past topics

fall 01
space
narrative
performance
sound

summer 01
body

spring 01
space
vision
performance
science

fall 00
space
vision
performance
sound

spring 00
space
narrative
seminar

Convergent Media courses are a bit different than those you might find elsewhere. History, theory, technology and practice converge in astudio / production environment where students can develop a body of work based on their particular range of interests.

Convergent Media students are typically self-motivated. Faculty avoid the spoon-feeding method and encourage students to develop ideas, questions and design solutions. Questions resolved through practice or by other types of inquiry--theoretical, philosophical, scientific, poetic...

Incoming students should expect to feel stuck, lost, unsure and overwhelmed at various points in their journey. These feelings accompany any worthy creative endeavor--they reveal the abyss that accompanies true learning.

Creating works between the physical world and the virtual world requires a lot of time in the Lab outside of class. Students routinely spend at least ten hours of lab time each week in addition to class time; all-nighters are common. Technical ability increases in proportion to effort. Students are expected to hack and be resourceful. There are many, many online tutorials and resources for various software programs. The idea is to learn as much as possible about everything that flies by, but to focus on specific technologies and seek their subtleties as you need them. Collaborative learning is the key.

Presentation is a large part of anyone's participation in any Convergent Media course. Open discussion, rigorous critique and all-night conversation--these are standard modes in Convergent Media.

Some suggestions for current and / or future students:

If you don¹t know what to make, go look at what other people have made. If you don¹t know what to say, go read something or watch something or listen to someone interesting. If you are still stuck, in all probability you are not making enough stuff to get yourself moving toward a question you can answer through practice or thought. A motto for the Area: Make, make, make. If you arrive disoriented, you will in all probability first be asked what you are making and asked to show evidence of your efforts and research in the direction of your inquiries. Without evidence of effort, substance for critique, there is nothing to build a conversation around.

The Convergent Media Area regularly supports team-taught courses with faculty in many departments across campus. Students are encouraged to take courses in other departments that may fulfill Convergent Media requirements. The Convergent Media Lecture Series, Symposia, Workshops and Visiting Artists further extend the content of Convergent Media courses and curricula.