Overview
Jeremy Sarachan (Media and Communication), Program Director
Monica Hodis (Management/Marketing), Elizabeth Leboffe (Mathematical and Computing Sciences),** Farrokh Mamaghani (Accounting/Finance), Joellen Maples (Education/Literacy),* David Pate (Economics), Bernard Ricca (Mathematical and Computing Sciences), Wendi Sierra (English).
*On leave, Fall 2015
**On leave, Spring 2016
Digital Cultures and Technologies combines Media and Communication, English, and coding to create a multidisciplinary course of study in which students critically analyze the effects of emerging media and computing on society. Students also develop a practice of production and innovation through the creation of web and mobile experiences, video games, interactive museum exhibits, multimedia narratives, and computational objects.
Students also may choose to focus on data science, network and web analytics, and data visualization.
Overall, the Digital Cultures and Technologies program offers small classes and a creative and collaborative community. Students may partake in internships, tutoring and teaching opportunities, exhibitions, and service-learning opportunities in order to develop a personalized and comprehensive experience.
Digital Cultures and Technologies majors apply the concepts of digital cultures and media production to a second discipline. To fulfill this objective, all DIGC majors complete a second major. This provides our graduates a competitive advantage upon entering the workforce. Students also are prepared to enter a variety of graduate programs, including communication, media study, information science, visual or game design, law, and business.
While there are no formal concentrations, students may choose to focus in one of the following areas:
- Interactive Media: Students create websites and mobile apps to prepare for careers as interactive media designers and programmers for a variety of corporate and media-related companies.
- Games: Students study game design and production to prepare for positions as game designers, programmers, and scriptwriters; to create indie games; to prepare for careers in interactive advertising; and to apply for graduate school in game design.
- New Media Art and Physical Computing: Students develop their skills and aesthetic judgment as new media artists with the opportunity to experiment with computer graphics programming, web technologies, and physical computing (e.g., sensor-embedded installations, wearable computing). After graduation a student may pursue a master of fine arts degree, a career as an exhibit designer, or as an entrepreneur.
- Analytics and Data Visualization: Students study data visualization, data art, social network analysis, statistics, and web analytics to obtain employment as an SEO specialist, infographic designer, or data analyst in a variety of corporate and media organizations.
- Digital Cultural Studies: Students focus on issues related to privacy and community; identity, class, and gender; media industries; and visual rhetoric and communication.
Additionally, a focus on Networked Journalism and Interactive Documentary is available to students who double-major with Media and Communication. Students learn to write as journalists and tell non-fiction stories using video, photography, interactive media and news games. Students also learn to conduct journalistic research both through interviewing and the skills associated with the emerging field of data journalism.
The major in Digital Cultures and Technologies leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree.