Graduate Program in Digital Futures

(Graduate Diploma and MA, MDes, MFA)

The Graduate Program in Digital Futures is a unique, practice-based program for future innovators, leaders and creators of digital media and new technologies. The program is situated within the Digital Futures Initiative (DFI) at OCAD University, a set of cross-disciplinary programs in practice, research and innovation related to digital media and its emergent developments. The DFI builds on OCAD U's historic strength in digital curriculum and research, providing ongoing innovation and foresight in curriculum, teaching and creative digital practice.

The Graduate Program in Digital Futures offers both a part-time Graduate Diploma and full-time Master’s (MA, MFA or MDes).

Program Guide

Graduates of the program will contribute to the development and application of new knowledge in creative digital technology practices, content and experiences, providing insights into human needs and desires in a technologically dependent world.

The Graduate Program in Digital Futures offers both a Graduate Diploma and Master’s (MA, MFA or MDes). The Master’s is a full-time, practice-based program offered over five semesters. The Graduate Diploma is a course-based, six-semester program offered on a part-time basis (with evening courses) in order to provide flexible study options for working professionals and practitioners.

Graduate Diploma in Digital Futures

The Graduate Diploma in Digital Futures is a part-time, 24-credit program comprising:

• Core courses in digital methods, practices, computation, business creation, innovation and leadership
• Directed digital practice-based research/creation
• Elective courses in three areas:
• Creation and Computation
• Mobile, Social Media and Games
• Data Aesthetics and Visualization
• An intensive Spring course for the creation of a capstone digital project or prototype

Candidates for the Graduate Diploma may be practicing designers and working professionals in fields such as IT, media and communication, entertainment and the cultural industries who wish to augment their skills and knowledge in order to play leadership roles within industry and organizations. Graduates of the program will be well-equipped to take on leadership, management, entrepreneurial and socially responsible roles at local and/or global levels in design and technology, IT, ICT, in the media and communication industries, the entertainment industry, and other cultural industries and organizations.

Master’s in Digital Futures

With its framework of critical thinking and practice, business and innovation studies, computation/computer science and contemporary and emerging digital methodologies, the Master’s in Digital Futures will develop practice-based and scholarly research in technologically advanced design, art and digital media.

The Master’s is a full-time 48-credit program comprising:

• Core courses in digital methods, research, theory and practice
• Foundational courses in computation, business creation, innovation and leadership
• An intensive digital project and prototyping course
• Individual research and creation overseen by a Principal Advisor and Supervisory Committee
• Summer internship or study abroad
• Elective choices

A creative digital thesis project and supporting paper (MFA and MDes) or a written thesis and minor supporting creative project (MA). Students entering the program will have strong disciplinary expertise in an area of media art, design, engineering, computer science, technology and/or the social sciences, as demonstrated by an undergraduate degree and ideally several years of relevant work experience. Students will declare their intention to pursue the Master of Design (MDes), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), or the Master of Arts (MA) at the time of application. The outcomes of the chosen degree are distinctive, with a focus on scholarly practice-based research creation with a supporting thesis in the MDes/MFA; and the scholarly research thesis with a supporting creative project in the MA

Graduates of the Master’s program will be poised to play leadership roles in research and development concerning media and communication technologies, in the arts and education sectors, in the cultural industries and entertainment, and in government and the voluntary sector. With their creativity, practice-based research skills and ability to navigate complex systems, graduates will be well positioned to engage in meaningful dialogue and informed critique of crucial issues of technology and society, and prepared to make important contributions towards socially transformative change.

Objectives:

The objectives of the part-time Graduate Diploma in Digital Futures are:

• To educate innovators and leaders in digital technologies wishing to augment their knowledge of digital technologies and their implications for future development and opportunities across a wide range of professions and industries. Students will be encouraged to develop strategic technologies and applications that create sustainable value, and address pressing societal issues pertinent to their particular area of interest in the public, private, industrial, governmental or voluntary sectors.
• To educate and train artists, designers, and IT professionals to formulate and design innovative digital applications, products and services.
• To enable students to imagine creative practical responses to complex societal issues through the development and deployment of digital technologies and media.
• To promote an ethical and sustainable approach to design and the innovative uses of technology.

The objectives of the full-time Master’s in Digital Futures are:

• To educate innovators and leaders in digital media and technologies. Students and graduates will contribute to the development and application of new knowledge in digital technology practices, content and experiences, providing insights into human needs in a technologically mediated and dependent world.
• To provide systematic and conceptual understanding and the methodological competence needed to research, frame, critique, explore, make and test new methods of technological innovation, creation and production.
• To integrate disciplinary knowledge from computer science, design, art, the social sciences and humanities, communication and technology with relevant knowledge outside of these fields in an interdisciplinary approach which facilitates a critical awareness of current problems and affords new insights.
• To build competence in research processes in the critical analysis of questions, problems and issues within the fields of technology and digital media.
• To enable students to develop the intellectual independence needed to navigate complex problems through the study of digital media/technologies, digital design and art methodologies, digital new media theory, and their historical precedents and contemporary applications.
• To promote an ethical and sustainable approach to research, design and creative uses of technology in the pursuit of humane and innovative social change.

Key Features of the Graduate Program in Digital Futures:

• A unique partnership with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) Media Lab, whose established, critically acclaimed post-graduate residency in digital media production will be integrated into both the Master’s Degree and Graduate Diploma programs. This unique collaboration will afford students the opportunity to engage in an Intensive Project/Prototyping Spring Institute held at the MaRS Discovery District.
• The cohort-based Digital Media Immersion which kicks off the program with a full two-week grounding in digital futures, providing an introduction to the program and a foundation in the current state of digital practices, along with team building and leadership skills development.
• The opportunity for an Industry/Research Internship, a term placement with a local, national or international industrial media/technology industry or business. The internship provides students with industry and research opportunities to integrate the knowledge learned in first-year seminars with real world digital media business and production.
• Participation in the annual Digital Media Producer-in-Residence program that brings internationally renowned practitioners in digital technologies and digital media production to OCAD U and the CFC Media Lab for a one-week residency during which they conduct seminars and work directly with students on their projects.
• International exchange opportunities with partner institutions in Europe, India and South America.
   

• Top

Last Modified:1/24/2012 12:57:31 PM

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

• HOME
• SITE MAP
• RSS
• CAREERS
• WEB POLICY
• REPORT A BUG