The School of Interactive Arts and Technology proposes an undergraduate degree program that consists of four streams: Performance and Media Arts, Interaction Design, Digital Media Environments, and Arts and Design Technology.
The first year of this program, TechOne, will be operated as a foundation year program administered by the Faculty of Applied Sciences in conjunction with the School. Revisions to TechOne are being prepared separately.
The following statement is taken from the draft Academic Plan, School of Interactive Arts and Technology prepared by T. Calvert on 8 December, 2003. It is, in essence, the mission statement developed by the faculty in December 2002.
The School of Interactive Arts and Technology integrates arts, sciences, and information technologies to foster innovative applications of new computer technologies that respond to our wider socio-cultural context. Our Undergraduate, Masters and PhD programs produce students with skills, leadership and vision. We promote the ability to analyze social, cultural, economic, aesthetic, and ethical effects of computational technologies and networked systems, alongside the ability to implement them. Our approach is designed to be broadly inclusive, and is informed by strengths in technology-mediated teaching and learning, and management for a knowledge-based economy.
Faculty and research students at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology maintain strong research profiles. Ambitious collaborative research projects with national and international partners occur in four CFI/BCKDF funded research labs. Our interdisciplinary approach to research and teaching creates synergies with many existing programs at Simon Fraser University. By recognizing these partnerships and allowing for multiple crossover points between our School and others, we promote effective interdisciplinarity and expand the scope of education and research.
The School of Interactive Arts and Technology is unique in Canadian higher education. Graduates from our graduate and undergraduate programs will understand technologies and their contexts. They will meet a growing need in the provincial and national economies for technologically literate individuals who are also able to think critically. Through our extensive team-based learning, students will be prepared to work collaboratively with colleagues from diverse backgrounds. Our graduates will fill important roles in industry, arts, design, and government. Many will pursue graduate studies.
Among the several interconnected goals for the School that are described in this Plan, the following are especially pertinent to the proposed undergraduate program:
Create a place of … learning that integrates science and art through innovation in computer mediated systems.
Develop leading edge curricula that integrate digital art, design, performance, cultural studies, networking, computing for physical systems, software development, engineering, entrepreneurship, and knowledge management.
Provide graduates with breadth and depth that blends scholarship with practical experience
Explore collaborative approaches to research and curriculum development thereby building communities of reflective practice.
Foster innovation in learning by creating an environment that accommodates change via computer-mediated and face-to-face instruction, while respecting traditional methods.
Generate powerful synergies between curriculum evolution and faculty research.
Promote an environment of equal opportunity, diversity, gender equality, and academic freedom and exploration.
The program described in this proposal is intended to implement these goals.
Until now, SIAT has offered Information Technology and Interactive Arts programs, the latter divided into Performance & Media Art and Interaction Design streams. Now the Information Technology program is being phased out and will be replaced, in part, by a new Art and Design Technology program. The other two streams, meanwhile, have been extensively revised, and out of that work has evolved a new, related stream: Digital Media Environments.
The School of Interactive Arts and Technology offers a general program leading to a BSc and BA degree with major or honors in Interactive Arts and Technology. Students seeking the major or honors elect one of four streams: Performance and Media Arts, Interaction Design, Digital Media Environments and Arts and Design Technology.
All streams in the program share a fundamental concern with people using technology in context. Each draws from distinct patterns of scholarship and thinking—each has its own academic emphasis, which leads directly to its particular pattern of study and set of graduate outcomes.
Performance and Media Arts is based on an artistic
emphasis within the field of Interactive Arts and Technology. In
the PMA stream, the interpretation and expression of human
experience is explored through interactive technological
environments. This stream combines critical theory with artistic
practice to produce artworks in the form of installation,
performance and exhibition. Its graduates will create new forms of
cultural and artistic expression in our technologically
mediated society.
Interaction Design examines the relationship between people and technology with the intent to enhance or improve our environment through a reflective design process that incorporates interactive technologies. The fundamental graduate outcomes are a combination of creative action and critical thought that shape the way people make and use highly interactive products, systems and environments.
