Familiarize yourself with the School of Interactive Arts and Technology. We have an innovative, interdisciplinary, research focused graduate program. Review our course requirements and course offerings and decide if this looks like the right program for you.

Please note that Dr. Hennessy will not be accepting a new PhD student until the 2026 admissions cycle.

We welcome inquiries from potential MA and PhD students who are interested in the SIAT graduate program and would like to participate in the work of the Making Culture Lab. Students with media production, new media arts, design, curation, or programming expertise who are interested in applying their skills to broader cultural, anthropological, and museological, and exhibition oriented research questions are encouraged to explore our current research and art projects and think about how your interests, expertise, and background will enable you to generate new research questions and projects. We emphasize collaborative research and expect students to work as Research Assistants (RAs) on our ongoing projects, and/or  Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the SIAT program.

Do you see undergraduate courses you could imagine TA-ing for (eg. Video Production, Interactive Art, Design, Writing, Programming?). Look at past theses and dissertations from the lab - is this the kind of work you would like to do?

Along those lines, I generally only admit students to whom I can offer RA and/or TA support or who demonstrate strong potential to be successful in scholarship competitions.

Familiarize yourself with the SIAT and SFU Admission requirements. You must satisfy all institutional requirements for admission, which you can review here. Admission to the SIAT graduate program is highly competitive, and early communication with the MCL/Dr. Hennessy is important as a first step towards potential admission.

Our admissions cycle at SIAT regularly begins in November and ends in January or February of the same year (depending on the program).

Please note that SFU’s minimum GPA for admission is 3.0; I generally look for students who are closer to a 4.0 to ensure greatest possible opportunities for scholarships and fellowships. Only students whose experience, interests and research goals fit with current and future MCL projects will be considered.

If you the Making Culture Lab is the right research group for you at SIAT, then send aletter of intent and your CV and portfolio (if applicable) to me by email (hennessy_kate (at) sfu dot ca). Please note that Dr. Hennessy will not be accepting new PhD students until the 2027 admissions cycle.

The letter should include a description of your research interests, potential thesis topics, and how your background has prepared you to successfully begin graduate study. Please disclose if and how you have used generative AI in the writing of your research description.

While portfolios are not required, they can be very helpful in communicating your past record of work and your potential in our graduate program. I appreciate seeing evidence of visual and media work as a website or more conventional PDF portfolio.

Please visit the SIAT website to learn about graduate funding at SFU. The most up to date information will be at that link.

Please note that SFU now guarantees minimum funding to PhD students in our program. This is 28,000 per year for 4 years, which includes a combination of RA, TA, scholarships, and fellowships.

In general, funding for both the PHD and Masters comes through scholarships, fellowships, and work as Research Assistants (RAs) on our ongoing projects, and/or  Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the SIAT program.

Along those lines, I generally only admit students to whom I can fund with research grants as RAs; those who have skills that would enable them to be teaching assistants in our media and design courses; and who demonstrate strong potential to be successful in major scholarship competitions.

For example, for international applicants, see the SSHRC Vanier Doctoral Scholarship, and the Trudeau Foundation.

For Canadian citizens and permanent residents, see SSHRC, as well as SSHRC Vanier Doctoral Scholarship, and the Trudeau Foundation.

Please note that all of these scholarships are highly competitive, requiring high GPAs, demonstrated leadership qualities and experience, and a strong record of academic and community-oriented achievement. They can be applied for in the year preceding your application, and usually for the first 2-3 years of your PhD program.

The SIAT Graduate Program is an in-person program. Courses, teaching-assistant opportunities, and research-assistant opportunities are for the most part in person, although we hold hybrid lab meetings and use a combination of in person and remote meetings to ensure greatest accessibility for all lab members.

The number of students MCL invites to join the program each year depends on the amount of research funding we have to allocate for RA positions, as well as the rate of graduation of current students in the lab.

In general, Dr. Hennessy does not accept more than 1 PHD, 1 Masters, and 1 Masters-project per year.

Masters degrees should take 6 semesters. Masters-project degrees take 5 semesters.

PhDs should take 12 semesters (4 years), but the average graduation time is closer to 15-18 semesters. Students who are awarded major scholarships have the opportunity to graduate sooner, as they are able to focus more on their work and less on teaching and RA obligations.

We are always excited to connect with potential postdoctoral scholars who would like to join the Making Culture Lab. This is usually funded through the SSHRC Postdoctoral Scholarship (now 70K per year for 2 years). Please reach out to Kate if you are interested in applying for a SSHRC postdoctoral award. Please note that the deadline is in early September, so planning must take place several months before this deadline.

We have had wonderful working relationships with artists-in-residence. These are funded as positions through our research funding. If you are an artist who sees a good fit with our lab, please reach out to Kate to discuss.

Check out this virtual tour!