Curriculum for Interactive Narrative for Games & Digital Media

Tailor your education with a customizable curriculum that reinvents traditional narrative by breaking out of the linear storyline.

Interactive Narrative for Games & Digital Media Curriculum

Our program offers something truly special: a curriculum that lets you choose your own adventure. By emphasizing writing and creative media, this program allows you to explore and open doors to career opportunities creating narrative design and interactive media in various settings and on a variety of platforms—even some that are just emerging as the next big thing.

Learning Outcomes for Interactive Narrative for Games & Digital Media.

First Year
Fall Semester
- INN 110 Introduction to Interactive Narrative
- IXD 100 Interaction Design I
- XXX Program Elective in FLM/GMD/IXD/MTH or WRT
- COR 101 Navigating Higher Education
- COR 102 First Year Inquiry: Reading, Writing, &
Spring Semester
- GMD 230 Interactive Narrative I
- WRT 120 Creative Writing, Introduction to
- XXX Program Elective in FLM/GMD/IXD/MTH/ or WRT
- COR 103 Core Foundations II: Navigating Your Information Landscape
- COR 104 First Year Inquiry: Making, Doing _____ (instructor topic)
Second Year
Fall Semester
- GMD 350
- WRT 220 Creative Writing, Intermediate
- XXX Program Elective in FLM/GMD/IXD or WRT
- COR 201 Core Foundations: Making Meaning Through Science
- COR 202 Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Spring Semester
- EGD 240 Creative Portfolio Tools
- IXD 200 Aesthetic Interactions
- XXX Collaboration Elective
- XXX Program Elective in FLM/GMD/IXD or WRT
- COR 203 Core Foundations: Making Meaning Through Culture
- COR 204 Theoretical Perspectives
Third Year
Fall Semester
- XXX Program Elective
- XXX MTH or Program Elective
- XXX General Elective
- COR 301 Core Foundations: Connecting Place and Identity
- COR 302 Field Methods
Spring Semester
- XXX Collaboration Elective 2
- SCI XXX Natural Science w/Lab
- XXX General Elective
- COR 303 Core Foundations: Connecting Past and Present
- COR 304 Digital Methods
Fourth Year
Fall Semester
- CCC 410INN Capstone in Interactive Narrative OR Capstone Elective
- XXX Program Elective
- XXX Program Elective
- XXX Program Elective
Spring Semester
- INN XXX Interactive Narrative Portfolio
  —OR—
  INN XXX Interactive Narrative Studio
  —OR—
  INN XXX Collaboration Elective 3
- XXX Program Elective
- XXX Program Elective
- XXX Program Elective

What exactly is interactive narrative? You'll find out by playing some of the best games in the narrative canon, but you'll also have a chance to experience other forms of interactive story, from museum exhibits to escape rooms. Then You'll also learn the basics of creating your own interactive story. Learn about what narrative professionals do during visits by industry professionals. We'll also cover various forms of interactive story worldwide, from sea shanties to shamanism to Santa Claus.

Prerequisites
Credits	3

What makes an interface seem intuitive and easy to use? How do graphics and their presentation facilitate desired interactions? In this course we'll examine the ways in which interfaces help or hinder an audience's ability to move through information or experience a story along multiple paths. Using industry standard software tools for the creation of interactive media, we'll explore interactivity from simple buttons to hyper-media. Along the way we'll identify the core principles of interactivity at work in creative expressions as diverse as: web-design, games, hyper-text novels, non-linear animation and film, and installation art.

Prerequisites	VCD-111
Credits	3

Why go to college? What does it mean to be educated? In this course you'll begin to answer these questions. We'll explore the academic expectations of higher education, college as a diverse community, and the significance of education around the world. By examining how these issues are negotiated and implemented at Champlain and elsewhere, you'll gain perspective on your own education and a deeper understanding of the ways that the college experience can be both liberating and transformative.

Prerequisites	Take Cor-102 concurrently.
Credits	3

Inquiry is about learning how to ask the right kinds of questions, and figuring out how to answer those questions through discussion and reflection. This course introduces you to the types of inquiry necessary to succeed at Champlain and beyond. You will explore the intersections of reading, writing, and thinking by focusing on a specific topic or theme. You will approach that focus through the interrogation of relevant texts and analysis that draws upon multiple analytical frameworks. For detailed descriptions of the individual sections of this course, cut and paste the following link into your browser: bit.ly/core-year-one

Prerequisites	Take COR-101 concurrently.
Credits	3

What's the difference between a story and an interactive narrative? What defines interaction? What defines story? Why are dating sims so universally terrible and yet we keep playing them anyway? This class explores where narrative works and doesn't work in games, covers the different kinds of storytelling used in interactive media, and what the field of narrative design and game writing is like. We'll hone our storytelling through experimentation with different forms of interactive storytelling media, learn current industry tools and give and receive excellent critique. Then, revise.

Prerequisites	Take GMD-110, WRT-120, FLM-128, BRD-216, or BRD-218, minimum grade C.
Credits	3

Introduction to Creative Writing explores techniques used by poets and fiction writers in their crafts. Students will analyze examples of published works and will produce portfolios of original works. Workshop activity is required; students must share their work with the entire class.

Prerequisites	ENG-111 OR COR-115
Credits	3

What makes an argument good or bad? What counts as evidence in our post-truth world? How can you understand and assess the truth value of a claim when you're not an expert? In this course you'll learn rhetorical strategies about how to examine arguments and types of evidence in different disciplines and fields of study. To help learn these strategies, you will do close readings of texts from a variety of disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences, popular culture, and social media.

