Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]

Integrated Media Arts, B.F.A.


Integrated Media Arts balances the technical knowledge of time-based media with an awareness of the role of the artist and their impact on our culture. The program integrates courses in video art production, animation arts, digital imaging, creative computing, digital fabrication, interactive projects and web-based art, with a conceptual grounding in Visual Culture. It provides a breadth of exposure and introduces the potential of the integration of these genres common to contemporary art practices.

IMA focuses on developing a creative artistic practice that is driven by ideas, supported by a versatile skill set, with an openness to combine traditional arts and older technologies with new media in an atmosphere of discovery and collaboration. The major builds on familiar traditional art forms with digital time-based media in both experimental and practical applications. We seek independently minded, non-traditional students that are intellectually curious and inventive in their approach to art making and who are willing to experiment and take risks in unfamiliar territory.

Integrated Media Arts students are encouraged to develop new forms of art production by seeking cross-disciplinary collaborative opportunities. These exist within the departments of the Hartford Art School and across the University with The Hartt School’s Departments of Composition and Dance, the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture, and the Cinema Department in the College of Arts and Sciences. We encourage students to seek connections to other areas on their own initiative.

Foundation Year (Art School)


All first-year students are required to complete the foundation program. It consists of multiple courses taken in tandem. These courses are designed to introduce the students to fundamental processes and principles of artmaking. The objective of the program is to develop the student’s perceptions, sensitivity and technical skills.

The typical first-year schedule is as follows:

Spring Semester (17 credits)


Second Year of Study (Art School)


In the second year, students are required to select courses from a variety of studio offerings. The intent of the second year is to introduce specific media skills and processes in depth, and to provide a broad range of artistic experiences for the student prior to the declaration of the major. During the second year, students are required to select one 3-credit course, not in their intended major, from each of the following categories:

1. ceramics or sculpture
2. painting/drawing, or visual communication design
3. photography or media arts
4. printmaking or illustration

The remaining 12 credits of studio course work in the second year are elective. Students who have determined a major area of study are encouraged to use these elective studios to begin fulfilling the requirements of the major. Students who have not determined a major are encouraged to distribute these electives among different media.

Second-year students intending to major in visual communication design or illustration should consult with those departments prior to choosing studio electives in the second year.

In addition, students in the second year are required to elect at least one academic course each semester in order to maintain a reasonable completion rate of academic requirements.

Required credits: 33