Digital Summer Institute | College of Art and Design

Reimagine Creativity in the Age of AI

AI doesn't replace imagination — it ignites it.

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About DSI

The College of Art and Design's Digital Summer Institute (DSI) offers cutting-edge summer courses at the intersection of creativity and artificial intelligence.

Designed for artists, designers, and storytellers, DSI explores AI as a creative tool — empowering students to innovate responsibly, expand professional skills, and engage with the ethical and cultural questions shaping the future of creative work.

When used critically and intentionally, AI can spark imagination across every medium, from images and video to writing, objects, and design.

*Open to all RIT students.
*No prerequisites or technical background required.

Creativity & AI Series

These one-credit intensives — Part 1: Ideation; Part 2: Creation; and Part 3: Presentation — may be taken individually or in any combination. Together, they invite students to question, test, and reimagine their creative relationship with AI across the entire creative process.

A colorful, abstract design of many objects next to one another.

Part 1: Ideation

DatesMay 18-19, 2026

CourseIDEA 503 Undergraduate (1 credit)
IDEA 603 Graduate (1 credit)

Explore how creatives use AI in idea generation — addressing ethics, storytelling, and the use of AI in brainstorming and conceptual development.

InstructorJonathan Knight

A digitized version of a woman, in many colors, with objects coming out of her head.

Part 2: Creation

DatesMay 20-21, 2026

CourseIDEA 502 Undergraduate (1 credit)
IDEA 602 Graduate (1 credit)

Examine AI’s role in the production phase, including bias, misinformation, authorship, and personal values. Students experiment with text and video in exploratory projects.

InstructorJonathan Knight and Linda Moroney

An AI-generated image of a pen touching a display.

Part 3: Presentation

DatesMay 22-23, 2026

CourseIDEA 504 Undergraduate (1 credit)
IDEA 604 Graduate (1 credit)

Focus on representing creative work using AI tools — with attention to oral and visual communication, public speaking, and the ethical and historical dimensions of presentation and information literacy.

InstructorLinda Moroney

Jonathan Knight

School of Film and Animation

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Linda Moroney

School of Film and Animation

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Design and the Imaginary: Creative Collaboration with AI

An AI-generated image with a multi-colored surface with figurines one it.

DatesMay 26-31, 2026

CourseIDEA 505 Undergraduate (3 credits)
IDEA 605 Graduate (3 credits)

A one-week intensive, in-person course designed for an interdisciplinary audience. Students explore AI as a collaborative partner in creativity, co-creating a fictional character or toy informed by AI-assisted research, speculative design, and world-building.

Deliverables include reading responses, prompt logs, iterative prototypes, critiques, and a final public presentation.

InstructorJuan Noguera