Program Overview

Introduction to the Bachelor of Arts in Animation and Games

The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology is home to artists, scientists, designers, scholars, and researchers who collaborate to create an exciting and dynamic academic program. Faculty, students, and researchers explore cutting-edge topics through the study of emerging media, artistic production and experimentation with recent technologies, and critical engagement with pressing social issues.

Animation and Games at UT Dallas

Students who complete a BA in Animation and Games receive a thorough grounding in the mutually productive interaction of technology with the arts. Students will study aspects of the visual medium as well as being exposed to the technical side of animation and games while exploring the historical significance. The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology provides multiple creative labs that feature leading-edge technologies and high-performance workstations. Students also have access to a games and media library that holds over 1,000 digital and analog games spanning multiple game platforms including both classics and new releases, and a 24-node, 288-core render farm used by game and animation students. All undergraduate students start their studies with a solid foundation in applied design and a broad overview of the animation and game pipelines. Students interested in pursuing advanced work in a particular area may focus their studies/coursework or choose a more generalized path.

Career Opportunities

Students earning an Animation and Games degree can enter a wide range of fields across many industries. Graduates gravitate toward careers in the fields of entertainment, game design, animation, education, and the medical and science industries.

About the Bass School

The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology addresses the needs of a new generation of artists, performers, and scholars. Bass students learn skills to craft exceptional work in an environment that encourages fluid movement between traditional disciplines and creative expression. Faculty integrate advanced technology with established artistic and research methods, equipping students to tackle pressing challenges. In exciting forms of collaborative and experimental learning at the intersections of arts, humanities, and emerging technologies, Bass students imagine, invent, and create, while preparing to succeed and make a difference in a globally connected world.

Degrees Offered

• Bachelor of Arts: Animation and games, history, Latin American studies, literature, media arts and design, philosophy, professional communication and digital media studies, visual and performing arts
• Master of Arts: Art history, arts, technology, and emerging communication, history, humanities, Latin American studies, literature, philosophy, visual and performing arts
• Master of Fine Arts: Animation, arts, technology, and emerging communication, game development
• Doctor of Philosophy: Arts, technology, and emerging communication, history, humanities, literature, visual and performing arts

Minors Offered

• African American and African Diaspora Studies
• Art History
• Arts Management and Leadership
• Asian Studies
• Audio Production
• Communication Studies
• Creative Writing
• Dance
• Ethnic Studies
• Film Studies
• History
• Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights
• Latin American Studies
• Literature
• Medicine, Arts, Science, and Humanities (MASH)
• Music
• Performing Arts
• Philosophy
• Religious Studies
• Spanish
• Theatre
• Visual Arts

Honors Thesis and Fast-Track Program

The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology honors thesis offers the opportunity for advanced creative and scholarly work and recognition. To earn honors, students must graduate with:

• A minimum of 3.0 graded, upper-division semester credit hours at UT Dallas.
• A GPA of 3.67 in a student's major.
• The completion of an honors thesis or project evaluated by two faculty members with a grade of at least B+.
• Exceptionally well-qualified undergraduates who meet the requirements for admission to graduate school should consider the Fast Track program, which allows them to begin work on a master's degree before graduation. Qualified seniors may take up to 12 credit hours of approved graduate courses during their senior year, which will apply to their undergraduate degree plans.

Additional Facts

• Several faculty members have been awarded prestigious fellowships, including those from the National Humanities Center, Guggenheim, Fulbright, Alexander S. Onassis, and Woodrow Wilson foundations. Others are recipients of the Füst Literary Award, as well as awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• Every year, many of the Animation and Games faculty work on blockbuster projects and with AAA game studios, producing content that is seen or played by millions worldwide.
• The school's centers further enhance students' educational experience by bringing the concept of globalism to campus, by bringing world events into focus through research, and by encouraging innovation and creativity.
• The National Science Foundation recently awarded a major grant to the school's Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology to study the mentoring and education that occurs in science laboratories.