[Air-l] digital media courses

Sun Aug 1 17:10:42 PDT 2004

It's interesting to ponder whether multimedia is or is not 'new' media.
Curtin's multimedia program dates back to the late 1980s. In fact, at the
moment, it is being completely renovated (for 2006) simply because it has,
to some extent, fallen behind the 'newness' of new media (not from a
technical point of view...just the conceptualisation of the course which
began life in the school of design).

It is also worth considering how 'new media' is being embedded within
existing courses, rather than being a course of its own. One reason the BA
Internet Studies which Denise so kindly mentioned was set up at Curtin was
precisely because the existing course structure is highly
'professionalised', even within Arts (Curtin is a former institute of
technology). Therefore it wasn't possible to introduce a small number of new
media units that students would do within a liberal art/science degree - a
whole course had to be introduced. Nevertheless, the main student population
for the core units in Internet Studies actually comes from the BA Mass
Communication. One might argue that a well-designed BA Mass Comm might be
the most effective home for 'new media' since those degrees tend to permit
integration of different kinds of media, with units of both
creative/production and theoretical focus.

Side-note: 

australian courses = degrees or programs in US terminology; what we call
'units' are normally referred to elsewhere.

Dr Matthew Allen 
Associate Professor Internet Studies
Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, Humanities
Curtin University of Technology, CRICOS 00301J Australia
m.allen at curtin.edu.au
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/netstudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 9266 3166 (f)
Vice-President, Association of Internet Researchers http://www.aoir.org 
-----Original Message-----
From: Lamoureux, Edward [mailto:ell at bumail.bradley.edu] 
Sent: Sunday, 1 August 2004 7:14 PM
To: Association of Internet Researchers; Association of Internet Researchers
Subject: RE: [Air-l] digital media courses

Bradley University offers undergraduate major and minor BA/BS in Multimedia.

-----Original Message-----
From:	Denise N. Rall [mailto:denrall at yahoo.com]
Sent:	Sat 7/31/2004 9:53 PM
To:	Association of Internet Researchers
Cc:	
Subject:	Re: [Air-l] digital media courses

Dear Lee -

I actually tried to find out the number of Internet Studies courses in 2001.
I came up with about eight "legitimate" courses world-wide by which I mean,
courses that studied the internet rather than studied online or taught web
site production. The vast number were located in Schools of Media, although
a couple of these programs were centered in their own Departments.
Here's a para from a paper I have submitted. Feel free to cite as long as
you reference me!

"Interdisciplinary programs included Internet Studies & Research is fueled
by the growing number of scholars who explore the internet and its users.
Besides the explosion in journals relating to the internet, a number of
centers for Internet Studies have opened at universities.  In 1999, the
Center for Internet Studies (CIS) opened as a clearinghouse for
internet-based research at the University of Washington in Seattle
(www.cis.washington.edu). 
Brandeis University, a liberal arts college was the first to offer an
undergraduate minor in Internet studies.  From 1999, the program had a
director, but classes were taught by staff visiting from other departments
(www.brandeis.edu/programs/inet).  Two more Internet Studies programs that
offer minors have appeared, at the Appalachian State University (part of the
University of Tennessee  system), and the University of Alabama at
Huntsville. The Internet Studies Program at Appalachian State University
started in Fall 2002, and offers an undergraduate major concentration and a
minor in Internet Studies through the Interdisciplinary Studies Department
in the College of Arts and Sciences
(www.internetstudies.appstate.edu) (Norman Clark, pers. comm.).  At
UA-Huntsville, the Internet Studies program expanded from a 'computer
literacy' model adopted from a local community college. It developed into an
interdisciplinary minor across multiple fields of study. Now it is comprised
of a fusion of courses within the fields of graphic design, communication
arts, and information technology (Mike Hubler, pers.
comm.)."

Also in 1997, Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia
started Internet Studies with a single class (unit in Australia) called
Internet 200. The program quickly moved to offer a graduate certificate in
Internet Studies. By 2001, Curtin offered the first Internet Studies BA in
the world.
Currently, it offers certificates, diplomas, and both undergraduate and
postgraduate degrees at the Master's and PhD level
(smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies). [Note that graduate study in Australia and
the UK is called postgraduate study].  Internet Studies at Curtin University
was also one of the first to offer all of their coursework online. The
program is also widely disseminated through an online learning consortium
called Open Learning Australia.  The OLA permits entry to the BA (Internet
Studies) for non-traditional students studying completely off-campus
(Matthew Allen, pers. comm.).

>From 2000, graduate study in Internet Studies was
offered as one area of focus in the graduate programs (MS, MA, PhD) in the
Department of Rhetoric and Technical Communication at the University of
Minnesota. Students interested in Internet Studies are affiliated with the
Internet Studies Center (www.isc.umn.edu). Graduate students seeking full
funding apply through the normal application process; those seeking
additional funding through the Internet Studies Center must submit research
proposals. These proposals are evaluated for their significance in
illuminating some social ramification of internet use (Laura Gurak, pers.
comm.)."

Ok, that's hardly conclusive, just what I found in
2000-2001 timeframe and it's not specifically Media Studies. I would reckon
that almost every major university around the world would have some sort of
media studies program . . . and searching via the web would be difficult,
but interesting! 

Cheers, Denise

=====
Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross
University, Lismore NSW 2480 - Mobile 0438 233 344 Sustainable Forestry
Mentoring Coordinator and Casual Academic for Coastal Resource Management -
Office phone: 6620 3789 Hours: TBA Presenting! AoIR 5.0, Assoc. of Internet
Researchers, Sussex University
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html

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