The Digital Media Environments stream is concerned with the creation, analysis and understanding of digital media. Digital media environments are both computational artifacts and cultural experiences. They are therefore highly emergent phenomena that are deeply rooted in historical, social, aesthetic, and economic processes. Graduates of this stream will be skilled in the making and in the critical analysis of new media forms such as electronic games, digital video, computer animation, and interactive multimedia.
Arts and Design Technology studies technological systems used by people in work, learning and play situations. Its emphasis is on system-building with particular emphasis on how people use systems, how to program user-centred systems and how to represent and reason about the objects and environments that people use. Its graduates will be able to make systems that people find useful and engaging.
The streams achieve their ends by a common curricular structure. Each has a set of signature courses taken by all students in the stream aimed at producing specific graduate outcomes. Each has rings of progressively less restricted electives giving students access to distinct pathways of study around their chosen stream. There is significant sharing of course content among the streams, especially within the electives. Even within the sets of required courses, there is overlap reflecting the fact they are all part of a common School. These include the TechOne Foundation Year, three second year courses and the fourth year, six credit Graduation Project.
The sections that follow contain more detailed information about the individual streams. Each is followed by that area’s course requirements. The number of upper level credits that count towards the major range from 33 to 42, depending on the stream and on the choices that students make among the electives available in each.
Within each stream are required core courses, stream-related electives, SIAT-wide electives and free electives to be taken from courses outside of SIAT. In should be noted at the outset that wherever a list of elective courses is presented, the actual offerings in any given year will be less than those shown. This is in recognition of the obvious constraints that will be imposed by limited human and financial resources. It is nonetheless expected that the courses listed will be rotated over time to give students maximum opportunity to pursue their own interests within the overall design program.
Entry to all streams requires the completion of 24 credits of SIAT-approved TechOne courses, or (by permission) a comparable set of courses.
Students applying for entry into the Arts and Design Technology stream must take MATH 151 (or equivalent), or MATH 101 to satisfy their TechOne math requirement.
Students applying to any other stream may take any Math or MACM course from this set.
Performance and Media Arts is based on an artistic emphasis in Interactive Arts and Technology. The interpretation and expression of human experience within interactive technological environments is framed through a dialogue of artistic practice. This stream will focus on research, practice and theory of Performance and Media Art leading to demonstrated proficiency in the areas of interactive performance, creative process, interface design, interactive environments and installations, interactive games, wearable technologies and/or other ambient technologies. The stream strives to provide a balanced understanding of the artistic, cultural, social and technical issues affecting the relationship between people and rapidly evolving interactive environments. This approach will be grounded in the application of creative and design processes relevant to contemporary interactive arts practice, experience-focused methods and innovations in the area of physical computing.
The Digital Media Environments, Interaction Design, and Art & Design Technology streams share a focus with aspects of the Media and Performance Art stream. Shared courses and expertise will facilitate these common foci through building interdisciplinary knowledge and practices. Common foci include the construction of interactive environments, collaborative methodologies, understanding of creative and reflective practice, interface design, computer programming, engineering of mobile, wearable and ubiquitous environments, web-centric practices and interdisciplinary practices. The DME, ID and A+DT streams will be a major source of electives for the Media and Performance Art stream. The PMA stream will, in turn, offer elective options to students from within and outside SIAT. Students from the PMA stream will provide a focus on art practice to balance the social, cultural and technical aspects of collaborative technology-based projects.
Graduates will be able to create effective interactive environments, experiences and live performances through the application of creative processes and skills with interactive technologies. Graduates will know how to work effectively in interdisciplinary team contexts on the creative development and application of interactive technologies through the use of collaborative and organizational knowledge and skills. Graduates will demonstrate conceptual, technical and artistic expertise. They will be able to balance the artistic, social, cultural and technical implications of developing interactive performances, environments, systems and products through critical reflection and analysis. Finally, they will be able to assimilate and respond to the needs of our rapidly changing and technologically-driven environment through an understanding of the field of performance and media art as well as its impacts on society.
