Curriculum
Quick Links: Course Landscape | Course Descriptions
Emerging technologies are forcing a reshaping of the ways we create, reflect, connect, design solutions, do business and manage change. To succeed in this complex, connected world, we need to understand, anticipate and embrace transformation time. It is a time of powerful possibilities.
The MFA in Emergent Media is a 60-credit, 5-semester residential curriculum designed to launch the shapers of the new evolving world. Specifically, motivated electronic media designers will produce work within the collaborative structure required of computational media. Products will include but not be limited to mobile devices, mediated games, virtual worlds, etc. The emphasis is on creating communications that integrate aesthetics with human factors, personal vision, and community connectivity. Students will graduate as innovators with strengths in design, concept development, systems thinking and project management, and a commitment to positively impacting the world.
Underlying the degree is a focus on building participatory media through collaborative production. In bringing multiple mindsets to complex problems, discoveries are made and innovation created. This approach is guided by the concepts and processes developed by the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College. Here in a co-opetitious environment (a healthy balance of collaboration and competition), diverse student teams work on-par and as partners with faculty, businesses and non-profits. Within this environment the MFA students will work together with Baccalaureate students, faculty and professional partners to build future content and technologies. In sync with the underlying principles of networked culture, MFA students will integrate participatory decision-making and individual choice to create contextually based technology.
As importantly, alongside the collaborative projects, students will be engaged in an individualized studio practice based upon self-reflection, mentorship, analysis of current trends and exploration of computation and media tools. Students can turn to classmates and collaborators at the EMC to assist in building the concepts and projects born of this practice. The experience gained will allow students to explore, find, and redefine their personal vision. Electives chosen by the individual student enrich knowledge in specific disciplines: aesthetic, computation, communication and management.
Course Landscape
|
Semester |
Course Name and Description |
Cr. Hrs. |
First Semester (Fall) |
|
|
|
EMM 510 |
The Emergent Landscape (visiting lecture series/seminar) |
3 |
|
EMM 520 |
Foundations of Digital Image Making (studio) |
3 |
|
EMM 530 |
Causes of Emergence: Programming Languages (lab and seminar) |
3 |
|
EMM 540 |
Technology as a Disruptive Force (seminar) |
3 |
Second Semester (Spring) |
|
|
|
EMM 550 |
Human Interfaces (studio and seminar) |
3 |
|
EMM 560 |
Digital Storytelling (studio and seminar) |
3 |
|
EMM 570 |
3 |
|
|
|
Elective |
3 |
Third Semester (Summer — ideal for being taken off-campus) |
|
|
|
EMM 590 |
People, Place & Community (field class) |
3 |
|
EMM 600 |
Puzzles and Prototypes (studio and seminar) |
3 |
|
EMM 580 |
Collaborative Production I (studio) |
3 |
|
|
Elective |
3 |
Fourth Semester (Fall) |
|
|
|
EMM 610 |
Our Human Experience: Through the Lens of Neuroscience, Education and Business (seminar) |
3 |
|
EMM 581 |
Collaborative Production Project II (studio) |
3 |
|
EMM 620 |
Integrative Thesis Project I (studio) |
4 |
|
|
Elective |
3 |
Fifth Semester (Spring) |
|
|
|
EMM 582 |
4 |
|
|
EMM 621 |
Integrative Thesis Project II (studio) |
4 |
|
|
Elective |
3 |
|
|
Total Credits |
60 |
Course Descriptions
EMM 510 The Emergent Landscape (visiting lecture series/seminar)
Who are the thought leaders in emergent technologies and what are they thinking? Visiting practitioners, entrepreneurs, researchers and scholars will present their work and concepts in a discussion series on current trends impacting communications. Special attention will be given to the origins and evolution of these ideas. Students will market, host and review the series, leading the forum after each presentation. As a group, they will select and organize the agenda for the following semester’s series.
EMM 520 Foundations of Digital Image Making (studio)
What concepts guide the creation of traditional, time-based and interactive imagery? What is the function of the digital toolbox? Students explore a variety of tools for creative image making — from drawing and painting to Photoshop, Maya and Flash — often in unexpected combinations. Projects serve as departure points for the discovery and discussion of universal principles of aesthetics and design. Special emphasis will be given to human factors of perception and interaction and the historical context of imagery to communicate.
EMM 530 Causes of Emergence: Programming Languages (lab and seminar)
What is emergence and what role does code have to play in successful applications? The student discovers scripting and programming languages with an emphasis on how they enabled application development. Case studies will investigate models such as Google, Voice over IP, Facebook, World of WarCraft — the languages that were chosen or developed and why. Labs will provide a platform for exploration of fundamental concepts such as scripting, object-oriented programming, event-driven architectures and databases.
EMM 540 Technology as a Disruptive Force (seminar)
In today’s society where our work, fun and personal connections are managed and influenced by technology, have you ever wondered how technology will shape your future? We will explore how technological innovation has been viewed over time by philosophers, writers and sociologists. Which perspectives hold true today? What about present-day perspectives? Do you think they will hold true tomorrow? How do we imagine that society and ultimately our place within it will be affected day-by-day as technology continues to advance?
