New Media Major Requirements

The minimum number of credits required to graduate is 120 with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 is required in the major and New Media majors must have a “C-” or better in each required course in their major. New Media majors must complete a minimum of 48 credit hours in New Media courses. All courses required by the New Media degree program must be taken for a grade; courses taken pass/fail will not count. In addition to New Media degree program requirements, students must meet any graduation requirements set forth by the University, such as General Education course requirements, and any requirements required by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

For the first two years as a New Media Major, students acquire a common foundation that exposes them to key themes in the history and theory of creative technologies and provides them a firm grounding in the essential tools and techniques of digital creativity, from digital design and video production to coding and 3D fabrication.

Six category courses in the second and third year cultivate breadth and depth in areas of the student’s choosing. Majors choose a pair of courses from both technical and perceptual classifications (Categories 1 and 2) and then follow with two advanced courses (Category 3). Numerous New Media elective courses are also available in the program.

New Media majors are encouraged also to apply new media strategies and techniques to other fields, including within their required Minor. Students must complete an approved minor in some department outside their home program. For a listing of Minors, see https://catalog.umaine.edu/ > select current catalog > select in right menu Majors and Minors. Minors typically require 18-21 credit hours.

Along with a third-year course in community collaboration and development, a year-long, six­ credit senior capstone completes the BA. Here, students conceive, design, produce, and launch an advanced new media project that must incorporate an innovation in expression, application, development or implementation. Among past capstone projects have included those creating and incorporating experimental documentary, feature, and animated videos, mobile and wearable apps, community-based storytelling, interactive games and installations.

Each New Media Major is strongly recommended to have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air laptop capable of performing essential functions that are taught in core New Media courses. Purchase of additional hardware and software may be necessary depending on each student’s specialized interests. Minimum specifications for new media computers are available by consulting Appendix A of the SCIS Common Use Labs in Boardman Hall Lab Manual.

New Media Courses (16 courses = 48 credit hours):

Foundation Requirements:
Students must take all of the following courses:

One of the following courses:

NMD 105 – Creative Coding I (3 cr) (Recommended)
COS 120 – Introduction to Programming I (3 cr)
COS 125 – Introduction to Problem Solving Using Computer Programming (3 cr)
COS 220 – Introduction to C++ Programming (3 cr)

Project-Based Requirements:
Students must take all of the following classes:
NMD 306 – Community Collaboration and Development Credits: 3
NMD 498 – New Media Capstone I Credits: 3
NMD 499 – New Media Capstone II Credits: 3

Category Requirements:
Students must take a minimum of two courses from each of the following three categories, for a total of 18 credits:

Category 1 (Technical/Conceptual)
NMD 340 – Creating Websites for Clients & Communities Credits: 3
NMD 342 – Interaction Design and Physical Computing Credits: 3
NMD 345 – Web Applications Credits: 3
NMD 442 – User Experience Design Credits: 3
Category 2 (Perceptual/Conceptual)
NMD 341 – Photographic Reporting and Storytelling Credits: 3
NMD 343 – SL: Digital Narrative Workshop I Credits: 3
NMD 344 – Time-Based Art and Design I Credits: 3
Category 3 (Advanced)
NMD 443 – Digital Narrative Workshop II Credits: 3
NMD 444 – Time-Based Art and Design II Credits: 3
NMD 445 – Mobile Applications Credits: 3

Free Electives

Free electives may include any of the New Media Category 1, 2 and 3 courses not already taken, any additional NMD elective courses offered (listed below), and any other campus courses. Free electives may be taken prior to the senior year by planning your schedule appropriately. Among additional New Media elective courses available might include:
NMD 245 – Film Criticism and Theory (3 cr)
NMD 250 – Electronic Music Composition I: Item and Arrangement (3 cr)
NMD 251 – Electronic Music Composition II: Composing a Process (3 cr)
NMD 324 – Year in Film I (3 cr)
NMD 358 – Documentary Film Criticism and Theory (3 cr)
NMD 370 – 3D Modeling and Animation (3 cr)
NMD 424 – Year in Film II (3 cr)
NMD 441 – Documentary Photography and Audio (3 cr)
Special topics and independent study courses that might additionally be available include:
NMD 295 – Topics in New Media (1-3 cr)
NMD 398 – Topics in New Media (1-3 cr)
NMD 430 – Topics in New Media (1-3 cr)
NMD 490 – Independent Study in New Media (3 cr)

General Education Requirements

The UMaine General Education course requirements may be found under Student Records (https://studentrecords.umaine.edu/) > Academics (top menu) > Gen Ed Requirements. Since a single course may cover more than one Human Values and Social Context requirement, you may reduce your course load requirements by making thoughtful selections.