Graduates of the Performance and Media Art stream will be leaders in interactive performance, media art, physical computing, interaction design, interactive product research & development, multimedia design, web design, interactive game design, and art direction & production.
Students must complete all of the following courses from TechOne:
Tech 100-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication I
Tech 101-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication II
CMPT 120-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming I*
CMPT 125-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming II*
IAT 100-3 Systems of Media representation
IAT 101-3 New Media images
IAT 103-3 History and Theory of Technology and Culture
An approved MATH or MACM elective
*CMPT 126-3 may be substituted for these.
Plus all of:
IAT 200-3 Cognition for Design Science
IAT 201-3 Usability in Interactive Environments
IAT 202-3 Programming Multimedia
IAT 204-3 Encoding Media Practice
And three lower division media electives (List1)
And one lower division cultural theory elective (List 2)
Students must complete all of:
IAT 301-3 Computational Media
IAT 320-3 Body Interface
IAT 321-3 Kinesthetic Space
IAT 322-3 Interactive Performance & Installation
IAT 323-3 Issues in Performance & Media Studies
IAT 400-6 Graduation Project
IAT 413-3 Structure & Narrative
IAT 420-3 Exhibiting Interactive Installation
And two of:
IAT 411-3 Wearables & Natural Mode Interfaces
IAT 412-3 Ambient Technologies
IAT 421-3 Practice-Based Research for Art & Design
IAT 480-3 Special Topics
In addition to the above, students must take sufficient unspecified upper division courses to complete a minimum of 45 credit hours, and unspecified courses at any level to total 120 credit hours overall.
The sum of all the courses in the program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
The Interaction Design stream will prepare students to work effectively as future designers who will address the requirements of a new generation of interactive systems, services and events that are designed from the outset to address the needs of real people in everyday situations.
The course curriculum is structured to balance the social, cultural, aesthetic and technical issues that surround the potential offered by advanced technologies with the practical realities of prototyping and user field testing to ensure solutions adequately address human centered concerns. Core competencies in human-centered design, designing with interactive technology, design theory and interaction design process and skills lead to specialty strengths in ambient technologies, interactive products, wearable computing and interactive environments. These skills are built through the learning of design-related cognitive science, human computer interaction, communication in design, experience design, human factors and human-centered design methods. Design principles are addressed in such course offerings as: interaction design, experience design, design research and new trends in design. Students will acquire prototyping abilities based on a combination of media, computational and visualizing skills in order to analyze, model, and design complex interaction situations. Throughout the curriculum we emphasize the central role consumers or users play in the design process.
The Digital Media Environments, Performance and Media Arts, and Art & Design Technology provide electives and complementary experiences for Interaction Design students. Shared courses and faculty expertise build interdisciplinary knowledge and practices.
Graduates will be able to create effective interactive experiences through design. In doing so, they will develop important secondary skills: understanding interactive technologies, working effectively in team-based environments and realizing the social implications of their designs. More specifically, a graduate in interaction design will demonstrate proficiency in: designing interfaces, developing a design process, analyzing interactive products & systems, and in assessing interactive environments, interactive games, and ambient technologies.
Graduates of Interaction Design will be leaders in interactive product research and development, context-based experience design, multimedia design, web design, interactive game design, art direction, and project management. They will be well-prepared for leadership responsibilities and for further professional/academic study in related disciplines.
Students must complete all of the following courses from TechOne:
Tech 100-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication I
Tech 101-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication II
CMPT 120-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming I*
CMPT 125-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming II*
IAT 100-3 Systems of Media representation
IAT 101-3 New Media images
IAT 103-3 History and Theory of Technology and Culture
An approved MATH or MACM elective
*CMPT 126-3 may be substituted for these.
