The Digital Technology and Culture Program offers a major and a formal minor. Additionally, students pursuing a BA in the Humanities or a BA in Social Sciences can select the DTC as a primary or secondary area of concentration.
In all cases, the DTC Program teaches students to conceptualize interactive, multimedia applications of computer technology and think critically about digital media and the ways humans interact and engage with them. At the completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Technology and Culture, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate competency with computers for designing and distributing digital works in various mediums for effective human-computer interactions.
2. Synthesize media forms for multimedia contexts.
3. Employ the principles of visual form for sophisticated image manipulation.
4. Understand the production and assessment of media objects.
5. Know the basics of information architecture and knowledge management along with ways digital information can be structured for retrieval and archival for different purposes and audiences.
6. Question the way digital media functions in multiple cultural contexts.
7. Recognize various forms of language processing and their implications for media authoring.
8. Appreciate the history of technological development, from local to global perspectives, and its implications for a variety of mediums.
9. Utilize an interdisciplinary perspective in order to understand the basics of social, economic, and education changes brought about by digital media.
10. Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums.
The Digital Technology and Culture Major
The DTC major offers 24 credit hours of core courses as well as 12 credit hours in one of three tracks: Media Authoring, Informatics, and Culture and Technology. While some courses are specifically designed as DTC courses, many come from such disciplines as Anthropology, Business, Computer Science, English, Fine Arts, History, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology so that students receive a well-rounded education in culture as well as in digital technology.
Along with exploring the theories underlying digital technology, DTC students can gain experience in areas such as web design, animation and video production, database management, live interactive performance, game development, and digital installations/exhibits.
In the last year of the program, students choose between an Internship or Senior Seminar. Both are aimed at enhancing skills for careers involving digital technology or preparation for further graduate study.
The following are the Course Requirements for the BA in Digital Technology and Culture. A downloadable document of this plan is availabe in the Links section of this website.
Part I. Core Courses (24 Credits)
1. Students take all of the following (15 credits)
DTC 355 Multimedia Authoring
DTC 375 Language, Texts, & Technology
DTC 475 Digital Diversity
DTC/ENGL 356 Electronic Research & the Rhetoric of Information
FA 331 Art, Science, and Technology
2. Students take three of the following (9 credits)
ANTH 350 Speech, Thought, & Culture
CS 402 Social & Professional Issues in Computer Science
ENGL 301 Writing & Rhetorical Conventions
ENGL 402 Technical & Professional Writing
FA 332 Introduction to Digital Media
SOC 373 Media, Culture, & Society
Part 2. Concentrations: Students choose one concentration to focus on among three and take 12 credits from those offered
Concentration I: Media Authoring (12 credits)
DTC 335 Digital Animation: Story, Narration, and Production
DTC 338 Topics in Digital Technology & Culture
DTC 477 Advanced Multimedia Authoring
DTC 478 Usability & Interface Design
ENGL 301 Writing and Rhetorical Conventions
ENGL 336 Composition & Design
ENGL 402 Technical & Professional Writing
ENGL 405 Advanced Prof. Writing and Editing
FA 332 Introduction to Digital Media
FA 363 Special Topics
FA 380 History of Photography
FA 433 Print Based Media
FA 434 Time Based Media
FA 435 Interactive Media
Concentration II: Informatics (12 credits)
CS 443 Computer-Human Interface
MIS 322 Systems Analysis & Design
MIS 350 Managing Information Systems
MIS 372 Data Management Systems
MIS 374 Telecommunications and Networking in Business
MIS 375 Electronic Commerce & the Internet
Concentration III: Culture & Technology (12 credits)
DTC 338 Topics in Digital Technology & Culture
DTC 476 Digital Literacies
ANTH 301 Arts and Media in Global Perspective
ANTH 330 Origins of Culture & Civilization
ANTH 350 Speech, Thought, and Culture
CS 402 Social & Professional Issues in Computer Science
ENGL 401 History of Rhetoric
HIST 400 History in Media
HIST 483 Technology and Social Change
HUM 304 Humanities in the Modern World
POL S 317 Media & Politics
PSYCH 492 Psychology of Language
SOC 373 Media, Culture, and Society
SOC 430 Society & Technology
Digital Technology and Culture Minor
A student may certify in a DTC minor after the completion of 60 semester hours. I minimum of 18 semester hours of course work is required for the minor from the following courses:
DTC 355 Multimedia Authoring
DTC 375 Language, Text, and Technology
FA 331 Art, Science, and Technology
and three courses from the following choices:
ANTH 350 Speech, Thought, & Culture
DTC 475 Digital Diversity
DTC 356 Electronic Research & the Rhetoric of Information
DTC 478 Usability & Interface Design
ENGL 301 Writing and Rhetorical Conventions
DTC 336 Composition & Design
ENGL 402 Technical & Professional Writing
ENGL 405 Advanced Prof. Writing and Editing
FA 332 Introduction to Digital Media
FA 363 Special Topics
FA 434 Print Based Media
SOC 373 Media, Culture, & Society
SOC 430 Sociology and Technology
Primary Concentration
The primary concentration requires the completion of at least 24 semester hours of approved DTC course work, including at least 15 upper division semester hours.
Secondary Concentration
The secondary concentration requires the completion of at least 15 semester hours of approved DTC course work, including at least six upper division semester hours.
