The MIT Program in Art, Culture & Technology (ACT) is an academic program and research unit headed by internationally renowned practicing artists. At ACT, students, fellows, and affiliates engage in hybrid artistic research and practice that experiments with new compositions of media and new forms of art technologies and deployments at the personal and the civic scale. In the spirit of artist and educator György Kepes — founder of ACT’s predecessor, the Center for Advanced Visual Studies — ACT promotes artistic leadership in the field and engages with critical investigations in art and culture that aspire the future of technologies and science in transforming the world and its perception.

WHAT IS ACT?

The Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) is an academic department and research center, part of the Department of Architecture, that facilitates artist-thinkers’ exploration of art’s broad, complex, global history and conjunction with culture, science, technology, and design via rigorous critical artistic practice and practice driven theory.

THE HASS REQUIREMENT

All MIT undergraduates must select a HASS concentration to meet their General Institute Requirements.

ACT offers a diverse range of subjects, from courses exploring media that include photography, video, and sound, to examinations of cinema, public art, and the intersections of art and culture in the public sphere. If students elect to take two or three more courses in their concentration area, they can declare a HASS minor.

What makes your school’s art & design programs different & unique from other art & design school programs? What are the top 3 program features that make your program stand out?

1. Art, Culture & Technology (act.mit.edu) is an academic program and research unit at MIT headed by internationally renowned practicing artists. At ACT, students, fellows, and affiliates engage in hybrid artistic research and practice that experiments with new compositions of media and new forms of art technologies and deployments at the personal and the civic scale. In the spirit of artist and educator György Kepes — founder of ACT’s predecessor, the Center for Advanced Visual Studies — ACT promotes artistic leadership in the field and a critical investigation of the role of technologies and science play in transforming the world.

2. Born out of a merger between MIT’s influential Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS founded in 1967) and Visual Arts Program (VAP founded in 1986) in 2009, ACT shares in a rich heritage of work expanding the notion of visual studies and pushing the capacity of art to enlist science and technology in cultural production and critique. Situated within the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P), ACT inhabits a dynamic ecosystem of centers, institutes, and programs promoting the interplay between STEM and the arts. Within this broader network, ACT has a unique role to play: it offers students, researchers, practitioners, and guests the opportunity to expand the interrogative function of art: to develop art as a set of perspectives and means for addressing the social, cultural and ecological consequences of technology; to use art to build bridges between technics and life, industry and culture, representation and embodiment; and to challenge the boundaries between self and other, fiction and history, public and private, human and non-human, research and life.

3. In addition to basic research, art production, and medium-specific training, the program offers access to a robust set of institutional resources, facilities, and classes, both within and beyond MIT, as well as a community of students, professors, fellows, affiliates, and visitors with an astounding wealth of specialties and creative energy. We provide an innovative learning environment that fosters complex, eclectic projects and personalities, and are committed to ensuring that MIT remains a critical hub for doing and studying contemporary art — a hub of rigorous artistic and pedagogical experimentation and a launch pad for new modes of trans-disciplinary, transcultural, and inter-institutional collaboration.

The program currently offers an undergraduate minor and concentration, as well as a highly selective two-year graduate program, the Master of Science in Art Culture and Technology (SMACT). It also offers a variety of introductory courses to the general MIT student population and courses tailored to undergraduates majoring in architecture. Advanced courses related to specific media and topics are offered as electives for both undergraduate and graduate students. ACT studio courses are complemented by practical workshops and discussions in theory and criticism, often provided by fellows and visitors to the program. Studios also regularly involve in situ engagements and research field trips, which, in addition to their research/pedagogical value, are intended to establish an MIT presence in international circuits of artistic and scholarly collaboration.

Can students take courses in other schools?

Yes. Most MIT courses are open to ALL students; and we encourage our students to take courses in other disciplines and collaborate with students from other schools, departments and majors within the Institute. All undergraduate students have the option to take classes in our program to fulfill their humanities requirement. Inter-disciplinarity is, in fact, a crucial component of ACT’s mission and vision. In addition, full-time MIT students may take subjects for credit at Harvard University, Wellesley College, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) without paying additional tuition.

What steps do you take to evaluate a student’s candidacy, apart from reviewing their creative portfolio?

An application includes information about the candidate’s academic background, artistic practice, professional references, and personal statement. The admissions committee, comprised of ACT faculty, reviews each of these elements carefully for all applicants and interviews the top candidates. 

What does your program look for most in the creative portfolio during admissions? What do you think makes an A+ portfolio? 


A portfolio that clearly and succinctly presents a body of work is important. Portfolio requirements are very open, therefore applicants may be creative. An A+ portfolio should embody/reflect the content of the work through its form. In addition, the committee wants to see evidence in the portfolio and in the applicant’s personal statement that he or she could leverage the faculty, facility, and institutional resources to produce work at new level.

How are new technologies affecting students’ curriculums and/or ways of learning/collaborating at your school? 


ACT students interface with a broad range of technologies and communications platforms in the development of their work as tools for teaching, interacting, and research. These technologies may influence the way our students learn and collaborate, they may be appropriated in the development of new works, or they may be developed specifically as collaborative teaching tools, such as Stellar, edX. 

How does your program help graduating students with internships or jobs? Can students expect job placement more at your program than in others? If so, how or why? What kinds of job opportunities have you seen students take once they completed their degrees?

There is heavy reliance on the faculty and alumni/ae network.

Are there any exciting developments for your programs that students should know about?

MIT ACT is aggressively increasing its teaching community and inviting prominent and accomplished artist-thinkers to be a part of the MIT ACT community as faculty, research affiliates, and guests.

What is the most distinguished feature at your school?

MIT has an impressive public art collection among colleges in the US, the first architecture program in the US, and was a leader in the collaboration of art, science and technology with the founding of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies in 1967 by György Kepes. This tradition of leadership in art, culture, and technology continues today.

What is the best advice you have for students entering the art, design & architecture field? What role does the artist play today?

Opportunities in art, architecture, and design are often self-started. Work to create networks of professionals familiar with your work. These individuals may become future collaborators, supporters, or mentors. 

Interviewed by Marion O. Cunningham
Administrative Officer  =MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology School of Architecture + Planning

APPLICATION MATERIALS

MIT Online App

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS

Slideroom up to 10 pieces 

WRITING SAMPLE

MIT Short responses online 

TRANSCRIPTS

Required

RECOMMENDATION LETTERS

1 Teacher (Math or science) 
1 Teacher (Humanities, social science, or language teacher) 
1 Counselor (Recommended) 

INTERVIEW

Highly Recommended 

APPLICATIONS DEADLINES

Early Action : Nov 1
Regular Action: Jan 1

FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

TOEFL: 600+ paper or 100+ iBT 

ALUMNI

Michael Rakowitz, Artist
Pia Lindman, Artist
Jill Magid, Artist and Writer
Jennifer Allora, Artist
Jae Rhim Lee, Artist
Hope Ginsburg, Artist
Alia Farid, Artist and Architect
Matthew Mazzotta, Architect
Kelly Dobson, Artist
Marisa Jahn, Artist and Producer

DID YOU KNOW?

Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) containing materials concerning collaborative and time-based productions generated by or related to the tenure of nearly 100 internationally recognized artist-fellows over the past 40+ years.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE

P.O. Box 404
Randolph, MA 02368

+1 (617)-253-3400