Plus all of:
IAT 200-3 Cognition for Design Science
IAT 201-3 Usability in Interactive Environments
IAT 202-3 Programming Multimedia
IAT 230-3 Design of Digital Environments
IAT 231-3 Visualizing Interaction
IAT 232-3 Prototyping and Human Factors
And one lower division cultural theory elective (List 2)
Students must complete all of:
IAT 330-3 Design History Applied
IAT 331-3 Interaction and Reception
IAT 332-3 Experience and Interaction Design
IAT 333-3 Design praxis: Practice and Methodologies
IAT 400-3 Graduate Project (6 credits)
And six of the following:
IAT 334-3 Design for Ubiquitous Computing
IAT 335-3 Interaction in Environments
IAT 336-3 Advanced Modeling and Prototyping
IAT 337-3 Foundations of Game Design
IAT 338-3 Programming Prototypes
IAT 410-3 Advanced Game Design
IAT 411-3 Wearable and Natural Mode interfaces
IAT 412-3 Ambient Technologies
IAT 413-3 Structure and Narrative
IAT 430-3 Design Research
IAT 431-3 Advanced Topics in Interaction Design
IAT 432-3 New Trends in Design
IAT 480-3 Special Topics
In addition to the above, students must take sufficient unspecified upper division courses to complete a minimum of 45 credit hours, and unspecified courses at any level to total 120 credit hours overall. The sum of all the courses in the program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
The Digital Media Environment stream is concerned with the creation, analysis, and understanding of digital media. Digital media sits at the intersection of computation and culture. As a consequence digital media artifacts, environments, and experiences are emergent phenomena. The DME stream recognizes that this state of emergence is, and will continue to be, an ongoing characteristic of digital media. At the same time, we see that digital media are deeply rooted in historical, cultural, social, and economic processes. Our approach combines the creation of digital media art with the understanding of media artifacts and environments within broader cultural contexts.
This stream is complementary to the Interactive Design and the Performance and Media Art streams. The three streams share specific courses, skills and processes, and a common commitment to the importance of both creation and understanding. Jointly, the three streams define a comprehensive look at the design and the experience of computational art and media. The situation of these streams within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology provides a strong framework for the technological and social foundations of all three streams.
Graduates of the DME stream will be accomplished in a range of digital skills, including the use of image and sound, interface and interactive design, the application of encoded media practice, and the construction of networked environments and communities. DME students will produce works in a variety of media disciplines, including sound works, still images, moving images, digital animations, virtual and data worlds, simulations, and games. Each graduate will demonstrate fundamental skills in all these disciplines, and will be required to produce exemplary works that combine higher order conceptual and production skills. They will be accomplished in the organizational and technical skills needed to plan and create digital media productions. At the same time, they will be able to analyze and discuss their own and other works within a broader cultural and social context. Finally, they will be capable of incorporating new and emergent digital media skills and capabilities within their own ongoing practice.
Graduates of the DME stream will build careers in a wide range of interactive multimedia design and production areas, including digital media production, game design, web development, and the construction of virtual networked environments.
Students must complete all of the following courses from TechOne:
Tech 100-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication I
Tech 101-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication II
CMPT 120-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming I*
CMPT 125-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming II*
IAT 100-3 Systems of Media representation
IAT 101-3 New Media images
IAT 103-3 History and Theory of Technology and Culture
An approved MATH or MACM elective
*CMPT 126-3 may be substituted for these.
Plus all of:
IAT 200-3 Cognition for Design Science
IAT 201-3 Usability in Interactive Environments
IAT 202-3 Programming Multimedia
IAT 204-3 Encoding Media Practice
MATH xxx-3 (under consultation with the MATH Dep.)
And two lower division media electives (List1)
And one lower division cultural theory elective (List 2)
Students must complete all of:
IAT 301-3 Computational Media
IAT 312-3 Foundations of Game Design
IAT 345-3 Immersive Environments
IAT 400-6 Graduation Project
IAT 410-3 Advanced Game Design
IAT 413-3 Structure & Narrative
MATH xxx-3 (under consultation with the MATH Dept.)
