UW System Board of Regents approves new multimedia digital arts major
Released: October 15, 2004
On Friday, Oct. 8, the UW System Board of Regents approved a new multimedia digital arts major for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The major will be the first of its kind offered in the UW System to integrate both the artistic applications and the communication aspects of digital arts into its curriculum.
According to Richard Haven, associate dean of the College of Arts and Communication at UW-Whitewater, the new major was created in response to the growing interest in, and significance of, multimedia by students and employers alike. Strong student interest in multimedia resulted in the introduction of two multimedia minors two year ago – one in art and one in communication – and rapidly grew to a current total of 114 students with declared multimedia minors.
The four-year, 42-credit program will be housed in the College of Arts and Communication and brings together the art and communication departments to produce an interdisciplinary major that draws from the expertise of the two popular disciplines. The multimedia digital arts major has two tracks: art and communication. While both tracks emphasize the production of multimedia, the art track focuses more on artistic design whereas the communication track focuses more on message development. In addition to a set of required theory and production classes, both tracks provide students with plenty of opportunities to tailor the major to their interests through electives. A minor is required and students can select either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree path.
Multimedia digital arts focuses on the new media, information, Web design and development and interactive technology issues. Courses in the program examine artistic and communication applications with special attention to ethical, legal and commercial issues raised by the new technology. Students will address artistic design, production processes and the core principles of multimedia practice. Graduates of the program will be prepared for such careers as media writers/designers, visual interface designers, multimedia performers, art/creative directors, motion graphics animators and graphic designers.
“Digital arts programs offer students opportunities to participate in one of the most exciting and promising areas of innovation in the arts,” said John Heyer, dean of the College of Arts and Communication. “We are fortunate to have experienced faculty who bring the leadership skills and expertise to develop this program and dynamic young faculty who offer the most recent developments in this new discipline to our students.”
The major will be available to students beginning in January 2005.
For more information, contact Haven at (262) 472-1934 or havend@uww.edu.
- Melissa DiMotto,dimottom@uww.edu
