Major Requirements

General Information

Digital Media Studies (DMS) is a 14-course interdisciplinary major that introduces students to thinking about and making digital media through iterative refinement as they develop and reflect on what they produce and consume.

DMS is where students collaborate to use digital media and solve real-world problems. We emphasize experiential, community-engaged learning for all students. Whether you identify as an artist, a storyteller, a programmer, a designer, or a developer, you can find your home in DMS.

Students can use their DMS major to satisfy either the humanities or the natural science divisional area requirement. Students choose their divisional area when they declare their major. Seven of a DMS major’s fourteen courses must be in the divisional area they declare.

Information for interested students

Students interested in pursuing a Digital Media Studies major are strongly encouraged to begin their coursework with the program’s core courses:

  • DMST 101: Introduction to Digital Media Studies
  • DMST 102: Programming for Digital Media
  • DMST 103: Essential Digital Media Toolkit
  • DMST 104: Design in the Digital Age

Students do not need to take these courses consecutively. In fact, many students take them out of sequence.

DMS’s core courses are offered in both fall and spring semesters. Students must complete at least two of these courses before they can declare a DMS major.

Students are encouraged, but not required, to complete their core coursework before the end of their sophomore year. The major is flexibly designed, and students are welcome complete their production and media theory electives concurrent with their core coursework.

Capstone Requirement

The DMS major culminates in a yearlong capstone project which must be completed during a student’s senior year. The capstone has two prerequisites:

  • DMST 103: Essential Digital Media Toolkit (must be completed by the end of sophomore year)
  • DMST 200W: Digital Portfolio (must be completed by the end of junior year)

Advising

If you have questions about the DMS program or would like to schedule an advising meeting, please reach out to the undergraduate program manager.

Required Courses

Students are required to complete the DMS major as follows.

Introductory Courses (Four Courses)
  • DMST 101: Introduction to Digital Media Studies (H)
  • DMST 102: Programming for Digital Media (NS)
  • DMST 103: The Essential Digital Media Toolkit (H)
  • DMST 104: Design in a Digital Age (NS)
Technology/Production Courses (Four Courses)

Select four courses from the list below dealing with the production of digital objects or experiences using relevant technologies:

Note: This section should total 16 credit hours. If students choose a 2-credit course from the list below, it should be paired with an additional 2-credit course. Any courses that appear in both the technology/production and media history, theory, and practice requirements may be used toward the requirements for either component, but not both.

Archaeology, Technology, and Historical Structures

  • ATHS 299G: Digital Archaeology of Heritage Structures of West Africa (Divisionally neutral)

Audio and Music Engineering

  • AME 120 Synths, Samplers, and Drum Machines (NS)
  • AME 140: Introduction to Audio Music and Engineering (NS)
  • AME 191: Art and Tech of Recording (NS) (DMS students may take AME 191 only in fall semesters.)
  • AME 193: Sound Design (NS)
  • AME 194: Audio for Visual Media (NS)
  • AME 196: Interactive Music Programming (NS)
  • AME 242: Critical Listening and Audio Production (NS)
  • AME 244: Music for Visual Media (NS)
  • AME 247: Audio for Game (NS)
  • AME 262: Audio Software Design I (NS)
  • AME 264: Audio Software Design II (NS)

Computer Science

  • CSC 131: Recreational Graphics I (NS)
  • CSC 170: Introduction to Web Development (NS)
  • CSC 171: Introduction to Computer Science (NS)
  • CSC 172: Data Structures and Algorithms (NS)
  • CSC 186: Video Game Development (NS)
  • CSC 210: Web Programming (NS)
  • CSC 212: Human-Computer Interaction (NS)
  • CSC 214: Mobile App Development/Android Mobile App Development (NS)
  • CSC 242: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (NS)
  • CSC 249: Machine Vision (NS)

Digital Media Studies

  • DMST 115: Video Games as Interactive Storytelling (H)
  • DMST 120: Video Game Design (NS)
  • DMST 171: Graphic Design 1 (H)
  • DMST 175: Introduction to User Experience Design (H)
  • DMST 210: Digital Imaging: Transforming Real into Virtual (NS)
  • DMST 251/CASC 251: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (NS) [Occasionally offered]
  • DMST 272: Graphic Design 2 (H)

Engineering and Applied Sciences

  • EAS 141: Basic Mechanical Fabrication (2 credits) (NS)

English

  • ENGL 277: Screenplay Writing (H)

Film and Media Studies

  • FMST 161: Introduction to Video Art (H)

History

  • HIST 246/HIST 246W: Digital History (SS)*
  • HIST 285/HIST 285W: Digital History: Virtual St. George’s (SS)* [Occasionally offered]

*Upper-level writing qualified course. These can substitute for an upper-level writing course in the Media History, Theory, and Practice component of the major. Please note that if you plan to use this course for upper-level writing, you MUST register for the W section.

Mechanical Engineering

  • ME 103: Loudspeaker Design (NS) [Occasionally offered]
  • ME 110: Intro to CAD and Drawing (2 credits) (NS)

Optics

  • OPT 101: Introduction to Optics (NS)

Studio Arts

  • SART 141: Introduction to Photography (H)
  • SART 151: New Media and Emerging Practice 1 (H)
  • SART 242: Advanced Photography (H)
  • SART 244: Expanded Photography (H)
  • SART 252: New Media and Emerging Practice 2 (H)
  • SART 262: Advanced Video Art (H)
Media History, Theory, and Practice (Three Courses)

Select three courses dealing with the theories, aesthetics, and history of particular media or involving performative media-related practices.

