As of spring 2007, GRE scores are no longer required when applying to the DANM MFA Program.
No Computer Programming Requirement
Our computer programming requirement has been changed. There is no computer programming requirement.
DANM Course Requirements
The DANM MFA is a two-year program. Seventy-four credits of academic course work are required. In the first year students will generally take three courses each term – one course in each of the three interdependent and equally important program areas, New Praxis, Studies, and Collaborative Research. In the second year students primarily take elective courses, work with their thesis committees, and pursue independent and directed research leading to the completion of the thesis project and paper.
New Praxis
The
term “Praxis” has many meanings, which include “traslating ideas into action” and “action and reflection upon the world in order to change it”. New Praxis in DANM is comprised of courses in “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 to pursue the construction of specific genealogies and theories by engaging in various dialogues at the intersection of theory and practice, while developing their thesis project and paper.
Collaborative Research
Students and Faculty engage in research collaborations resulting in publications and exhibitions in one of four possible focused research areas -- Participatory Culture, Performative Technologies, Mechatronics and Playable Media described below. Prospective students are asked to identify their preference in their application and statement of purpose.
In their chosen focus area students collaborate on Faculty initiated and directed research projects. This work is intended to provide the student with the opportunity to learn collaborative and practical research methodologies, and to participate in a professional level research project. The collaborative project group experience is intended to inform, but not necessarily contribute to, the student’s thesis project.
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.
Playable Media
DANM's Playable Media research explores the potential of computational systems for the creation of new media forms that invite and structure play. This group works to understand and create new ways for computer games and related forms to engage audiences, make arguments, tell stories, and shape social space. Ongoing Playable Media work combines game design and artificial intelligence research with writing, art, and media authoring.
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.
Thesis Requirement
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 is 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 is required to submit their own paper. During the thesis year, students make at least two progress presentations to their thesis committee. The chair and at least one other member of the three-person committee must 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.
DANM Laptop Requirement
As a student in the Digital Arts & New Media Program you are required to have a laptop computer with wireless support (WiFI 801.11b/g). You will be expected to view web pages, open Post Script Documents (pdf) and be able to edit text with a word processing type application. There is no operating system requirement. The UCSC Arts Division is almost entirely Apple Macintosh based.
