Digital Art Minor in Computer Science

(approved by vote of the Faculty of the College, 24 Mar 04)

We propose a new minor in Computer Science, designed to accommodate the increasing number of students who desire both grounding in studio art and the technical expertise to express their art through digital media requiring mastery of the underlying principles of computer science.

This minor consists of the equivalent of six 4-credit courses, equally balanced between Computer Science and Art.

Three Computer Science courses are required. The CSC 102+105 sequence on the Internet and Web design provide the essentials of employing the Internet and the Web for artistic purposes; CSC 111 Computer Science I includes a more systematic introduction to computer science, and the basics of programming; and CSC 240 Computer Graphics gives an introduction to the principles and potential of graphics, 3D modeling, and animation. (Students with the equivalent of CSC 111 in high school would be required to substitute CSC 112 instead.)

Three Art courses are required. ARH 101 will provide the grounding necessary to judge art within the context of visual studies. ARS 162 Introduction to Digital Media introduces the student to design via the medium of computers, and either ARS 263 Intermediate Digital Media or ARS 361 Digital Multimedia provides more advanced experience with digital art.

#	Dept	Number	Title	Credits	Prerequisites
1	CSC	102	How the Internet Works	2	<none>
	CSC	105	Interactive Web Documents	2	CSC 102
2	CSC	111	Computer Science I	4	<none>
	CSC	112	Computer Science II	4	CSC 111
3	CSC	240	Computer Graphics	4	CSC 102, CSC 111
4	ARH	101	Approaches to Visual Representation	4	<none>
5	ARS	162	Introduction to Digital Media	4	<none>
6	ARS	263	Intermediate Digital Media	4	ARS 162
	ARS	361	Interactive Digital Multimedia	4	ARS 162

Computer Science will modify one course slightly, and one course substantially, to accommodate the potential new clientele:

1. CSC 111 Computer Science I currently focuses almost solely on the C programming language. Our department will broaden the course to introduce programming languages more generally, touch on more than just one language, and in general serve as a broader introduction to computer science.

2. CSC 240 Computer Graphics requires a more substantive alteration. Currently it has fairly stiff prerequisites (Computer Science II, Discrete Mathematics, Calculus, and Linear Algebra recommended). Our plan is to change the course to be taught in two tracks at once, by altering the weekly assignments to accommodate both those with the requisite Math and Computer Science background, and those without. (We have experience teaching several other courses in dual tracks like this.) The course might be designed around the challenge of building an interactive computer game.

These changes are being implemented in Fall of 2004.

Finally, we anticipate that, on an ad hoc approval basis, substitution for one or more of the required courses would be permitted by various relevant Five-College courses, including those in the partial list below.

School	Number	Title
Hampshire	CS 0174	Computer Animation I
Hampshire	CS 0334	Computer Animation II
UMass	ART 397F	Digital Imaging: Offset Litho
UMass	ART 397F	Digital Imaging: Photo Etchg
UMass	ART 397L	Digital Imaging: Offset Litho
UMass	ART 697F	Digital Imaging: Photo Etchg
UMass	EDUC 591A	3D Animation and Digital Editing
UMass	CMPSCI 397C	Interactive Multimedia Production

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