You will need at least one course that covers the deep pre-digital history of a particular medium from the following list:

  • AHST 128: Modern Art (H)
  • AHST 137: Introduction to Modern Architecture (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 242: History of Photography: 1839-1915 (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 285: History of Photography II (H)
  • AME 240: History of Sound Recording (NS)
  • DMST 271: History of Graphic Design (H)
  • ENGL 118: Introduction to Media Studies (H)
  • JPNS 207: Film as Object (H)
  • MUSC 134: Styles and Genres: Introduction to Music History (H)

Select two media history, theory, and practice courses of your choice from the lists below, one of which must be upper-level writing qualified (as denoted with an asterisk).

Art History

  • AHST 100: Introduction to Visual and Culture Studies (H)
  • AHST 101: Introduction to Art and Visual Culture (H)
  • AHST 206: American Independent Film (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 212: What Photo Is (H)*
  • AHST 240: Topics in Contemporary Art and Critique: Warhol (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 253: Film History: 1929–1959 (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 254: Film History: 1959–1989 (H)
  • AHST 308: Art and Imitation (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 317: Street Photography (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • AHST 319: Material Culture (H) [Occasionally offered]

Digital Media Studies

  • DMST 110: Video Game History (H)
  • DMST 115: Video Games as Interactive Storytelling (H)
  • DMST 250/WRTG 261: Writing in a Digital World (H)*
  • DMST 260: Writing Across Technologies (H)
  • DMST 261W: Extended Reality, Communication, and the Metaverse (H)

English

  • ENGL 117: Introduction to the Art of Film (H)
  • ENGL 132: Feature Writing (H)
  • ENGL 134: Public Speaking (H)
  • ENGL 138: Journalism Case Studies (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 240: Aesthetics (H)
  • ENGL 249: Gender and Language in Literature, Film, and Society (H)
  • ENGL 255: Film History: Early Cinema (H)*
  • ENGL 259: Popular Film Genres (H) (Please confirm specific course title with DMS program)
  • ENGL 260: Film History: 1989–Present (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 261: Film Theory (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 263: Clocks and Computers: Visualizing Cultural Time (H)*
  • ENGL 263: Poetics of Television (H)*
  • ENGL 265: Issues in Film: Documentary and Mock Documentary (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 265: Issues in Film: Family Repression and Rage in Film and Society (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 265: Film Adaptations and Literary Texts: Representing Race (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 265: Race and Gender in Pop Film (H)
  • ENGL 267: Changing Genres of Erotica (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 267: Food, Media and Literature (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 267: Animation and the Arts (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 267: EcoMedia (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 267: Image, Text, and Technology (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • ENGL 283: Media ABC (H) [Occasionally offered]

History

  • HIST 285/HIST 285W: Digital History: Virtual St. George’s (SS)* [Occasionally offered]

Japanese

  • JPNS 219A/JPNS 219W: Tourist Japan (H)* [Occasionally offered]
  • JPNS 292: Anime (H) [Occasionally offered]
  • JPNS 294/JPNS 294W: Hayao Miyazaki and Planet Ghibli (H)*

Music

  • MUSC 123: Music of Black Americans (H)
  • MUSC 125: History of Rock (H)
  • MUSC 130: The Beatles, the British Invasion (H)

Studio Arts

  • SART 151: New Media and Emerging Practice 1 (H)
  • SART 252: New Media and Emerging Practice 2 (H) [

*Please note that if you plan to use this course for upper-level writing, you MUST register for the W section.

Digital Applications (One Course)

Beginning with the Class year of 2022, students will be required to complete the Digital Application course prior to their senior year in order to move along in the DMS Senior Capstone course, DMS 372.

DMST 200W: Digital Portfolio (Divisional neutral)

  • Students in the 2021 class year
    • May still use WRT 260/DMS 250 as their Digital Application Requirement
    • Are eligible to complete DMS 200W during the spring semester of senior year
Capstone (Two Courses)

For their capstone experience students plan, design, construct, and deliver a digital media object of significant scope. Working as a team, they deploy their collective knowledge, skills, and expertise to undertake an external client's proposal and/or devise a project of their own design.

  • DMST 372: Capstone: Design (H) [Only offered in fall semesters]
  • DMST 373: Capstone: Development (NS) [Only offered in spring semesters]
Upper-Level Writing Requirement

Upper-level writing requirements are satisfied through the Digital Applications course, the Capstone, and one additional upper-level writing course taken in the media history, theory, and practice track.

Art New York Program

Art New York is an internship program that is exclusive to the University of Rochester—and is the learning experience of a lifetime! It immerses you in the stimulating art environment of New York City, the global hub of the contemporary art scene and a major center for the exhibition, conservation, and trade in artworks.

Art New York is a three-course sequence, two of which can count toward your DMS major requirements:

Technology/Production Courses (4 credits)

  • SART 300: Art New York New Field Studio (H)

Media History, Theory, and Practice Courses (4 credits)

  • SART 301: Art New York Colloquium (H)

DMS students who are interested in Art New York should contact the DMS program director for permission. Upper-level writing designation depends on the nature of the student’s Art New York project, which will be determined after reviewing the student’s work.

For more information and to apply, please visit the Art New York page.