the studios for 8 to 10 hours per day, six days a week. Several evenings are devoted to digital/interactive tutorials, critiques, and lectures. Capitalizing on New York City’s rich array of culture, research trips including contemporary artists events, studio visits, and other activities will take place during workshops and on weekends. The summer sessions concentrate on advanced writing, digital media, and technique-based workshops. Working in tandem, the creative writing and visual studio workshops as well as analog and digital media studios create a unique and intensive environment—allowing the author-as-artist to thrive.
Throughout the fall and spring semesters, students fulfill the studio components of the online program, with supervision from their course instructor and support from their chosen mentor. Creative writing is assigned in coordination with the online studio story course. This important component includes online submission [posting] of written and visual materials. In the third year, each student is responsible for producing, curating, and/or publishing a unique narrative thesis, which will be exhibited in a group show in one of the SVA galleries. Both analog and digital versions of each thesis project must be approved by the Thesis Committee, the student’s mentor and the department chair in order to be eligible for degree conferral.
General Requirements
- Successful completion of 60 credits, including all required courses and the thesis project. Documentation of all thesis projects must be on file in the Visual Narrative Department to be eligible for degree conferral.
- A matriculation of three summers on-site and four semesters (fall and spring) of low residency. Students must complete their degree within six years, unless given an official extension by the provost.
- Visual Narrative grades on a pass/fail system. Students are required to remain in good academic standing.
Note: Departmental requirements are subject to change by the department chair if the chair deems that such change is warranted.
First-Year Requirements
First-Year Course Requirements
Summer Semester
VNG-5040 Framing the Story
VNG-5080 Analog to Digital: Risograph Production and Process
VNG-5085 Analog to Digital: Lens-Based Storytelling
VNG-5130 Writing Studio: Narrative Structure and Development
VNG-5230 Visual Narrative: Graphic Media
VNG-5234 Visual Narrative: Photography
Fall Semester (online)
VNG-5540 Story Visualized: A Text and Image Lab
VNG-5580 Writing Studio: Creative Script
VNG-5583 Visual Narrative: Film and the Moving Image
Spring Semester (online)
VNG-5640 Narrative Color
VNG-5652 Visual Narrative: Crafting Worlds and Immersive Stories
VNG-5657 Writing Studio: Mythology and Folklore
Second-Year Requirements
Second-Year Course Requirements
Summer Semester
VNG-6150 Thesis Prep: Shaping Your Story
VNG-6210 Visual Research
VNG-6240 Form, Empathy and Character Play
VNG-6250 Thesis Prep: Picturing Your Story
Fall Semester (online)
VNG-6320 Identity in a Digital World
VNG-6520 Thesis I
VNG-6532 Seminar I
Spring Semester (online)
VNG-6510 Storyteller as Community
VNG-6525 Thesis II
VNG-6533 Seminar II
Third-Year Requirements
Third-Year Course Requirements
Summer Semester
VNG-6820 Storyteller as Brand
VNG-6852 Thesis Exhibition
VNG-6860 Professional Practices
VNG-6900 Portfolio and Presentation
General Course Listing: MFA Visual Narrative
General Course Listing
The following reflects the 2025-2026 course offerings. For further details on individual courses, such as meeting days and times, please refer to the Graduate Course Listing.
First Year
VNG-5040
Framing the Story
3 credits
This course focuses on the fundamental principles and visual language of compositional design and how the framing of a story’s imagery can influence or alter its communication and how it is perceived by an audience. Through collaborative projects and rapid prototyping challenges, students will be asked to break out of their comfort zones, apply their discoveries, and dig deep to develop their own visual language and unique approach to narrative image-making.
