Documents Of Record /Program Proposal

Document Rev: December 14, 2005. This proposal has been approved: January 19, 2006.

Program Description

New Technologies have profoundly changed contemporary culture and inevitably altered the role of the arts in society. The Digital Arts and New Media MFA Program serves as a center for the development and study of digital media and the cultures they have helped create. Faculty and students are drawn from a variety of backgrounds such as the arts, computer engineering, humanities, the sciences, and social sciences to pursue interdisciplinary artistic and scholarly research and production, in the context of a broad examination of digital arts and cultures.

The program is organized into four interdependent and equally important pursuits

New Praxis - The term “Praxis” has many meanings, which include “translating ideas into action” and “action and reflection upon the world in order to change it”. New Praxis in DANM is comprised of “critique” and “practicum” which provide students with both the practical training and critical dialogue necessary to pursue their own individual goals as artists and cultural practitioners.

Studies – DANM “Studies” include required core seminars that allow students first, to explore an array of recent methods and approaches in Digital Arts and Culture, and then pursue the construction of specific genealogies and theories with a sustained focus on a particular topic, before beginning to develop their thesis project and paper by engaging in various dialogues at the intersection of theory and practice.

Collaborative Research – Students and Faculty engage in research collaborations resulting in publications and exhibitions. Three focused research areas that represent the current research of DANM faculty -- Participatory Culture, Performative Technologies, and Mechatronics. Prospective students are asked to identify their preference in their application and statement of purpose.

Participatory Culture

DANM’s Participatory Culture studies and research efforts explore the role of information and communication technologies in the current shift from “top-down” culture to a culture of participation and social engagement. Within the social register the human/computer interface acts as both a boundary and a bridge. Participatory Culture research in DANM encompasses a range of projects in social computing and community-media activism, which involve the design of new technologies to address social problems and facilitate broader participation in culture and politics.

Performative Technologies

Studies and research in Performative Technologies explore new methods for combining media and technology to create the visual, aural and connective material of performance. DANM performance research generates new public and performative spaces where digital media, communication networks, and interactive systems, may be fused with lighting, movement, stage and sound design, to create real-time shared multimedia experiences for audiences and performers at remote locations. Ongoing projects in this area include work in telematics, performance-driven real-time graphics, algorithmic composition of sound and image, computer vision and motion capture, and studies of ritual, performativity, embodiment, interactivity, and subjectivity.

Mechatronics

Mechatronics is the functional integration of mechanical, electronic, and information technologies. In DANM this framework is employed for the development and production of physical, systems-based artwork that incorporates elements of robotics, motion control, software engineering, and hardware design. DANM Mechatronics research involves the use of a variety of media including video, performance, and sculpture, for the creation of complex, kinetic, audio-visual systems for the exploration of temporality, materiality, experience and perception.

Pedagogy – DANM trains future arts academics through practical experience. Students are awarded Teaching Assistantships as part of their overall support package as well as opportunities to assist faculty in workshops.

REQUIREMENTS

The DANM MFA is a two-year program. Seventy-six credits of academic course work are required. Students will normally take three five-credit courses each term – one 5-unit course in each of the program areas, New Praxis, Studies, and Collaborative Research.

NEW PRAXIS

New Praxis in DANM is comprised of “critique” and “practicum”.

New Praxis – year one

Practicum - This area of Praxis is designed to allow students to develop the conceptual, technical and practical skills they need to successfully complete projects that realize their own individual goals as digital media artists.

First year students will be required to take a Project Design Studio in the first quarter. This course will guide the development of students’ individual studio practice, particularly in relation to the transition to digital media. After completing the project design studio first year students will be required to take at least 3 out of 5 programming workshops and 3 out of 5 electronics workshops which will be offered during the winter and spring quarters (for three credits each quarter). Students will select workshops based on the requirements of their individual projects, their technical background, level of expertise in programming and/or electronics, and their personal interests. Students with advanced training may choose to -

enroll in fewer, more advanced, workshops and/or serve as assistants in workshops for beginning students,
take electronics or programming electives offered in Computer Engineering, or
enroll in independent studies, as approved by their advisor.

Students may also choose to focus their study on either electronics or programming only – taking all five workshops in their chosen field supplemented by a one-unit advanced independent study in that field the following quarter.

