The cross-campus, interdisciplinary discussions that led to the creation of the Digital Media Studies undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Denver began in the Fall of 1994. Early conversants included faculty members from Communication, Business, English, Engineering, Computer Science, Art, Anthropology, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Languages and Literatures, and many more. This eclectic group wrestled with this central question: “In what ways, if at all, should our disciplines and departments respond to the theoretical, curricular and pedagogical challenges posed by increasing digitization?”

As the conversations progressed over the next 18 months, a curricular vision began to develop and a core group of individuals emerged. With approval and support from senior administrators at DU, faculty members from the School of Communication, the School of Art and Art History, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, the Department of English, and the Department of Engineering worked to develop a curricular approach that recognized the interdisciplinary and integrative challenges posed by the increasingly broad reach of digital media.

What came to light was the need for a curriculum based on three distinct, yet interconnected, areas of study: aesthetic, technical and critical/cultural. The cross-disciplinary mandate became obvious – no single unit, discipline, facility or department could effectively deliver undergraduate and graduate programming across all three areas. It also became obvious that not only would the new programs require non-traditional approaches to curriculum design, they would also need to be developed and supported through non-traditional administrative structures and support facilities.

The Board of Trustees at the University of Denver gave fi nal approval in the Spring of 1996 to launch cross-disciplinary B.A. and M.A. programs in Digital Media Studies. Overseen by a part-time director (tenured member of the faculty) and a faculty committee made up of representatives from Art, Communication and Computer Science, the DMS program is now in its 9th year of operation. Enrollments grew very quickly in the early years of the program. There are now 100-120 undergraduate majors and 20-30 graduate students.

The DMS curriculum has expanded to include more than 40 different courses, many offered only through DMS and many offered as cross-lists with traditional departments. At the undergraduate and graduate level DMS courses and requirements are grouped into three areas: design, technical and critical. All undergraduates are required to take foundation courses in each area.

• Design: Introduction to Visual Meaning, and Fundamentals of Design.
• Technical: Technical Foundations of Digital Media.
• Critical: Critical Approaches to Digital Media.

Graduate students are required to take graduate-student-only courses in Digital Design Concepts, a two-course sequence in Technical Foundations of Digital Media, Critical Approaches to Digital Media, a DMST Research Methods course, and then complete an M.A. Project or Thesis.

Students (both graduate and undergraduate) are also required to take at least one additional course in each of the three areas. Examples in the design area include Identity and Branding, Net Art and Design, Digital Video Art, Typography, Designing Social Awareness, Site-Specifi c Design, etc. Examples in the technical area include Introduction to Interactive Media, Web Building and Site Management, 3D Modeling and Animation, Field Production and Editing, Digital Audio Production, Web Application Development, Authoring Tools, Rich Internet Applications, Advanced 3D Modeling and Animation, etc. Examples in the critical area include Innovations in Mass Communications, New Media Law and Regulation, Computing and Society, Advanced Critical Approaches, Religion and Contemporary Media, Seminar in Internet Communication, Designing Digital Learning, Digital Noesis Seminar, Heidegger Seminar, etc. While most DMS classes are cross-listed with one of the three main units of Art, Communication and Computer Science, some of the critical courses are cross-listed with Human Communication Studies, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Education, and English.

The DMS program is administered with its own distinct budget, which includes tenure-track faculty lines, the adjunct and overload pool, technology, faculty development, support staff, marketing and promotion and supplies and expenses. The DMS director manages the budgets, class schedules, facilities (development, maintenance and upgrading), recruiting and marketing, alumni relations, fund raising and grant writing, community outreach, study abroad, and curriculum development. There is also a director of graduate studies within DMS who reports to the DMS director and manages all aspects of the graduate program. A full-time Director of Internships within the School of Communication coordinates all DMS internships.

The facilities available to DMS students include three primary computing classrooms (2 Windows, 1 Macintosh), two 24-hour student access labs (1 Windows, 1 Macintosh), 6 non-linear video editing suites, and one digital audio suite. DMS students also are able to check out cameras, light kits, audio gear, etc. from both the Mass Communications Department and the School of Art and Art History.

Graduates of the bachelorʼs and masterʼs programs have gone on to productive careers in various aspects of digital media: multimedia production, graphic design, educational technologies, online journalism, advertising and marketing, web development, corporate communication, law enforcement, fi lm and video production, and some have started and continue to maintain their own digital media companies.

There are great advantages to a cross-disciplinary design/technical/ critical approach, and there are also signifi cant challenges. Strengths include the benefi ts of the dialectic tensions between traditional disciplines and emergent ones, making both stronger together than they would be by themselves. This approach improves communication both to and from traditional disciplines, and innovation can emerge from both within a traditional discipline and from the “outside.” This multi-faceted cross-disciplinary approach also provides students with solid foundation for building their own advanced digital practices.

However, the cross-disciplinary approach is more complex. It requires diverse functional relationships that must constantly be reinforced and reconstituted. A program like this does not fi t neatly into established structures at the University. The tenure and promotion processes are, at this time, untested. Given that faculty appointments are made to traditional departments, more work needs to be done to ensure that DMS priorities are honored as the candidates are evaluated for tenure and promotion. It is also diffi cult to achieve meaningful integration among the distinctly different areas of design, technical and critical approaches.

As Digital Media Studies approaches its 10th year of existence, some important questions loom. What might be lost or gained as various curricular and institutional approaches are reifi ed and replicated? More importantly, should Digital Media Studies aspire to achieve “discipline status” and, therefore, more institutional legitimacy? Or should it continue to operate as a meta-discipline responsive to the constantly shifting sands of the digital landscape?