Program Description
The new media BA program at Purchase College offers an interdisciplinary major at the intersection of art, technology, and society. Students study the effects of digital media from multiple perspectives and develop their own voice through hands-on production in courses drawn from the visual and performing arts, computer science, the social sciences, and other liberal arts disciplines. Portfolio development is a high priority, with each student beginning his or her portfolio in the second year.
Students majoring in new media are offered a structured, well-rounded foundation covering a range of methodologies and content areas, with analysis and production often present in the same course. Collaboration is particularly encouraged, as are experimental and creative approaches to media production and distribution. This emphasis on practice and theory enables students to become technologically proficient media professionals.
Our students are strongly encouraged to pursue internships, which provide an important bridge to a career in the field. Many students complete multiple internships both on and off campus. In recent years, on-campus internships have included Purchase Television (PTV), Purchase Radio (WPSR), The Brick (an online, student-run newspaper), and Campus Technology Services. Off-campus internships have included Eyebeam, MTV, Focus Features, Comedy Central, Viacom, SONY, and Disney.
The skills of our graduates are well matched to a rapidly changing economy. They work as artists, multimedia designers, mobile game developers, Web developers, human-computer interaction specialists, documentary filmmakers, and video editors, among many other careers.
Because new media is a constantly evolving field, specific course requirements are subject to change.
Requirements for the Major
A grade of C+ or higher is required in all courses for the major, excluding the senior project.
Freshman and Sophomore Years:
Junior and Senior Years:
Representative Elective Courses
Community-Centered Media
Creating User Interfaces
Cross-Cultural Video Production
Digital Audio I & II
Digital Dimensions
Experimental Film Workshop
Experimental Web Practice
Games for Change
Gameplay and Performance
Global Media, Local Cultures
Information Aesthetics
Interactive Media/Sound
Interactive Installation: Hacking the Everyday
Intermediate Video
Internet as Public Art
Introduction to Cinema Studies I & II
Introduction to Physical Computing: Getting Outside the Box
Locative Media: Place and Mobility
MIDI Composition I & II
Media, Memory, and Desire
Mobile Media
New Media and Contemporary Art
Performance Art
Performing Arts in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Robotics
Social Software
Sound/Interactive Media I & II
Studio Composition I & II
Studio Production I & II
Video Graphics
Video Performance
Representative Alumni
For more information, please visit the new media program site.
Updated Jan. 9, 2013
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