Curriculum for Interactive Narrative for Games & Digital Media Degree

Students will explore systems in the public, social, and economic realms with application to fields related to social sciences and human services. In this interdisciplinary class, we will examine how systems define, create, and share knowledge. We will explore the commonalities across systems as well as unique viewpoints. We will consider the impacts of implicit and explicit aspects of systems on people and institutions within society through artifacts, practices, policies, and social structures.

There is a difference between what science is, its history and meaning, and what science does through experimental and applied practices. This interdisciplinary course invites students to examine how scientific knowledge is defined, constructed, and communicated. Students will critically analyze different examples of science in society to understand how science shapes and is shaped by culture, power, and people. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to evaluate the ways in which science reflects and transforms the world around us.

This course introduces students to the notion of creative work as knowledge work-unique ways of understanding the world through the arts, design, humanities, and media. Drawing on diverse creative work, including their own, students will explore the potential for varied creative practices and tools to make meaning and how systems-political, economic, cultural-influence what people can make and whether it holds value. Students will also learn to apply critical frameworks in examining the world of creative expression and cultural production.

Students will explore intersecting policies that form and impact the global contexts from which knowledge and culture emerge in fields related to social sciences and human services. They will examine the complex relationships between power structures while applying analytical methods from these fields. Students will analyze the progression of policy development with current practices in fields related to social sciences and human services.

In this course, students will examine how historical forces have influenced the emergence of creative technologies and cultural production. They will learn to apply critical frameworks, including theories, to explore how power structures have intersected with popular appeal to alternately foster and limit creative innovation and expression. Students will also explore the dynamic nature of global culture, investigating how aesthetic ideas and creative practices have developed, spread, and influenced artists and creative production over time.

Students will explore contemporary questions and challenges that practitioners face in fields related to social sciences and human services. Students will examine their positionality in relationship to contemporary and emerging challenges in their respective fields. Students will generate innovative possibilities by connecting frameworks, theories, and interdisciplinary methods.

This course equips students with interdisciplinary tools and methods to analyze and respond to complex, real-world problems. Drawing on diverse frameworks and theories, students will explore how their own identities and experiences shape their understanding of contemporary issues. Emphasis is placed on synthesizing knowledge across fields to develop innovative, contextually relevant solutions. Students will communicate their insights effectively through a range of expressive modes tailored to varied audiences and purposes.

The course provides students with opportunities to develop specialized projects in art, humanities, and media production. Students will apply critical frameworks, including theories, and use interdisciplinary methods to explore how culture is shaped by popular appeal, innovation, and mechanisms of power. Students will work individually and collaboratively to bring creative work-narratives, images, multimedia forms-and rigorous scholarship to complex challenges in varied contexts.

What exactly IS interactive narrative? Find out what it means to write for interaction through learning the basics of creating branching story, across a variety of media. You'll play and analyze some of the best narrative games in the video game canon, and redesign museum exhibits for better immersion and interaction. Talks and feedback from industry professionals will help you hone your narrative skills; you'll also dive into some of the history of interactive story and performance.

Prepare for professional work in interactive narrative in this rigorous but fun class, where you'll completedo actual on-the-job projectsassignments to hone your skills and get your creativity flowing. We'll analyze important games and interactive works, learn industry tools and create works to build your narrative portfolio.

Interactive Narrative II builds on the concepts, tools and skills from Interactive I. In this course you'll create narrative structures beyond simple branching, as you gain a deeper understanding of narrative design theory. You'll hone your player-facing writing skills to write professional-quality dialogue and text. Projects in this class will challenge you to complete real-world assignments on time and to specifications. You'll gain proficiency with industry-standard tools and bring your analysis, critique and revision skills to a professional level. This course provides a strong foundation for the Advanced Seminar and eventual work in the field.

This course explores how interface design shapes user experiences across digital platforms. Students learn fundamental UX and interaction design principles by examining how interfaces enable or constrain navigation, storytelling, and user engagement. Through hands-on projects using industry-standard tools-from websites and mobile apps to games and digital installations-students develop skills in user-centered design thinking, prototyping, and critique while understanding how thoughtful interaction design creates meaningful, accessible, and engaging experiences.

This course introduces students to the work of writing creatively, encouraging them to become more attentive readers, as preparation for their own growth as writers. We'll survey a range of literary texts, developing a deeper understanding of how creative genres work, what parameters structure them, and how they might be deployed in our own writing. Students will experiment within their own fiction, poetry, and nonfiction writing. The bedrock of our class will be peer review, so students can read and learn from each others' work.