Program Overview
Digital Culture, MA
The Master of Arts program in digital culture is geared toward practitioners of design and the arts who have an interest in engaging in scholarly knowledge creation at the intersection of computational arts and sciences and seek to enhance their practice through expanded engagement with interactive and embodied media theory and design.
Program Description
The degree program allows artists and designers to explore new avenues for real-time media creation that seek to go beyond current paradigms. The School of Arts, Media and Engineering educates the next generation of learners and empowers them with technofluency --- its development, application, and implications --- and prepares students to be socially aware, critically thinking global citizens who strive to bring about positive change in a society that will be increasingly shaped by new technologies.
At a Glance
- College/school: Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
- Location: Tempe
- STEM-OPT extension eligible: No
Degree Requirements
33 credit hours including the required applied project course (AME 593)
- Required Core (12 credit hours)
- AME 520 Movement and Computing (3)
- AME 530 Philosophy of Media Technology (3)
- AME 531 Experimental Media Philosophy (3)
- AME 532 Creating Interactive Media (3)
- Electives or Research (18 credit hours)
- Culminating Experience (3 credit hours)
- AME 593 Applied Project (3)
Admission Requirements
- General university admission requirements: All students are required to meet general university admission requirements.
- Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
- Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in one of the following areas from a regionally accredited institution: arts, humanities, design, media studies, computer science, engineering, or a closely related field.
- Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.
- All applicants must submit:
- graduate admission application and application fee
- official transcripts
- letters of recommendation
- portfolio
- statement of purpose
- writing sample
- proof of English proficiency
Tuition Information
When it comes to paying for higher education, everyone’s situation is different. Students can learn about ASU tuition and financial aid options to find out which will work best for them.
Application Deadlines
- Fall:
- Session | Modality | Deadline | Type
- Session A/C | In Person | 03/07 | Final
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the MA program in digital culture go on to careers in areas such as:
- acoustics research
- communications
- graphic design
- marketing
- mobile development
- sound design
- 3D modeling
Research Areas
Students admitted to the MA program in digital culture can explore:
- critical media theory --- philosophical technologies, speculative design
- engineering --- social and embedded design, system engineering
- experiential media --- interaction design, responsive environments
- machine learning --- artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality
- science --- mediated rehabilitation, public participation in science
- sensory --- food design and sensory science, somatic and movement studies
- sound design --- digital composition and performance, acoustic ecology
- sustainability --- sustainability and critical climate studies, urban climate infrastructure