What Will You Learn in the Digital Media Program?

The Master of Science in Digital Media is a 45-credit program completed over two academic years and six quarters. The curriculum provides a balanced approach to creative, technical, and critical learning, allowing for specialization in the second year while maintaining flexibility for both full-time and part-time students, including those under F-1 and J-1 visa regulations. Students may take elective courses in their second year in areas within or outside the Digital Media program. These electives are in addition to the 45-credit program requirements.

Students gain hands-on experience with emerging tools for real-time rendering, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), AI-enhanced workflows, and interactive storytelling. Whether building animated worlds, designing playable experiences, prototyping interfaces, or analyzing the ethical impact of media technologies, graduates are prepared to contribute meaningfully to a rapidly evolving field.

The curriculum is adaptive by design, evolving alongside emerging technologies and faculty expertise. Students engage with cutting-edge tools while building a strong foundation across the program’s three core domains. In the final year, students choose between a Capstone Project or a Research Thesis.

Digital Media students develop an integrated skill set across creative practice, technical production, and critical inquiry. The curriculum is organized around three domains:

Art & Design

Students explore digital aesthetics, narrative structures, visual communication, and experimental media through hands-on studio courses.

You’ll gain experience in:

• Visual storytelling and concept development
• Experimental and speculative design
• Interactive narrative design
• Digital art, animation, and world building
• Creative problem-solving and prototyping

Technology

Students build technical proficiency across industry-standard and emerging platforms, including:

• AR/VR, spatial computing, and immersive systems
• Real-time rendering and game engines
• Interactive media and UX design
• AI-enhanced workflows and generative tools
• Software tools for animation, simulation, and interface development

Critical Thinking

Students learn to evaluate the ethical, cultural, and social implications of digital media, with emphasis on:

• Media theory and cultural analysis
• Ethics in AI and automation
• Social impact of emerging technologies
• Data privacy, digital equity, and accessibility
• Research methods for creative and scholarly inquiry

Capstone or Thesis

The Capstone or Thesis is a critical element of the MS in Digital Media program. In the second year, students choose between two culminating experiences based on their academic interests and career goals. Both options allow students to demonstrate mastery of digital media skills, though they differ in focus and format.

Students complete one of the following:

• Capstone Project: A professional, production-focused digital media artifact
• Research Thesis: A scholarly research project contributing new knowledge to the field

Capstone Project

The Capstone Project is the recommended path for most students, particularly those planning to enter professional practice in digital media. This option emphasizes applied learning and allows students to create a digital media artifact that showcases their technical, creative, and critical abilities. The project is accompanied by reflective documentation detailing the design process, challenges, and outcomes.

Key features include:

• Practical, hands-on focus: Students develop a digital media product such as a game, interactive experience, animation, immersive project, or digital tool.
• Reflective documentation: A written analysis evaluating decisions made throughout the development process and overall project success.
• Industry relevance: Projects may be completed in collaboration with industry partners or through internships.

Research Thesis

The Research Thesis is designed for students interested in research or academic careers. This option emphasizes original scholarly inquiry and requires students to contribute new knowledge to the field of digital media by exploring theoretical questions or developing new methodologies.

Key features include:

• Rigorous academic research, including literature review, research design, data collection, and analysis
• Original scholarly contribution to digital media theory or practice
• Close faculty mentorship throughout the research process

For additional information, please speak with the Program Director or the Westphal College Academic Advising Team.