Curriculum

The curriculum consists of courses covering the technology, theory, creation, and production of performance artworks. Exploration of the collaborative process within a community context, focusing on the intersection of the creative process and contemporary community and cultural issues, constitutes an important feature of the program.

The Interactive Arts program takes a collective approach to teaching and student production. Not only are all Interactive Arts required courses team-taught, all significant student projects are collaboratively conceived and produced.

The Interactive Arts course offerings build on the existing undergraduate and graduate curricula of the six sponsoring departments.

Program requirements

Students pursuing the M.F.A. will complete a total of 46 credits and a significant thesis production which is a collaboration with at least one other matriculated student.

The requirements of the M.F.A. in Performance and Interactive Media Arts are:

1) Seven required Interactive Arts M.F.A. courses:

a) PIMA 701G - Sound, Image, Space, and Performance;
Interactive Media Programming I
30 hours lecture, 45 hours laboratory; 3 credits
(taken in the first semester)
b) PIMA 702G - Artistic Process and Contemporary Community;
Interactive Media Programming II
30 hours lecture, 45 hours laboratory; 3 credits
(taken in the second semester)
c) PIMA 703G - Collaborative Interactive Media Performance
45 hours lecture; 3 credits
(taken in the third semester)
d) PIMA 721G – History, Theory, and Criticism
45 hours lecture; 3 credits
(new course; prerequisite or corequisite PIMA 701 or permission of the director)
e) PIMA 722G – Teaching Practicum
30 hours lecture, 45 hours practical teaching; 3 credits
(new course; prerequisite PIMA 701 or permission of the director)
f) PIMA 723G – Thesis Seminar I
45 hours lecture; 3 credits
(new course; prerequisite PIMA 702 or permission of the director)
g) PIMA 724G – Thesis Seminar II
45 hours lecture, 45 hours independent work; 6 credits
(new course; prerequisite PIMA 723 or permission of the director)

2) Four credits of participation in the experimental performance ensemble, taken in the first two semesters:

a) PIMA 732.1, 732.2 — Experimental Performance Ensemble and Composition
30 hours rehearsal plus independent work; 2 credits
(new courses)

3) Three credits of independent projects in areas such as: video design, video systems design, sound design, sound system design, software design, interface design, sensor building, sound editing, and music for video. Pursued in cooperation with student or professional projects, on or off campus:

a) PIMA 711G – Independent Projects – 1 credit (new courses)
b) PIMA 712G - Independent Projects – 2 credits (new courses)
c) PIMA 713G - Independent Projects – 3 credits (new courses)
d) In the event that a student’s work does not lend itself to independent projects, the student may, with permission of the Program Director, take an additional 3-credit elective course (see below), or up to three additional experimental performance ensemble credits in place of independent projects (see 4f, 4g, & 4h below).

4) Fifteen credits of additional electives chosen from any of the following:

a) PIMA 704G - Independent Investigations in Interactive Media
45 hours lecture; 3 credits
b) Courses currently offered by participating departments and designated as Interactive Arts electives. A list of available courses is published each semester.
c) Graduate-level special topics courses which are appropriate as electives will be structured to integrate with the Interactive Arts curriculum.
d) No more than three credits of additional independent projects (PIMA 711G – PIMA 713G; see above)
e) PIMA 799G – Special Topics
30 hours lecture, 15 hours independent work; 3 credits
(new courses)
and no more than six additional credits of Experimental Performance Ensemble:
f) PIMA 731.1G, 731.2G — Experimental Performance Ensemble
30 hours rehearsal, 1 credit
(new courses)
g) PIMA 732.1G, 732.2G — Experimental Performance Ensemble and Composition
30 hours rehearsal plus independent work; 2 credits
(new courses)
h) PIMA 733.1G, 733.2G — Experimental Performance Ensemble Direction
30 hours rehearsal plus ensemble direction; 3 credits
(new courses)

Transfer Credit

There are two transfer credit scenarios, each with different guidelines:

1. Students previously matriculated in the Advanced Certificate Program in Performance and Interactive Media Arts may transfer up to 18 credits into the M.F.A. Program. Approved Interactive Arts elective courses taken over and above the Certificate requirements can be applied to the M.F.A. track if not already applied to the fulfillment of another degree program’s requirements.

2. Students not previously matriculated in the Advanced Certificate Program in Performance and Interactive Media Arts may transfer up to 9 credits into the M.F.A. Program towards elective credits assuming these courses correspond to approved Interactive Arts elective courses.

Sample four-semester sequence of courses:

First (Fall) semester:
Required: PIMA 701G 3cr. Sound, Image, Space, and Performance; Interactive Media Programming I
Required: PIMA 732.1 2cr. Experimental Performance Ensemble and Composition
Elective: Music U737.1G 3cr. Computer Music I
Required: PIMA 721G 3cr. History, Theory, and Criticism

Second (Spring) semester:
Required: PIMA 702G 3cr. Artistic Process and Contemporary Community; Interactive Media Programming II
Required: PIMA 732.2 2cr. Experimental Performance Ensemble and Composition
Elective: Music U737.2G 3cr. Computer Music II
Independent: PIMA 711G 1cr. Independent Project
Elective: Music U784X 3cr. Seminar in Performance Practices: 20th Century

Third (Fall) semester:
Required: PIMA 703G 3cr. Collaborative Interactive Media Performance
Required: PIMA 723G 3cr. Thesis Seminar I
Independent: PIMA 712G 2cr. Independent Project
Elective: Art 777G 3cr. The Aesthetics of Information

Fourth (Spring) semester:
Required: PIMA 724G 6cr. Thesis Seminar II
Required: PIMA 722G 3cr. Teaching Practicum
Elective: Art 778 3cr. Experimental Video

Curriculum Design

The Interactive Arts curriculum is designed based on the professional artistic experience of the faculty developing the program. It emphasizes conditions which exist in the professional arts and new media world, such as:

the prevalence of collaboration in the creation of new media artworks
the diversity of artistic and professional backgrounds to be found within both long-term and single-project professional collaborative group
the breadth of skills and interests represented in most professional collaborative groups
the importance of community involvement, community venues, and community outreach in the creation of public and performance artworks

The curriculum design reflects these conditions in all of its fundamental structural elements:

most required courses are team-taught
all major student projects are collaborative
nearly one-half of students’ coursework is elective
at least one major project must have a community component.

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