The New Media B.A. Program: Academic Requirements

In addition to meeting general degree requirements, all new media majors must complete the following requirements (66–69 credits). The internship is optional, but recommended:

Freshman and Sophomore Years
Advanced Standing | Applying for Advanced Standing
Synthesis (Junior and Senior)

Freshman and Sophomore Years (Foundation)
Students must earn a grade of C+ or higher in each of these courses. In any given semester, students should not enroll in more than three foundation courses and must not take more than two studio or lab courses.

1. NME 1010/Photography I: 3 credits
   or NME 1160/Design Principles: 4 credits
2. NME 1050/Introduction to Media Studies: 3 credits
3. NME 1060/Introduction to Sound: 2 credits
4. NME 1170/Digital Media Studio: 4 credits
5. NME 1420/Programming Games or
   NME 1520/Computer Science I or
   NME 1450/Programming for Visual Artists: 4 credits
6. NME 2100/New Media Advanced Standing: 0 credits
7. One 2000-level technoculture course (3–4 credits), chosen from the following or approved by the student’s faculty advisor:
   – NME 2200/Media Institutions and Forms
   – NME 2235/Computers and Culture
   – NME 2250/Art and Technology
   – NME 2550/Media, Memory, and Desire
   – NME 2700/Locative Media: Place and Mobility
8. NME 2420/Video Art I: 4 credits
9. NME 2730/Creating Web Documents: 4 credits

2. Advanced Standing in New Media
Refer to Applying for Advanced Standing for detailed information. After being accepted for advanced study, requirements include:

• one upper-level history/theory course: 4 credits
• one anthropology/sociology course: 3–4 credits
• elective courses chosen for their relevance and applicability to the student’s course of study in new media: 16 credits
• and the synthesis courses

Students must earn a grade of C+ or higher in each of these courses, excluding the senior project. When a course number has two or more prefixes (e.g., VIS and NME 3000), new media majors should register under the NME prefix.

Examples of History/Theory Courses:

ARH 3405/Design History and Theory: 1750–Today: 4 credits

ARH/NME 3531/New Media and Contemporary Art: 4 credits

NME/VIS 3040/Internet as Public Art: 4 credits

SOA 4600/MTH 4120/History of Recorded Music I: 2 credits

SOA 4610/MTH 4130/History of Recorded Music II: 2 credits

VDE 3300/NME 3301/History of Graphic Design Survey: 4 credits

VIS/NME 3000/Art in the Age of Electronic Media: 3 credits

Examples of Anthropology/Sociology Courses:

The following list includes courses offered by the media, society, and the arts (MSA) program.
 

ANT/MSA/NME 2320/Performing Arts in Cross-Cultural
    Perspective: 3 credits

MSA/NME 2700/Locative Media: Place and Mobility: 3 credits

MSA/NME/GND 3160/Queer Media Convergence: 4 credits

ANT/MSA 3185/Global Media, Local Cultures: 4 credits

SOA/SOC 3237/The Arts for Social Change: 3 credits

ANT 3345/Theatre and Performance in Africa: 4 credits

ANT 3410/Anthropology of Art and Aesthetics: 4 credits

MSA 3400/Critical Perspectives on Media, Society,
    and the Arts: 4 credits

MSA 4700/Special Topics in Media, Society, and
    the Arts: 4 credits

Examples of Elective Courses
Courses in the following lists are subject to change, and new courses may be added. Students should consult with their faculty advisor when choosing electives. When a course number has two prefixes (e.g., MAT and NME 3560), new media majors should register under the NME prefix.

