Press Release (Found at the TCJ board)
The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is proud to announce its approval from the State of Vermont Department of Education Board to award Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degrees. Based on recommendations from the Vermont Higher Education Council during their June meeting, the State Board approved CCS for Degree-Granting Authority and a Certificate of Approval to offer one-year certificates in cartooning and summer educator courses.
“This is a landmark decision from the State,” says CCS board member and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Arts Council, Peggy Kannenstine. “What NYU’s Film School is for film or Iowa’s Writing Workshop is for writing, The Center for Cartoon Studies is for comics. Beyond its educational impact, CCS is a fine example of the creative economy at work: helping revitalize a depressed downtown with the economic lift from students, faculty, and tourism. Its contributions to the State and Industry are impressive and quantifiable. It’s appropriate and important to recognize CCS’s quality and the high level of instruction with the terminal degree and certificates.”
“From the day CCS first opened its doors, CCS was prepared to offer the finest cartooning education available in the country. The recognition and support of the nation’s best cartoonists and industry leaders has quickly established CCS as the premiere cartooning program in the country. Now, with the recognition by the state of Vermont, CCS can begin to offer MFAs. Our students will be thrilled.” James Sturm, CCS Director.
For the talented cartoonist who is ready to rigorously and passionately explore the medium and establish professional relationships to last a lifetime, CCS is certainly the place to be. CCS is the new school for cartooning. The Center for Cartoon Studies MFA program is a two-year full-time intense course of study in cartooning. CCS opened in fall 2005 with its first class of 20 students enrolled from across the country. In addition to the graduate MFA program, CCS offers one and two-year certificate programs and workshops. For students who have limited or no undergraduate studies experience, CCS’s certificate program or summer workshops provide great opportunities to learn and expand knowledge of the medium.
Learn more about CCS admissions, Master of Fine Arts degree, and certificate programs online, at:
Lucky! Where were they four years ago when I started an MFA in lowly creative writing just up the pike at Goddard College? I had to settle for “fiction”. This is what I get for being impatient and not waiting for non-existent schools to open there doors and offer MFAs.
Not to piss on their bonfire, but… it took both Iowa and NYU years, and some famous graduates, to become respected.
Where is there a workshop for comics similar to the Clarion science fiction workshops? When will these comicbook schools offer a program in writing for those of us who can barely thumbnail?
And with so many awards out there, when will we see a GODDAMNED anthology that showcases the best from ALL publishers?! I don’t even see the Eisner “E” on books, but I do see the National Book Award and Printz Award on “American Born Chinese”. Does this mean a graphic novel award is subliterate?
Sorry about ranting, but I’ve been seducing the innocent in the mainstream for the past 15 years, and awards and recognition make my job A LOT easier to sell graphic novels to the general public. My enthusiasm helps, but I think it was Time’s listing that convinced a vietnam vet / presidential candidate / bestselling author to buy Watchmen. Imagine what I could do with an Eisner Awards anthology!