The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
About the College
The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design’s mission is to unlock the creativity of critical thinkers, makers, and creators who connect ideas and solve real-world problems, transforming careers and lives. Westphal's graduate degree programs prepare students to begin or enhance their career in the design, media, and arts and culture sectors.
Westphal College offers graduate degree programs in Arts Administration, Design, Fashion Design, Interior Architecture, Interior Architecture & Design, Digital Media, Television and Media Management and Urban Strategy. Westphal also offers four graduate minor programs and two certificate programs. All programs are distinctive in content and professionally oriented.
Westphal's graduate programs are designed to explore aesthetics, technology and the realities of the creative economy. The academics are rigorous and provide the appropriate balance of a solid foundation with individual creative direction, cultural awareness, strong technical skills and an understanding of management and professional practice. Westphal is committed to continual review of curricula, processes and outcomes to make those improvements and refinements necessary to further enrich students’ education and to foster independent thinkers, astute leaders and creative problem solvers.
Many students can complete their degree in as little as 15 months, and classes – whether on campus or online, synchronous or asynchronous – are guided by industry-leading faculty. Westphal's graduate community of scholars, designers, entrepreneurs and leaders share the drive to create innovative solutions to solve the world’s challenges. With access to active alumni and professional networks, Westphal MS and PhD graduates are uniquely positioned to lead creative industries into the future.
Majors
- Arts Administration (MS)
- Design (MS)
- Digital Media (MS)
- Digital Media (PhD)
- Fashion Design (MS)
- Interior Architecture (MS)
- Interior Architecture & Design (MS)
- Retail & Merchandising (MS)
- Television and Media Management (MS)
- Television and Media Management MS / Business Administration (MBA)
- Urban Strategy (MS)
Minors
Full/Part-Time Options
Programs that can be pursued full-time:
- Arts Administration
- Design
- Digital Media
- Fashion Design
- Interior Architecture
- Interior Architecture & Design
- Retail & Merchandising
- Television & Media Management
- Urban Strategy
Programs that can be pursued part-time:
- Arts Administration
- Design
- Digital Media
- Retail & Merchandising
- Television & Media Management
- Urban Strategy
Facilities
Designed to be an incubator for tomorrow’s creative leaders, The URBN Center is the award-winning home for many of the programs in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, providing students with rigorous, studio intensive instruction with the latest technological resources. Undergraduate majors that share this space include Animation & Visual Effects, Architecture, Digital Media & Virtual Production, Fashion Industry & Merchandising, Entertainment & Arts Management, Fashion Design, Game Design & Production, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Product Design, and User Experience & Interaction Design. Graduate programs that share this space include Arts Administration & Museum Leadership, Design Research, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Interior Architecture, and Urban Strategy.
The URBN Center also provides a black box theater for our performing arts, a 3,500 square foot Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, a Motion Capture studio, a Hybrid Making Lab featuring laser cutters, and 3-D printing and prototyping capabilities, the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, the Charles Evans Fashion Design Library, a multi-use screening and lecture room, Shima Seki high-tech knitting machines, a print center, and offices for the College’s administrative functions.
In One Drexel Plaza, Studio One, designed by the renowned architectural and acoustic firm Walters-Storyk Design Group, serves as the Music Industry program’s premiere studio and classroom. Centered around a Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console and equipped with soffit mounted monitors by ATC, the 1300 sq. foot studio features outboard gear by Universal Audio, Tube-tech, Retro Instruments, API, GML, Empirical Labs and AMS Neve. Software options include the latest offerings by Ableton Live, Pro Tools, and Logic Audio, as well as plug-ins by Waves, McDSP, Sonnox, Sound Toys, iZotope, and Universal Audio.
The Academic Building is home to our Photography major and department of Art & Art History. Within this facility, the Westphal College occupies a 10,000-square-foot photography lab, lighting studios, and digital imaging labs, as well as six lecture/ laboratory spaces for our Visual Studies courses.
University Crossings boasts a 25,000-square-foot space for Film & Television, Screenwriting & Playwriting, and Television & Media Management faculty. Also in this building are two state-of-the-art digital editing facilities, a shooting studio with special effects capability, two screening rooms, a digital audio postproduction studio, several multimedia classrooms, and a well-stocked equipment room featuring state of the art cameras including Arri Alexas and Arri Amiras, amongst others.
MacAlister Hall serves students in the Westphal College with recording studios for Music Industry; The Mandell Theater, a 420-seat proscenium theater with scene shop and dressing rooms; the Ellen Forman Memorial Dance Studio; and a high-definition television studio.