EMM 550 Human Interfaces (studio and seminar)
What are the physical and psychological constructs shaping human interaction? Students will discover fundamental interaction, communication and design concepts through a myriad of perspectives: dance, music, language, crafts, architecture and engineering. Did mechanical and early computing devices take these into account? Students will explore the evolution of computer interfaces from command line to GUI, from hypertext to hypermedia. Insights gained will be applied to constructing computer-mediated environments that support human interaction.
EMM 560 Digital Storytelling (studio and seminar)
Whether commercially produced or user-generated, storytelling can effectively communicate ideas and construct meaning. Students will explore traditional story structures and how they can find expression in new media and varied outlets — from news, public relations, and advertising — to entertainment, games and such online venues as Web sites, blogs and YouTube postings. Examining the Hero’s and the user’s journey in close detail, students will develop an original story concept and execute it through interactive and/or time-based media.
EMM 570 Experience Design: Play and Participation (seminar)
Networks and computational systems are profoundly changing the essential human experience of communication, participation and play. Design is shifting as control passes from designers to consumers. What underlying characteristics determine engagement and connectivity? How are electronic games and social networks creating new forms to entertain and shape social space? Students examine topics that include computer interfaces as limitations and bridges; identity; participatory media and social engagement; mobility; game genres, mechanics and ecology; and technologies for building games and social networks. The goal is to formulate methodologies for designing interactive experiences that facilitate participation.
EMM 590 People, Place & Community (field class)
Application and integration of technology in the real world varies from community to community — from the digital display at the gas station to the neighborhood Facebook group. How does computational media impact face-to-face interaction? How can it improve outreach for groups such as small businesses and non-profits? How can we design interfaces that integrate with the physical world to create meaning and connection? The student will select a local community and research the challenges facing it and the local technology and connectivity constraints. Assessing this information, the student will propose an emergent media solution that is human-centric and responsive to community.
EMM 600 Puzzles and Prototypes (studio and seminar)
Much like a traditional artist creates quick sketches that influence the masterpiece, students will generate rapid prototypes to explore interactive solutions and games. Working individually or in teams, they will create weekly solutions or iterations to design puzzles posed by current media trends and news events. Prototyping activities will rely on research and testing in the design process. Various methods covered will include paper prototyping, mind mapping, participatory design, mini-game format, agile development, etc. Evaluating pros and cons of methods and results, students will learn to match method to scope and complexity of a design problem.
EMM 580 Collaborative Production I (studio)
In this first of three collaborative production experiences, students identify their strengths, areas for growth, and preferred focuses in media production. With these in mind, they are selectively chosen to collaborate with faculty, student production teams, and sponsors on Emergent Media Center-supported projects. The student participates in a collaborative process in a professional level project. These collaborative project experiences are intended to inform, but not necessarily contribute to the student’s final thesis project.
What is the spirit and goal of the entrepreneur in emergent media? Focusing on the business goals of a project at the Emergent Media Center, the student will focus on needs analysis, cost, capacity, value, budget implications, project planning, iteration, production and collaboration in an applied context. The full semester project engagement will emphasize the convergence of business goals, end-user needs, technology and collaborative leadership.
EMM 610 Our Human Experience: Through the Lens of Neuroscience, Education and Business (seminar)
What is identity, how do we learn, what influences decision-making and emotional responses? The answers to these questions pose new insights that can impact the media design. Ongoing research in neuroscience and changing theories in education and business bring new understandings of what guides human behavior. Students examine the impact of mass communications and newer concepts of online media — such as the collapse of distance, global connectivity and information delivered in short bursts — on identity and how we process information.
EMM 581 Collaborative Production Project II (studio)
The consumer drives emergent media. To create innovation in this landscape, design and communication needs to begin with an understanding of the end-user. Focusing on the goals of a project at the Emergent Media Center, students will conduct qualitative and quantitative research into users’ behaviors, attitudes and expectations. Likewise, they will conduct secondary research into published literature and other sources. Working with the project team, this information will guide the design, production and testing processes.
EMM 620 Integrative Thesis Project I (studio)
Innovation doesn’t spring from a void: ideas are iterative, changing and emerging over time. In this first of two independent studios, the student develops a vision by researching a pertinent problem addressable through emergent toolsets and presenting it to the community for ongoing feedback. Through systematic examination, the student will consider social impacts; develop a project plan; establish goals and objectives; collect and analyze information; and prepare and deliver a conceptual prototype agreed upon by the student and faculty advisor.
EMM 582 Collaborative Production Project III
Producing emergent media forms draws upon the skill sets of a diverse group of talented people. In this final collaborative studio students learn to facilitate, manage and implement the creative process. They will take on the roles and responsibilities associated with project leads and project managers, effectively communicating with partners, sponsors and the student production teams. In these roles students become key decision makers and strengthen abilities in describing strategic creative and production decisions.
EMM 621 Integrative Thesis Project II (studio)
Students will complete production and post-production of the project prototyped in Thesis I. They will develop and conduct a user-test of the prototype. Based upon test outcomes and knowledge gained through development, the project plan will be re-evaluated and production will continue. During the final faculty review the student will exhibit and defend the work, submitting a written thesis.
Public Relations student work