Collaborative Teaching in MFA Programs: How Artists Work Together to Teach

When you think of an MFA program, you might picture a lone professor giving feedback in a studio or workshop. But collaborative teaching, a model where multiple instructors—often practicing artists from different disciplines—co-teach courses to create richer learning experiences. Also known as team teaching, it’s becoming a quiet revolution in graduate art education. Instead of one voice guiding students, collaborative teaching brings together poets, painters, filmmakers, and performers to share their perspectives. This isn’t just about splitting lecture duties—it’s about creating a learning environment where ideas bounce between fields, and students see how art connects across mediums.

Why does this matter? Because real artists don’t work in isolation. A writer might need to understand visual composition to design a book cover. A sculptor might benefit from learning narrative structure to build a performance piece. interdisciplinary teaching, the practice of blending techniques and theories from different art forms into a single course. Also known as cross-disciplinary instruction, it mirrors how creative professionals operate in the real world. Programs that use this approach often pair a visual artist with a writer, or a theater director with a sound designer. Students don’t just learn from experts—they learn how experts talk to each other. This builds flexibility, communication, and the kind of problem-solving skills employers in creative industries actually want.

And it’s not just about the students. faculty collaboration, when instructors co-plan, co-teach, and co-evaluate student work across departments. Also known as shared pedagogy, it breaks down the silos that often exist in universities. In many MFA programs, a professor of poetry and a professor of photography might design a semester-long project where students produce a hybrid chapbook with original images. The result? Deeper feedback, more innovative assignments, and professors who grow as educators by stepping outside their comfort zones. This kind of teamwork also helps programs attract top faculty—artists who want to teach in dynamic, evolving environments, not static ones.

You’ll find examples of this in funded MFA programs where teaching is part of the fellowship. Students don’t just get tuition waivers—they get exposed to multiple teaching styles, multiple creative voices, and real-world models of how art gets made in teams. It’s not about having more teachers. It’s about having better conversations. The best MFA programs aren’t just training artists. They’re training artists who can work with others, adapt quickly, and bring fresh perspectives to every project.

Below, you’ll find articles that dig into how this kind of teaching works in practice—from ethical course design that values shared authority, to tools and strategies that make teamwork in the classroom actually effective. These aren’t theoretical ideas. They’re real methods used by programs that are redefining what graduate art education can be.