VNG-5080
Analog to Digital: Risograph Production and Process
1 credit
Utilizing Risograph duplicator technology in this project-based workshop, students will learn to harness the power of print through the print reproduction process, developing a personal workflow that can be applied to any professional analog or digital medium. We will cover a variety of color separation methods, such as spot-color, duo-tone and faux CMYK. Students will gain familiarity with preparing files for print with their desired analog/digital medium, including analog/digital illustrations, photography and text; and learn how to translate these digital files into Risograph prints and zines. We will also examine the ever-growing independent publishing community and the integral role that the Risograph plays in personal storytelling and sharing your work with a wider audience.
VNG-5085
Analog to Digital: Lens-Based Storytelling
1 credit
Through technology and project-based workshops, this course will examine best practices for telling a story through video. Traditional media and analog processes will be transformed by time, sound and photography. Video and sound capture techniques, as well as production design and lighting will be addressed. Using Adobe Premiere Pro, students will explore a variety of methods for producing digital images, and how to translate a stationary vision into the dynamic world of motion. The evolution of storytelling from analog to digitized media will be discussed.
VNG-5130
Writing Studio: Narrative Structure and Development
3 credits
Stories are powerful. Through lenses of narrative craft, this course will explore the structures behind this power and how they can be wielded to create effective narratives without the use of images. We’ll look at the function storytelling serves in our lives—from our basic psychology to how we use story to understand ourselves and the world around us. Breaking down the essential components of story mechanics, students will discover how story transcends medium using the same core elements. In addition to reading theoretical and narrative works, we will develop one common narrative as a class. Along the way, we will examine how these basic elements present themselves in both traditional written prose and audio podcasts, giving students the opportunity to write for both mediums. With a focus on how language alone can be used as imagery to achieve these narrative goals, students will learn how to make editorial decisions designed to fit the evolving needs of a story.
VNG-5230
Visual Narrative: Graphic Media
2 credits
The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. This course will examine the evolution of picture books, comics, artists’ books and graphic novels as the departure point for different approaches to telling a story with words and pictures. A history of these art forms and their various points of intersection will be given, from children’s adventure books to comic strips, web comics and experimental graphic picture books to contemporary independent, direct and book publishing markets. Guest artists and lecturers will address the class and field trips will be included.
VNG-5234
Visual Narrative: Photography
2 credits
The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. This course is a survey of the history of photography with special emphasis placed on how narrative is communicated through the medium. Photographs often suggest open-ended, non-linear narratives, and we will examine these ideas by looking at both the individual image and serial work. Studying photographs from the 19th century to contemporary practices, we will embark upon a careful analysis of the bond between photography and narrative will be defined and disassembled. The notion of photographers’ intentions versus viewers’ perceptions will also be explored. Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how the practitioners of this medium create stories.
VNG-5540
Story Visualized: A Text and Image Lab
2 credits
In this course students will create fully formed visual narratives, such as creating a visual documentary story incorporating collaged elements or creating a visual story entirely out of letterforms and words. The relationship of text and image in visual storytelling will be explored by experimenting with text as image, image as text, and using them together to tell stories in different formats, media and materials. Throughout the semester students will create a series of short projects that lead up to a longer adaptation of an existing story.
VNG-5580
Writing Studio: Creative Script
2 credits
Concept, character, structure and craft—the fundamentals of creative storytelling and the architecture of a well-defined outline—will be explored in this course. Through a series of exercises, students will develop writing skills in the core components of storytelling, such as an active but flawed protagonist with a concrete goal, a story with a solid structure based on a character arc and a concept with a specified target audience. The similarities and differences among theater, film, television, comics, games, and other visual media will be explored through lectures, and primarily through writing itself.
VNG-5583
Visual Narrative: Film and the Moving Image
2 credits
The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. In this survey of the moving image we will screen a classic film every week—each from a different genre and era—and explore the concepts and visual narrative structures it illustrates. Clips from other influential films that inspired (or were inspired by) our core films will be incorporated, to gain a deeper understanding of the continuum of film history. The course will also examine how film theory, specifically the interplay between montage and mise-en-scène, is put into practical use. How the visual vocabulary of film developed along with new innovations (and innovators) will be addressed as we examine how filmic vocabulary informs, and borrows from, other visual media.