And two of:
IAT 340-3 Advanced Sound Interaction
IAT 341-3 Digital Photography II: The Fabricated Image
IAT 343-3 Advanced Moving Images
IAT 344-3 Advanced Computer Animation
And one upper division cultural theory elective (List 2)
In addition to the above, students must take sufficient unspecified upper division courses to complete a minimum of 45 credit hours, and unspecified courses at any level to total 120 credit hours overall. The sum of all the courses in the program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
Position Statement
Students in the Arts and Design Technology stream study technology in the context of people. The stream makes three educational commitments beyond those of a general scientific university degree: people, space and programming. By people we mean the study of how people use technology to learn, think, and play. Space identifies the physical and virtual environments in which people act. Programming is the design and development of systems in the context of people and space, and is the primary mode in which students work.
The stream curriculum meets these commitments with several mandatory components (the items the text classify the courses in the table on the next page): (1) lower division breadth requirements introducing historical, media and technological contexts; (2) four courses in people and their use of technology; (3) four courses in mathematics; (4) three courses in the mathematical and symbolic representation of space; (5) six courses in programming and (6) two project-oriented courses integrating all of the stream components. Constant practice in programming in context is provided in many courses (item 7). In addition, the stream electives provide in-depth study of particular technology types and issues in technology oriented to people.
The Digital Media Environments, Performance and Media Arts, and Interaction Design streams provide electives for Arts & Design Technology students. Shared courses build common ground for interdisciplinary work. Students will be prepared for coursework in several other SFU academic units.
Graduates of this stream will be able to think critically and act creatively in developing technology for people. They will have a fundamentally scientific outlook, tempered by exposure to other academic traditions. Graduates will have specific competencies as follows: to develop and evaluate technologies that support learning, thinking and play; to represent virtual and physical environments; to design and evaluate human-computer interfaces and other highly interactive systems; and to work effectively on technology projects requiring interaction with participants from diverse backgrounds. We expect that the core skills acquired by students will be broadly marketable and of particular value in creative industries.
Arts and Design Technology graduates will be well-prepared to design, implement and evaluate systems for people, including: multimedia systems, interactive products, web sites, computer games, online learning systems, and computer-aided design. They will be well-prepared for leadership responsibilities and for further professional/academic study in related disciplines.
In the table below the numbers in parentheses at the end of each course refer to the similarly numbered course categories in the summary above.
Students must complete all of the following courses from TechOne:
Tech 100-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication I (1)
Tech 101-3 Fundamentals of Teamwork & Communication II (1)
CMPT 120-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming I* (5)
CMPT 125-3 Introduction to Computer Science & Programming II* (5)
IAT 100-3 Systems of Media representation (1)
IAT 101-3 New Media images (1)
IAT 103-3 History and Theory of Technology and Culture (1)
*CMPT 126-3 may be substituted for these.
Plus all of:
CMPT 225-3 Data Structures & Programming (5)
MACM 101-3 Discrete Mathematics I (3)
MATH 151-3 Calculus I (3)
MATH 210-3 Calculus for Design Science (3) [subject to approval]
MATH 232-3 Elementary Linear Algebra (3)
IAT 200-3 Cognition for Design Science (2)
IAT 201-3 Usability in Interactive Environments (2)
IAT 202-3 Programming Multimedia (5)
IAT 210-3 Project Management (6)
IAT 251-3 Spatial Computing (4, 7)
Students must complete all of:
IAT 350-3 Conceptual Modeling (5)
IAT 351-3 Modeling the User (2, 7)
IAT 352-3 Web Technology (5)
IAT 353-3 Signal Processing for Multimedia (4, 7)
IAT 354-3 User Interaction (2)
IAT 355-3 Visualization (4, 7)
IAT 400-6 Graduation Project (6)
And three of:
IAT 356-3 Game Programming (4, 7)
IAT 357-3 E-Learning Systems (2, 7)
IAT 450-3 Multi-Media Product Development (2, 4, 7)
IAT 451-3 Advanced Computer Games (4, 7)
IAT 452-3 Networking Technologies (7)
IAT 453-3 Accessible Systems (2)
IAT 454-3 Computational Design (4, 7)
IAT 455-3 Mobile Communication (4, 7)
IAT 458-3 Problems in E-Learning (2, 7)
IAT 459-3 Modeling for Virtual Reality (4, 7)
In addition to the above, students must take sufficient unspecified upper division courses to complete a minimum of 45 credit hours, and unspecified courses at any level to total 120 credit hours overall. The sum of all the courses in the program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
The Performance and Media Arts Stream, the Interaction Design Stream and the Digital Media Environments stream include courses that appear on one or another of the following Lists.
