“We are moving to an era where computing is defined not just by the processes that form the core of it, or the connectivity that surrounds it, but by its ability to create worlds, express emotion, and affect our culture and daily lives. Games and media can be at once both entertaining and thought-provoking, exciting and educational. The unprecedented ability of interactive media to captivate an audience means that, as a new medium of human expression, we are only beginning to understand what it is capable of.”
-IGM Faculty, 2009.
The Department of Interactive Games & Media is proud to offer a timely and relevant curriculum that comprehensively addresses a wide array of topics related to media-centric computing. The IGM Department offers three degrees spanning two academic programs. The department offers the Bachelors of Science in Game Design & Development, the Masters of Science in Game Design and Development, as well as the Bachelors of Science in New Media Interactive Development.
Game Design & Development
RIT was one of the first traditional universities to offer a four-year, comprehensive degree in game development. As described by the faculty in the degree documentation:
“The Bachelors of Science in Game Design and Development defines a program of study that allows students to explore the entertainment technology landscape as well as other related areas, while still pursuing a broad-based university education. The program focuses its technical roots in the Computing and Information Sciences disciplines.
Simultaneously, the program exposes students to the breadth of development processes through involvement in topics such as game design, design process, and animation. [...] The degree is intended specifically for students that aspire to hold careers within the professional games industry or a related field such as simulation, edutainment or visualization, and focuses on producing graduates that understand the technical roots of their medium, the possibilities that creative application of software development affords, and the way in which their industry operates. This degree also provides students with a core computing education that would prepare them for graduate study in a number of computing fields, and employment in more general computing professions.” (RIT BS GD&D documentation to NYSED, 2007).
The Masters of Science in Game Design and Development provides a graduate experience for student with pre-existing technical skills and a desire to focus their computing background in games or a similar field. The MS degree tends to lend itself to experimental exploration of the topic at hand, where students are often working in a research context to explore new paradigms of interaction and media production.
New Media Interactive Development
The department also offers the Bachelors of Sciene in New Media Interactive Development, in conjunction with its sister program, the Bachelors of Fine Arts in New Media Design & Imaging offered by the College of Imaging Arts & Sciences.
“Students demonstrate special interest and capabilities in areas requiring communication and problem solving skills. Drawing from RIT’s strengths in information technology, graphic communications, design, and imaging, our new media program offers a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary education preparing individuals to lead the collaborative development of dynamic, interactive, media-rich content.” (NMID Program Overview for Employers, Aug 2008).
This degree program has long emphasized creative processes and skills, and has had strong links to the College of Imaging Arts & Sciences since the inception of the IT department.
Academic Minors
In addition to the degree programs above, the department also offers academic minors to students in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing & Information Sciences, and the Institute at large. These include the Minor in Game Design & Development, as well as the Minor in Game Design. We welcome the opportunity to work with students in this capacity, as it not only offers them the chance to explore media-centric computing with us, but also enriches our own majors through multi-disciplinary interaction with their peers from across the entire campus.