VNG-5640
Narrative Color
2 credits
From fundamental principles of color theory to the invention of the printing press, color film and the digital exploitation in today’s mobile media and entertainment, this studio course will explore the emotive, psychological and symbolic properties of color and the narrative role color plays in visual communication, culture, politics and storytelling across media. Students will create a series of works that convey atmosphere and mood through narrative color.
VNG-5652
Visual Narrative: Crafting Worlds and Immersive Stories
2 credits
Combining the theory and practice of immersive storytelling with the art and craft of world-building is the focus of this course. From folktales to franchises, we will explore transportive worlds and the methods used to create them. Students will delve into the psychology, theory, history and creation of stories that emerge from the dynamics of interaction, exploration and choice. We will examine the history of our most pervasive forms of media and platforms to gain an understanding of how to tell stories that move the audience from viewers to architects of their own experience. Collectively, we will deconstruct the idea that world-building is a private practice and, instead, uplift the notion that it is a creative tool to strengthen stories and expand ideas.
VNG-5657
Writing Studio: Mythology and Folklore
2 credits
This survey course will explore the history, universality and use of mythology and folklore across literature, the arts, entertainment and popular media. We will review a diverse list of stories from around the world, studying the symbolism, archetype, structure and intent, and what these stories reveal about our shared humanity. How these stories influence contemporary storytelling across media will be discussed. In addition to analysis, the course will focus on application of the structures and characters found in mythology and folklore through creative writing and peer response. Students will concept and create new forms and works of myth and fiction.
Second Year
VNG-6150
Thesis Prep: Shaping Your Story
3 credits
What is the best way to research, develop and produce a particular story? How do you get to the root of what that story is about? How do you leverage your chosen medium to deliver that story? These are the core creative and professional questions this course will ask of each student and their thesis. Students will be asked to dig deep and make story choices that put the why of their story first, ahead of the visual or scripted end product. In addition to one-on-one meetings, in-class critique and discussions, students will conduct in-depth research into their story. As they start tackling preproduction tasks (asking “why” and “how”), students will analyze their medium’s strengths and weaknesses in the service of their story. Alongside story development, students will be asked to answer questions of scope, budget and other preproduction criteria in pursuit of an ambitious, but feasible, outcome. The ultimate goal is to present a professional thesis video pitch at the end of the semester wherein students demonstrate a clear, focused understanding of their story.
VNG-6210
Visual Research
3 credits
This course focuses on the application of mapping and data visualization techniques for use in concept development and world-building. Students will identify locations connected to their existing story ideas and will investigate these locations using documentary media, data collection, and other methods of site-specific research. The materials they gather will be compiled into visual archives and students will create analog and digital maps that describe their content. The work produced in the course will function as a reference for the development of thesis projects and as a means of communicating the spaces that these stories will inhabit.
VNG-6240
Form, Empathy and Character Play
3 credits
Sometimes the best way to find a character’s voice is to become the character. This course is designed to further develop skills in character creation through examining what makes characters behave in the ways they do. With lectures on archetypes, defining moments, unconscious desire and design, students will examine the elements necessary for creating their own characters. Through improvised time-based exercises, in-class writing prompts and role-playing techniques, students will understand how their characters will behave in fictional settings, better enabling them to write and visualize their creations.
VNG-6250
Thesis Prep: Picturing Your Story
3 credits
Through research, critical discourse and presentations, students in this seminar will formulate and articulate the conceptual positions of their portfolio and visual thesis development. The goal of this seminar is to identify, analyze and interpret each student’s creative interests, creative values, intent, influences, philosophical viewports and historical lineage as it relates to the work they are pursuing. This course is structured around extensive group critiques, presentations and research. Along with the story development produced in Shaping Your Story, this seminar course will culminate in a fully realized pitch video at the end of the semester.