New Media

NME/TFI 3010/Cross-Cultural Video Production

NME 3050/Information Aesthetics

NME 3150/Material Distribution: Billboards, Wheatpaste,
    and Pamphlets

NME 3210/Tactical Practical

NME 3220/The Moving Image as Object

NME/VIS 3230/Real-Time Media Processing

NME 3350/Digital Printmaking

NME 3430/Video Graphics

NME/VIS 3435/Video Performance

NME 3470/Intermediate Video

NME/VIS 3545/Community-Centered Media

NME/MAT 3560/Introduction to Physical Computing:
    Getting Outside the Box

NME/VIS 3720/Interactive Installation: Hacking the Everyday

NME/MAT 3765/Mobile Media

NME/VIS 3770/Experimental Web Practice

NME/MAT 3780/Games for Change

Cinema Studies:

CIN 1500 and 1501/Introduction to Cinema Studies I (with discussion)

CIN 1510 and 1510/Introduction to Cinema Studies II (with discussion)

CIN/NME 3200/Film, Media, and War Machines

Film:

TFI 3610/NME 3611/Experimental Workshop (Part One)

TFI 3620/NME 3621/Experimental Workshop (Part Two)

Mathematics/Computer Science (School of Natural & Social Sciences):

MAT/NME 3440/Creating User Interfaces

MAT/NME 3530/Creating Databases for Web Applications

MAT/NME 3540/Social Software

MAT/NME 3650/Networking and Security

MAT/NME 3670/Robotics

School of the Arts:

Studio Composition (Conservatory of Music):

MCO 1310/Studio Composition I

MCO 1320/Studio Composition II

MCO 2310/MIDI Composition I

MCO 2320/MIDI Composition II

MCO 3330/Studio Production I

MCO 3340/Studio Production II

MCO 4350/Digital Audio I

MCO 4360/Digital Audio II

Theatre and Performance (Conservatory of Theatre Arts):

THP/NME 3120/Gameplay and Performance

School of Art+Design:

SOA 3155/Performance Art

VDE 3090/Interactive Design

VDE/NME 4170/Advanced Web Design: Special Projects

VPR 3000/The Animated Print

VSC 3310/NME 3300/Digital Dimensions

VSC/NME 3420/Video Art II

VSC/NME 3630/Sound/Interactive Media I

VSC/NME 3640/Sound/Interactive Media II

3. Synthesis
Students must earn a grade of C+ or higher in the following courses, excluding the senior project (16 credits, plus optional internship):

1. NME 3880/Junior Seminar in New Media: 4 credits
2. NME 3980/Internship in New Media (optional): variable credits
3. NME 4880/Senior Seminar I in New Media: 2 credits
4. NME 4890/Senior Seminar II in New Media: 2 credits
5. NME 4990/Senior Project in New Media: 8 credits

Please note: Because new media is a constantly developing field, these academic requirements are subject to change.

Applying for Advanced Standing in New Media
New media majors apply for advanced standing in their fourth semester, while concurrently completing the courses required in the first two years of study. A student may be in the process of fulfilling a maximum of two foundation courses concurrent with advanced standing. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the new media program, it is important that students be strongly focused and self-directed. Therefore, the transition to advanced standing is taken very seriously by the New Media Board of Study.

In order to have a clear picture of each student’s preparedness, the board of study requests that each student submit materials for its review. This advanced-standing presentation package must be submitted two weeks before the beginning of registration for the following semester. To formalize this process, students must register for “NME 2100/New Media Advanced Standing” in the semester in which they are going to submit their presentation package.

To apply for advanced standing, each student must:

1. Earn grades averaging B- (2.7 GPA) in the courses required during the first two years of study, with no grade lower than a C+.
2. Assemble a presentation package consisting of:
    
   
   1. a portfolio of work, which shall be presented on the student’s Web page
       
      
   2. a written discussion of the student’s development to date (this 2–4-page document shall include a discussion of courses completed or in progress, projects undertaken, and recent life experiences that have led to the current proposal)
       
      
   3. a proposed academic program that the student intends to follow until graduation (this 3–4-page proposal shall include a list of all courses that the student plans to take in his or her remaining semesters, the general area of the intended senior project, and an indication of what projects and internships the student will develop to prepare for a successful senior year)

Please note: The New Media Board of Study reviews the presentation package and determines whether the student receives advanced standing. Advanced standing is a prerequisite for many of the upper-level courses that constitute the major. Students who are not approved for advanced standing will need to complete their BA in a different major.

For updates during 2013–2015, please visit www.purchase.edu/departments/AcademicPrograms/LAS/FilmMediaStudies/NewMedia/AcademicRequirements.aspx.

| << School of Film & Media Studies home