Digital Studies Concentration

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Digital Studies

Chair(s):

Sarah Purcell

Concentration Committee:

Mark Baechtel
Julia Bauder
Jeremy Chen
Mark Christel
John Garrison
Michael Guenther
Ross Haenfler
Stephanie Jones
Matthew Kluber
David Neville
Mo Petzel
Mirzam Perez
Nick Phillips
Vanessa Preast
Samuel Rebelsky
Elizabeth (Liz) Rodrigues
Erik Simpson
Tierney Steelberg
Nicky Tavares

The Digital Studies interdisciplinary concentration provides a framework for studying the digital practices and cultures that shape scholarly research, creative production, and increasingly large areas of everyday life. The concentration aims especially support thinking and activities that cross disciplinary boundaries, such as developing digital techniques for the creation of art or music, bringing critical theory to bear on digital cultures, or investigating the powers and limitations of algorithmic approaches to textual evidence. Digital Studies concentrators will engage with new research questions arising from digital cultures and methods, creatively employ digital tools and media, and develop the skills that constitute twenty-first century digital literacies.

Concentration Requirements: 22 credits as follows:

Foundation Course - 4 credits chosen from the following:

ENG 240 - Lighting the Page: Digital Methods in Literary Studies 4 credits
HIS 100 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry 4 credits - when taken as Digital History
SMS 154 - Evolution of Technology 4 credits
Special Topics courses as approved by concentration committee

Area Courses: 16 credits from these two areas:*

* Notes:

a. no more than 8 credits from any department
b. no more than 12 credits from any division
c. at least 8 credits from the 200-level or above, and
d. at least 4 credits from each of the two areas

Coding, Data, and Modeling

ANT 291 - Methods of Empirical Investigation 4 credits or the cross-listed SOC 291
CSC 105 - The Digital Age 4 credits
CSC 151 - Functional Problem Solving 4 credits
CSC 161 - Imperative Problem Solving with Lab 4 credits
CSC 205 - Computational Linguistics 4 credits
CSC 207 - Object-Oriented Problem Solving, Data Structures, and Algorithms 4 credits
CSC 214 - Computer and Network Security 2 credits
CSC 232 - Human-Computer Interaction 2 credits
CSC 324 - Software Design and Development with Lab 4 credits
ENV 125 - Introduction to Earth Systems Science with Lab 4 credits or the cross-listed SCI 125
PHY 220 - Electronics 4 credits
STA 209 - Applied Statistics 4 credits
STA 230 - Introduction to Data Science 4 credits
SST 125 - Introduction to Geographic Information System (GIS) Analysis 2 credits
SST 225 - Applied Geographic Information Systems Analysis (GIS) 4 credits

Digital Literatures, Cultures, and Creativity

ART 236 - Print Media 4 credits
ART 246 - Digital Media 4 credits
ART 310 - Advanced Studio: Hybrid Media 4 credits
ENG 346 - Studies in Modern Prose 4 credits
ENG 388 - Writing Seminar: Screenwriting/Television Writing/Variable Genre 4 credits
HIS 100 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry 4 credits - when taken as Digital History and not used as a foundations course
JPN 120 - Japanese Popular Culture and Society 4 credits
MUS 202 - Topics in American Music 4 credits - when offered as “Hip Hop”
MUS 204 - Jazz Traditions 4 credits
MUS 219 - Electronic Music 4 credits
SOC 230 - Mass Media and Society 4 credits
SOC 242 - Deviance and Social Control 4 credits
SPN 312 - Women and Gender in Spanish Literature 4 credits
SPN 314 - Studies in Modern Spanish Literature 4 credits
SPN 385 - Studies in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film 4 credits
SMS 154 - Evolution of Technology 4 credits - if not counted as a foundations course
THD 130 - Behind the Curtain: Performance Design and Technology 4 credits

Culminating Experiences: 2 to 4 credits

Normally consisting of either:

a. completion of a seminar offered to Digital Studies concentrators in their final year at the college
or
b. completion of an independent study course in fulfillment of the Digital Studies public presentation requirement

Public Presentation

A presentation in a class or colloquium, drawing on the Culminating Experience.