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New Media Interactive Development BS
Program overview
The last decade has seen unprecedented innovation in technologies for communication, computation, interactivity, and delivery of information. New media touch nearly all of us daily through online games, search engines, dynamic and personalized websites, high-definition home entertainment, handheld devices, and instant connectivity. Educators, advertising agencies, design studios, and a wide variety of industries use new media to reach target audiences for advertising, entertaining, training, transacting business, and expressing creative ideas.
Two huge underlying factors—Internet connectivity and computer processing—have transformed the media landscape dramatically. New media are dynamic, personalized, and connected. They change the way we learn, communicate, affiliate, and play. For the world to benefit from these changes there is a need for practitioners who can integrate evolving technologies with creative disciplines.
In a field that is changing rapidly, successful practitioners must have a solid foundation in cutting-edge technologies, a well-honed sense of design, and the skills to put creative ideas into practice. The new media interactive development major has been carefully formulated to provide students with a balanced background in design and technology, and an emphasis on independent problem solving in a constantly evolving field.
Curriculum
The major features core courses; specialty courses in the areas of graphic design, photographic imaging, video, publishing, programming, and interactive games and media; and a senior project that brings together all of the curriculum into a singular project at the conclusion of the academic program.
The senior project tackles real-world new media issues and provides an opportunity for students to hone their skills in collaboration with students from different disciplines in a setting that mirrors current industry practice.
Leaders from the new media industry had considerable input to the design and structure of the curriculum. The course work ensures that students gain experience working on interdisciplinary teams and brings the value of their senior project and cooperative education experiences together to enhance the overall educational experience.
Cooperative education
In addition to the senior project, new media interactive development students are required to complete two semesters of cooperative education. This gives students real-world experience and an edge when applying for jobs after graduation.
New media interactive development, BS degree, typical course sequence (semesters), effective fall 2013
| Course | Sem. Cr. Hrs. | |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| IGME-101 | New Media Interactive Design and Algorithmic Problem Solving I | 4 |
| IGME-110 | Introduction to Interactive Media (WI) | 3 |
| MDE-101 | New Media Design Imaging | 3 |
| LAS Foundation 1: First Year Seminar | 3 | |
| MATH-131 | Discrete Mathematics | 4 |
| IGME-102 | New Media Interactive Design and Algorithmic Problem Solving II | 4 |
| NMDE-102 | New Media Design Elements 1 | 3 |
| LAS Perspective 1 | 3 | |
| ENGL-150 | LAS Foundation 2: Writing Seminar (WI) | 3 |
| MATH-185 | Mathematics of Graphical Simulation I | 3 |
| Wellness Education* | 0 | |
| Second Year | ||
| IGME-201 | New Media Interactive Design and Algorithmic Problem Solving III | 3 |
| IGME-230 | Website Design and Implementation | 3 |
| LAS Perspective 2, 3, 4, 5† | 12 | |
| MATH-186 | Mathematics of Graphical Simulation II | 3 |
| IGME-202 | Interactive Media Development | 3 |
| IGME-236 | Interaction, Immersion, and the Media Interface | 3 |
| Lab Sciences† | 3 | |
| IGME-499 | Cooperative Education (summer) | Co-op |
| Third Year | ||
| IGME-330 | Rich Media Web Application Development I | 3 |
| IGM/NMID Program Electives | 9 | |
| Free Electives | 6 | |
| LAS Immersion 1, 2 | 6 | |
| LAS Electives | 6 | |
| IGME-499 | Cooperative Education (summer) | Co-op |
| Fourth Year | ||
| NMDE-401 | New Media Design Career Skills | 3 |
| IGM/NMID Program Electives | 6 | |
| Free Electives | 9 | |
| LAS Immersion 3 | 3 | |
| IGME-588 | New Media Team Project | 3 |
| LAS Electives | 6 | |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 123 | |
Please see New General Education Curriculum–Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) for more information.
(WI) Refers to a writing intensive course within the major.
* Please see Wellness Education Requirement for more information.
† Students will satify this requirement by taking either a 3 or 4 credit hour lab science course. If a science course consists of separate lecture and laboratory sections, students must take both the lecture and the lab portions to fulfill the requirement.