Considering Self: Shaping MFA Students' Professional Identity and Habits of Mind

ABSTRACT If the roles students play earning an MFA and the work they pursue after graduation vary considerably, how do those within MFA programs prepare students for professional lives? Where does one's sense of self as an art student begin to shift toward a professional identity? This article addresses literature about earning the degree and the work-related lives of MFA graduates as well as what some scholars claim should be taught within graduate-level visual arts programs. Supporting students' multifaceted lives, the author shares pedagogies employed within a course for MFA students that assist in clarifying understandings of self and professional identity.