Doctoral Degrees by Creative Projects?

Does anyone know of accredited doctoral degree programs which can be done by creative projects?

 

What do you mean by a "creative project" and in which discipline?

Naturally, you could do a degree in creative disciplines like composition, by composing a piece; or in fine arts (*not* art history) by creating a work.

In natural sciences, if you do a lab project, it might be (for the scientist) very "creative", but I am not sure that you could do a DL PhD that requires lab-work (unless you base it on a lab in yoru work-place).

 

Creative writing projects with spiritual themes. Maybe a better description would be "worship arts"--spiritual poetry, songs, liturgies, etc.

 

The Ph.D. at Union Institute and University can be completed by doing a nontraditional project as the "dissertation." However, it will still require a significant research component to accompany it.

Union is currently going through some financial difficulties. Also, it is making changes to its programs to comply with the Ohio Board of Regents. Things are better than they were earlier in the year, but it wll take most of 2004 to see what the program and the school will look like. The two Union Ph.D. holders on this board, Steve Levicoff and I, recommend anyone interested in this program wait until these things are sorted out. I'm more confident than before that the both the university and its Ph.D. program will continue intact, but it is prudent to wait.

Rich Douglas, Ph.D. (UIU, 2003)

 

Bingo - The Union Institute and University

You get to make up your own program, name your own specialization and have your friends sit on your doctoral committee.

Sound too good to be true. The Ohio Board of Regents and the USDOE thought so.

 

Actually, neither entity had any criticisms of that sort. The OBR was concerned about research methodologies, subject-matter expertise of faculty members, and the quality of PDE's. The USDoE didn't have concerns about program quality. Their concerns were about documentation.

Dennis' statements are broad and inaccurate. Learner-centered graduate education--used by many schools, not just Union--involves the learner in the program design. (Goddard, Vermont College, Evergreen, Empire State, the whole UWW program, WGU, and many others are/were learner-centered.) But it is done under the supervision of the committee and with the review and approval of the school. Dennis conveniently leaves this out.

At Union, prior relationships must be revealed and approved prior to forming one's committee. In my case, I didn't know any of my committee members prior to their serving on the committee.

Specializations and concentrations have to be approved by the doctoral committee and the university.

Such inaccuracies bring into question the opinions contained in that post.

Too good to be true? No. Just true.


Rich Douglas, Ph.D.

 

I realize it must be an oversight but you left Harvard and Yale off the list.

 

The PhD by research programs offered by UK, South Africam and Australian schools is probably looking for.

 

Rich,

I don't see how anyone who is not independently wealthy can afford the Union Institute's $60,000 tuition.

Mike,

I haven't yet found a PhD by research at any of those schools in which a person could do creative projects instead of a traditional dissertation.

 

One can "afford" the UIU tuition in several ways. First, let's acknowledge that Union's tuition is similar to Nova Southeastern, Touro University International, University of Phoenix, Argosy, etc. Next, how can it be funded? Well, most of us used federal student loans. Also, some of us use tuition reimbursement programs at work. Some learners found private sources of grants, loans, etc. Some even got grant money based upon their fields of study and research subjects.

Doctoral education is expensive. But it is no more expensive at Union than it is at other, private, U.S. universities.

As for research-based Ph.D. programs, I don't know of any that allow for the use of "creative projects" to satisfy their dissertation requirements.

 

Rich,

Thanks for your reply.

I can't get tuition reimbursement from work, and I can't afford to go $60,000, plus interest, in debt for a graduate degree. So, without a substantial grant, UIU is not in the cards for me.

I have found a "Professional Practice" doctorate that allows for projects and such, but I believe it has some residence requirements.

 

Here are several:

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/subjects/emc/cmw/qualifications/phd.htm

http://www.warnborough.edu/faculties/arts/mcreative.htm

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/cw/phd.htm

Generally:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/babyfather/stories/further2.shtml#distance

Note: the programmes are UK-based, which means that they are "regular" academic programmes there. Accreditation, as you probably know, is a US term. University of Georgia has a PhD in creative writing, and very competitive as it is, but it is residential.

 

Thanks, Floyd!

I was familiar with Middlesex U.'s MA in Professional Practice in the Creative and Cultural Industries and their MA in Work-Based Learning Studies, both of which can utilize projects and can be done by DL. I appreciate your referring me to their Creative Writing PhD's--and the same for Lancaster U.

Is Warnborough reputable? I think they've gotten some "bad press" here.

 

Hi. Tailgating on Rich's comments... Just a little info about my estimates of the cost of the TUI Ph.D. BA program:

44 semester hours x $500.00 = $22,000
6 terms (8 semester hours per term) x $1,500 for dissertation = $9,000
High Speed Internet Access, Books, Journal Article Fees, Library Fees, Photocopying, Laptop Computer, Data Collection, Misc. = $6,000 to $9,000 (Note that books are optional but selected editions will be necessary for reference and in the dissertation phase)
Total = $37,000 to $40,000 (Add $9,000 more for 16 semester hours for non-business Masters degree)

No worthwhile journey is easy or inexpensive...

Dave

 

I talked to Middlesex U. re their PhD but their program is residential only. Other UK PhDs I checked out were just as expensive as a US based PhD (The dollar is weak compared to the UK pound at the moment).

 

Dave,

Thanks for the info.

The Uk doctorates I've checked out are nowhere near as expensive as the Union Institute.

 

PhD Creative Project

Warnborough suggested below is not a serious option. It is an Irish registered limited company posing as a university in the UK.

Their degrees, including doctorates are only recognised as fakes.

British authorities are finally catching up with it. Consequently its got about a month to drop the word 'university' from its title with more to follow.

Ismo