University of York launches new Interactive Media degree
Posted on 12 June 2013
The new multidisciplinary degree programme, which combines theory and practice, bringing together technical, creative and socio-cultural perspectives on new media systems, interactive technologies and digital culture, will admit its first students in autumn 2014.
The course will allow students to acquire skills in audio and video production, computer programming, graphic design and storytelling, alongside an understanding of the cultural, social and historical impact of interactive media.
The Department sees the course in part as a response to the assertion by Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, that: "Over the past century, the UK has stopped nurturing its polymaths. You need to bring art and science back together."
Students will have the opportunity to create interactive media software, content and products for a variety of platforms and uses, from mobile phones to 3D TV, from games development to web design, from apps to immersive environments, from social media to virtual worlds and from augmented realities to massively multi-player online games.
The degree will be based in the Department’s superb £30m building, which has excellent facilities for creative production, scientific experimentation and live performance. The Department also has excellent links with the interactive media industries.
Charles Cecil MBE, York-based video game designer and co-founder of Revolution Software, said: “This Interactive Media degree offers an ideal grounding for those wishing to work in the digital media industries, which increasingly require people who work with technology from a creative perspective. This is the course that will create the next generation of interactive media stars.”
The degree will be led by two new professors who will join the University in September, Nick Holliman, currently at Durham University, and Marian Ursu, currently at Goldsmiths, University of London.
It’s a really multi-faceted course, bringing together creativity, technology skills and critical thinking
Dr Jenna Ng
Dr Jenna Ng, who recently joined the Department from Cambridge University, said: “I’m delighted to be contributing to the BSc in Interactive Media. Being involved in the development of a new degree that deals with the latest innovations in digital culture has been very exciting. It’s a really multi-faceted course, bringing together creativity, technology skills and critical thinking, and I’m extremely impressed with the range of industry contacts the Department has already developed.”
Prospective students interested in studying for this exciting new degree (detailed content subject to final University approval) should contact the admissions tutor, Dr Gavin Kearney (gavin.kearney@york.ac.uk; 01904 325245), or visit the Department of Theatre, Film and Television’s webpage at www.york.ac.uk/tftv/.
Notes to editors:
- For more information on the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York visit www.york.ac.uk/tftv
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