Digital Media Arts Major

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The DMA major focuses on the development of creative, technical, and critical skills while providing students with hands-on learning experiences and regular evaluation as they progress through their coursework. Students will receive further individualized feedback on their work through routine portfolio reviews; special emphasis is placed on developing robust portfolios to help students achieve their creative and professional goals as well as prepare them for postgraduate study.

The major also develops the broad critical skills central to the liberal arts. It is intentionally interdisciplinary, and students will pursue the major in explicit relation to other fields, such as Performing Arts, Studio Arts, Art History, Anthropology, English, Social Justice, Computer Science, Film Studies, and Critical Media Theory.

Major Requirements

To earn a degree in Digital Media Arts requires the completion of 12 4-credit courses and 2 2-credit capstone courses.

Foundation Sequence (3 courses)

DMA 1100 - Introduction to Digital Media Arts
DMA 1120 - Fundamentals of Design
One Arts Context elective selected from the following:
ARTH 1210 - Western Traditions: Renaissance to Contemporary
ARTH 1600 - American Art, 1800-1945
Other 1000-level Art History course with preapproval from the DMA Chair
MUS 1100 - Survey of Western Music
THTR 1120 - Studies in Dramatic Storytelling and Performance: Stage and Screens
THTR 3180 - Film Studies

Studio Courses (6 courses)

Select six courses from the following list. Two courses must be at the 3000 level or above. At least three different technical areas must be represented in the selection of courses.

Theory (1 course)

ENG 3710 - Critical Digital Media Theory

Interconnected Electives (2 courses)

The two courses in this cluster expand and refine your understanding of digital media as a technological force across disciplines. Each student, working with an advisor, will design and plan a sequence of courses to meet this requirement. The two courses must reflect a cohesive intellectual investigation. At least one of the courses in this sequence must be at the 3000-level or above. The two course sequence must be approved by the Chair of the Digital Media Arts program.