Prerequisites	Take COR-104 concurrently.
Credits	3

This course introduces you to interdisciplinary inquiry using applied, project-based, and/or experiential methods. Regardless of the specific course focus, you'll have opportunities for making and doing interdisciplinary knowledge creation through a variety of approaches and activities. You will collaborate with other students, iterate on ideas, and work to develop a project. For detailed descriptions of the individual sections of this course, cut and paste the following link into your browser: bit.ly/core-year-one

Prerequisites	Take Cor-103 concurrently.
Credits	3

This course will further explore techniques used by poets and fiction writers. Students will not only continue to analyze published works, produce portfolios of original work, and participate in the workshop process, but they will also be expected to submit their own writing for regional and national publication, as well as perform original poems/stories at a public reading.

Prerequisites	WRT-120
Credits	3

Science holds an elevated place in society. The knowledge and meaning that science makes are seen as having a particular and special value. This course explores knowledge and meaning making in order to allow a thoughtful analysis of, and then engagement with, science as a way of knowing, and then engages with the methods and theories of the sciences themselves, to understand the analytical, creative, and generative possibilities of science.

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104.
Credits	3

While each section of COR 202 addresses a different problem, issue, or topic, they all focus on interdisciplinary research. You will collect, analyze, and assess information from different disciplines in order to recognize patterns, contextualize arguments and synthesize ideas while collaborating on a project. Emphasis will be placed on helping you translate and apply what you learn about interdisciplinary research to other professional contexts. For detailed descriptions of the individual sections of this course, cut and paste the following link into your browser: bit.ly/core-year-two

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104.
Credits	3

In the Creative Portfolio Tools course, students explore and develop a variety of portfolio tools to assist in a successful launch of their careers in the creative industry. These include websites, presenting portfolio, creating a personal image, business cards, cover letters and resumes, developing reels and other video based promotions, and using social media and networking. The course is modular and self paced, allowing students to work on materials specific to their area of employment, and their needs for gaining internships and/or employment.

Prerequisites
Credits	1

Screen-based interactive environments, whether they take the form of games, mobile apps, informational kiosks or interactive data visualizations are aesthetic and communicative products. In Aesthetic Interactions, students learn how to design for interactive media productions in ways that support specific visual design and user experience goals.

Prerequisites	COMPLETE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: IXD-100, GMD-200, GAA-205, or VCD-206.
Credits	3

Culture impacts everything we do, experience, and learn, but what is culture? Where does it come from, how does it form, and why does it have such a wide and deep impact on people's lives? This course explores culture as a system of meaning and meaning-making in order to allow for a more thoughtful analysis of, and then engagement with, cultural texts and media using different methodological approaches.

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104.
Credits	3

In this course, you will go in depth about a theoretical perspective that asks you to interrogate systems of power and power relationships. You will learn about the history of that perspective, including how it too was shaped by multiple contexts and compares with other viewpoints. You will use that perspective to analyze a specific topic, collection of texts, or cultural phenomena. For detailed descriptions of the individual sections of this course, cut and paste the following link into your browser: bit.ly/core-year-two

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104.
Credits	3

Where we are shapes how we understand ourselves and each other. In this course, we will dig into the relationship between place and identity. We will learn how to think spatially, recognizing how one's identity is situated within and constructed through movement through different spaces--be they natural and built environments, rural and urban, or actual and virtual. COR 301 will help us understand the complex meanings of identity in a world defined by movement and change.

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104, COR-201, COR-202, COR-203, COR-204
Credits	3

Field methods are a collection of practices used in the sciences, arts, and humanities to understand phenomena in situ or as it is happening in a specific time and place. In this course, we will apply one or more field methods to research a topic, theme, or question that varies by section. We will learn practices associated with research in the field including but not limited to participant observation, data collection, and experimentation in order to navigate an uncontrolled environment. We will also examine the power dynamics between the researcher, informant, and subject matter to help us understand how, if not practiced ethically, field methods can create or reinforce biases rather than helping us learn with and make sense of the world around us. For detailed descriptions of the individual sections of this course, cut and paste the following link into your browser: bit.ly/core-year-three

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104, COR-201, COR-202, COR-203, COR-204
Credits	3

By learning from the past, we can make sense of the present and prepare for the future. In this course, we will learn how the 21st century has been and continues to be shaped by past social practices, ethical frameworks, power relations, and discourses. COR 303 is a course about how we know what we know about the past, and the ways different narratives about the past shape the present. Making connections between past and present will help us better understand how to live and make decisions in a globalized world defined by constant change.

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104, COR-201, COR-202, COR-203, COR-204
Credits	3

Digital methods are widely used forms of inquiry that employ technological tools to interrogate research questions important to the humanities and sciences (including the social sciences). Some examples include digital archiving, data mining, and story mapping. In this course, we will use one or more digital methods or tools to research a topic, theme or question that varies by section, with the express purpose of critiquing and reflecting on its application. This includes an examination of the values, flaws, and impacts of the methods or tools we are using, paying particular attention to their ethical implications and power dynamics. For detailed descriptions of the individual sections of this course, cut and paste the following link into your browser: bit.ly/core-year-three

Prerequisites	Take COR-101, COR-102, COR-103, COR-104, COR-201, COR-202, COR-203, COR-204
Credits	3

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Curriculum for Interactive Narrative for Games & Digital Media

Interactive Narrative for Games & Digital Media Curriculum