VNG-6320
Identity in a Digital World
2 credits
Aspiring artists and storytellers will advance the development of their online tool set and studio practice skills to take agency of their personal identity and communications across platforms and marketplaces. A variety of web hosting, social media, blog and portfolio/skill-sharing platforms will be discussed, along with marketing and data collection to effectively share and represent students’ digital identity and content. The pros and cons of each tool will be addressed, and specific strategies for finding clients and generating traffic and interest will be discussed.
VNG-6510
Storyteller as Community
2 credits
As an artist, your “brand” is defined by how others perceive you and your work. In this course students will lay the foundation for developing a personal brand by understanding and engaging with their creative community. Students will conduct research and build connections with potential audiences, supporters, collaborators, clients and customers. Through this process, students will identify their professional goals and the impact they want to have on their community. There will be individual and group feedback sessions where students will review their findings and prepare for developing their personal brands.
VNG-6520 / VNG-6525
Thesis I and II
3 credits per semester
Focusing on thesis story development, this course will address project management, thesis production, and how to achieve audience engagement. Students will establish production schedules and deadlines with instructors and mentors, who will guide and support them through constructive critique, industry feedback and troubleshooting. Participating in discussions and hearing from professionals in various fields, students will build a community of mutual support and accountability for the completion of each thesis, and in preparation for exhibition and public presentation.
VNG-6532 / VNG-6533
Seminar I and II
1 credit per semester
Through research, critical discourse and presentations, students in this seminar will formulate and articulate the conceptual positions of their portfolio and visual thesis development. The goal is to identify, analyze and interpret each student’s creative interests, creative values, intent, influences, philosophical viewports and historical lineage as they relate to the work they are pursuing. This seminar is structured around extensive group critiques, presentations and research, and will culminate in a fully realized pitch video.
Third Year
VNG-6820
Storyteller as Brand
3 credits
In this course students will develop a personal brand that resonates with their audiences based on the research completed during the previous semester. Students will define their purpose, vision and values as an artist and assess the unique value they bring to their audiences. This will lay the foundation for the development of an artist presentation that each student will give at the end of the semester. There will be individual and group feedback sessions to help students refine their personal narratives, and solidify their brand strategy and expression.
VNG-6852
Thesis Exhibition
3 credits
The challenges in realizing a professional gallery exhibition and presentation experience will be addressed in this course, as students explore spatial design, working to scale and curating work for presentation to the general public. Working with the SVA galleries and Visible Futures Lab, various modes of fabrication will be applied, including pedestal fabrication, as well as lighting strategies and signage development for the installation of the work in both a gallery and the digital exhibition space. Time management and budgetary constraints will be considered and students will explore promotional techniques that articulate their work to target specific venues. Guest artists and gallery visits are included. The course will culminate in the thesis exhibition.
VNG-6860
Professional Practices
3 credits
Designed as both a studio workshop and guest lecture series, this course will focus on developing professional business practices, including networking, social media skills, outreach and financial literacy. Guest presentations will be held throughout the semester to discuss and share real-world expertise and industry best practices.
VNG-6900
Portfolio and Promotion
3 credits
Developing each student's online portfolio and accompanying promotional materials and networks will be covered in this course. We will examine current trends and professional standards for each student’s market and audience, which will be paramount in cultivating relationships with art directors, editors, producers and clients. At the end of the semester, students will present their thesis and portfolio at a public exhibition. Students will exit the program with an online portfolio and website presence.
VNG-6965
Thesis Extension
1.5 credits
This course is designed for students who have not met the unanimous approval of the Thesis Review Committee and who need an additional semester to complete their project. Students will work with a faculty advisor and have limited access to facilities.
Language Skills Course
EVG-0291
Writing Strategies
No credit
In this course students will explore literary structures for class assignments and story development projects while focusing on grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Students will work toward building language skills to better express their narrative vision.
New York, NY 10011