List 1 – Media Electives:
IAT 241-3 Computer Animation
IAT 242-3 Moving Images
IAT 243-3 Sound Interaction
IAT 244-3 Digital Phototography I: Post Photography
List 2 – Cultural Theory electives:
IAT 203-3 Cultural Icons & Popular Arts
IAT 206-3 Media Across Cultures
IAT 313-3 Electronic Culture
IAT 413-3 Special Topics in Media and Culture
Or approved alternate courses
Students may include among their free elective choices any of the following, subject to the University’s distribution and graduation requirements:
IAT 208-3 Drawing as Inquiry
IAT 209-3 Critical and Creative Thinking
IAT 480-3 Special Topics in Interactive Arts and Technology I
IAT 481-3 Special Topics in Interactive Arts and Technology II
IAT 482-3 Directed Studies
Or any other IAT course for which they have the required prerequisites
Or any SFU course for which they have the required prerequisites
Degree Requirements
Normally students completing a Major in Interactive Arts and Technology will be awarded a BA degree. Students who have completed the science related courses listed below may request the award of a BSc degree.
For award of a BSc degree, the courses elected should include the following:
Four lower division MATH or MACM courses
CMPT 120-3 Introduction to Computer Systems or equivalent
CMPT 125-3 Introduction to Computer Programming or equivalent
CMPT 225-3 Data & Program Abstraction or equivalent
IAT 251-3 Spatial Computing or equivalent
Plus a combination of 27 upper division credits, chosen from upper division Arts and Design Technology courses or from upper division courses in Computing Science, Engineering Science, Kinesiology or any Science discipline.
An honors degree in Interactive Arts and Technology is available in all four streams: Performance and Media Arts, Interaction Design, Digital Media Environments and Arts and Design Technology.
Identical to the Major for all streams.
For all streams students must complete the requirements for a Major plus additional IAT electives for a total of at least 48-50 upper division IAT credit hours.
Honors students may choose to elect IAT 490-6, Honors Research Project. This is an individual research project open only to honors students.
In addition to the above, students must take sufficient unspecified upper division courses to complete a minimum of 60 upper division credit hours, and unspecified courses at any level to total 132 credit hours overall.
For graduation a 3.0 or better GPA is required on four measures: CGPA, UDGPA, IAT GPA and IAT UDGPA.
The sum of all the courses in the program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
A minor in Interactive Arts and Technology is available – this is not specific to any stream.
Students must complete all of the following courses from TechOne:
IAT 100-3 Systems of Media representation
IAT 101-3 New Media images
CMPT 120-3 Introduction to Computer Systems
CMPT 125-3 Introduction to Computer Programming
At least one of:
MATH 151-3 Calculus I
MATH 232-3 Elementary Linear Algebra
MACM 101-3 Discrete Mathematics I
Plus all of:
IAT 200-3 Introduction to IAT I
IAT 201-3 Introduction to IAT II
for a total of 21 credits.
Students must complete 15 upper division IAT credits. It should be recognized that some upper division courses have lower division prerequisites.
The sum of all the courses in any degree program must also satisfy the University’s writing, quantitative skills and breadth requirements.
Arrangements for the work experiences are made through the school's co-op coordinators and the University's Office of Co-operative Education.