Master's Program

The MA in Digital Art History/Computational Media is designed for graduate students focused on the study, creation, and use of digital media and computation in the arts and humanities. It is offered by the Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies in partnership with the Information Science + Studies Program.

The Digital Art History track of the MA is related to the Wired Lab for Digital Art History & Visual Culture and focused on the furtherance of Art Historical research with new technologies, while the Computational Media track of the MA is related to the core CMAC Labs led by the CMAC core graduate faculty. Both tracks of the MA explore research and presentation strategies enabled by the information sciences, new approaches to computational processes, and new forms of interpreting quantitative and qualitative data.  The goals of the MA program are for students to understand the critical affordances and potential of digital media, to develop competencies in data-driven and computational approaches to knowledge production, and to develop a hybrid theory-practice MA thesis that demonstrates their expertise in action around a particular subject.

Digital research and production methods undertaken in the program may include:

  • data driven analysis and visualization
  • interactive/relational database design and search methodologies
  • interactive publishing  and storytelling techniques
  • generative forms of text, visuals and music production
  • media art and new forms of physical interface
  • virtual and augmented reality systems and games
  • complex systems analysis
  • new approaches to interface exploration and design
  • physical computing and interactive systems development

The program’s skills-centered instruction, combined with the requirement for lab affiliation and collaborative research and the emphasis on theoretical analysis, will produce graduates who not only have hands-on know-how and technical skills but who have developed a sophisticated understanding of informational globalization and our rapidly changing world.

Our MA graduates have gone on to positions in instructional technology, PhD programs, and museums. International students may be eligible for Optional Practical Training visa extensions to work in the USA after graduation. 09.0702 (STEM) effective 1/1/19.

Application to the Digital Art History/Computational Media MA program is through the Duke Graduate school process. Visit their website for instructions, deadlines, and forms.