Critique - This area of Praxis is designed to allow students to present their own work and review the work of their fellow students as well as that of professional digital media artist/researchers as a means of engaging in critical dialogue necessary to pursue their own individual goals as digital media artists. First year students are required to present work-in-progress based on the projects developed in the project design course in both individual studio and group critiques, participate in group critique discussion and attend guest lectures.

New Praxis – year two

Practicum - During the fall quarter second year students will work on the development of their thesis project proposal and abstract under the supervision of the program director and their thesis committee. Second year students may participate at an advanced level in electronics and programming workshops in the winter and spring with the permission of the instructor. However, it is assumed that technical work on thesis projects will be pursued independently or with the assistance of staff.

Critique - Second year students are required to participate in group critiques, schedule individual meetings with their thesis committee members and attend guest lectures.

STUDIES

Students are required to take three Core Seminars in the first year and two Studies electives in the second year.

Studies - year one - Core Seminars

201 – Recent Methods and Approaches to Digital Arts and Culture – In this seminar students will examine an array of methods and approaches to research and writing in Digital Media Art and Culture and explore key theories concerning digital media and cultures.

202 – Genealogies and Theories of Digital Arts and Culture – This seminar will provide a sustained focus on a particular theoretical and/or historical premise -- for example, an examination of “Intermediality”, or the exploration of “framing stories” such as the history of perspective, or narratology – as a means of teaching a common approach to the construction of genealogies within Digital Art and Culture.

203 – Dialogues and Questions in Digital Arts and Culture – A pre-thesis course in which students engage in dialogues at the intersection of theory and practice with the goal of producing a pre-thesis proposal and preparatory essay. Readings and seminar discussions will inform the development of pre-thesis project proposals and essays.

Studies – year two – Electives

Students may chose to take electives offered by the program or chose electives from a broad array of graduate courses offered on campus with the approval of their advisor.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

During the their first quarter students are required to take the DANM Faculty Seminar followed by one practice/technology elective in the second quarter. Students will then participate in a three quarter long Collaborative Research Project group, which begins in the spring quarter of the first year. In the Second Year students continue with final two quarters of their project group (fall and winter) followed by a 5-unit Thesis course.

Thesis Requirement

Thesis Projects. Students are required to complete a Thesis Project and written paper under the supervision of their Thesis Committee. The thesis will be an arts project with digital documentation accompanied by a written paper. Thesis projects may be individual or collaborative and are expected to grow out of the research pursued in the project groups during the three quarters prior as well as work developed in New Praxis courses. Each student will be expected to complete a 20-30-page paper discussing the student's preparatory research as well as the theoretical significance of the project. In the case of collaborative projects each student will be required to submit their own paper. During the thesis year, students will make at least two progress presentations to their thesis committee. The chair and at least one other member of the three-person committee will be senate faculty and members of the DANM program faculty. A completed thesis project and paper must be submitted to and approved by the Thesis Committee before the degree can be awarded.

APPLICATIONS

Prospective students in the Digital Arts and New Media program will have a foundation in the arts with some demonstrated interest in technology or a foundation in technology with demonstrated background in the arts. Many, but not all, entering students will have completed a Bachelor of Arts program in one or more of the arts disciplines (Art or Art History, Film, Multimedia, Music, Theater, Video, etc.) or a Bachelor of Science program in Computer Science or Computer or Electrical Engineering. Other successful applicants will have a BA or BS in another field but will be able to show substantial achievement in the arts, in technology or in digital arts.

In certain cases, students who demonstrate excellent potential for the program but lack proficiency in a "cross discipline" will be admitted to the program with the understanding that they will take courses during their first two quarters of study to make up that deficiency. An arts student lacking sufficient programming experience, for example, will be expected to take one or two programming courses in their first two quarters in addition to the DANM program requirements.

Students will apply online through the Division of Graduate Studies web site between October and February for the following fall quarter. In addition to submitting an on-line application, students will be expected to submit a non-returnable representative sample of their work, i.e., portfolio on a CD, CD-ROM or DVD. Further information can be found at: http://graddiv.ucsc.edu.

PROGRAM PLANNER

Here is a copy of this proposal with a Program Planner in MS Word Format. And here it is in wiki format.