New Media Minor

Interested in new/emerging media and technology? The New Media minor may be perfect for you. The Department of New Media created the minor in new/emerging media for the consideration of all students at the University of Maine. Expertise in new and emerging media enhances any major. Expand your comprehension of contemporary communication practices-including digital, mobile, and social media-while learning some of the most effective ways to interact in this continuously evolving environment. Focus on both critical and creative tools across disciplines to build upon your specific goals and interests.

This minor in New Media is designed to prepare students to perform professionally, academically, and personally in a diverse new media environment. The minor provides a foundation upon which students build an understanding of New Media in relation to art, art history, communication, computer science, English, engineering, philosophy, psychology, music, and more.

The minor in New Media is designed for students seeking an introduction to the interdisciplinary applications of computer-based media. The minor enables students from a variety of majors to:

Learn the technical considerations involved with computer-based manipulation of image.
Develop aesthetic abilities and problem-solving skills required in creating effective communication in digital environments.
Understand the interrelationships of new digital media to various professions and fields of study.

The New Media minor explores multiple perspectives of how information or content is created and shaped in new and emerging media, as well as the role and impact of those media on human communication. New Media refers to the emerging digital technologies that enable information to be produced, stored, transmitted, and displayed in new ways. Students will gain an understanding of how these technologies change the ways various types of content can be created, managed, and distributed, as well as their potential to influence the content itself.

Key Concepts, Skills, and Methods

  • Fieldwork for understanding people’s needs and the influence of context
  • Generative approaches to imagining many possible solutions, such as sketching and an interaction design method know as
  • User Experience prototyping
  • Iterative refinement of designs
  • Implementation of iterative prototypes
  • Evaluation techniques, including empirical evaluation methods

Benefits of this Minor

  • Provides students with a variety of digital technology skills
  • Increases knowledge base beyond common core
  • Introduces students to cutting-edge digital technologies
  • Application of New Media concepts in support of a wide variety of majors
  • Job-ready problem-solving and design skills for the modern workplace

Minor Requirements

Students pursuing the minor in New Media must complete a total of 18 credits, including 6 credits of introduction to New Media and 12 credits of New Media elective courses.

Introduction to New Media (2 courses = 6 credits)

  • NMD 100 – Introduction to New Media Credits: 3
  • NMD 104 -New Media Design Credits: 3
  • NMD 105 – Creative Coding I Credits: 3
  • NMD 106 – Time-Based Media Credits: 3

Electives in New Media (4 courses = 12 credits)

  • NMD 200 – Designing Humane Tech Credits: 3
  • NMD 211 – Creative Coding II Credits: 3
  • NMD 245 – Film Criticism and Theory Credits: 3
  • NMD 250 – Electronic Music Composition I: Item and Arrangement Credits: 3
  • NMD 251 – Electronic Music Composition II: Composing a Process Credits: 3
  • NMD 295 – Topics in New Media Credits: 3
  • NMD 306 – Community Collaboration and Development Credits: 3
  • NMD 324 – Introduction to Narrative Film Making Credits: 3
  • NMD 341 – Documentary Photography and Storytelling Credits: 3
  • NMD 342 – Interaction Design and Physical Computing Credits: 3
  • NMD 343 – SL: Digital Narrative Workshop I Credits: 3
  • NMD 344 – Time-Based Art and Design I Credits: 3
  • NMD 345 – Web Applications Credits: 3
  • NMD 358 – Documentary Film Criticism and Theory Credits: 3
  • NMD 370 – 3D Modeling and Animation Credits: 3
  • NMD 398 – Topics in New Media Credits: 3
  • NMD 424 – Narrative Film Making Credits: 3
  • NMD 430 – Topics in New Media Credits: 3
  • NMD 441 – Documentary Video and Storytelling Credits: 3
  • NMD 442 – User Experience Design Credits: 3
  • NMD 443 – Digital Narrative Workshop II Credits: 3
  • NMD 444 – Time-Based Art and Design II Credits: 3
  • NMD 445 – Mobile Applications Credits: 3
New Media Minor [ image by Marshmallow Laser Feast, https://vimeo.com/marshmallowlaserfeast ]

Digital Curation graduate certificate requirements

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For the official catalog requirements, consult the Graduate Catalog > choose year in pull down window > select Graduate Programs, Certificates and Specializations > select Digital Curation (Certificate)

In short, the the certificate requires 12 credits acquired through four 3-credit required courses. The four required courses include:

  • DIG 500 Introduction to Digital Curation
    DIG 510 Metadata
    DIG 540 Digital Collections and Exhibitions
    DIG 550 Digital Preservation

Numerous additional germane elective distance courses are suggested below and are regularly available.

Digital Curation Program Description and  Background

See background, news and details about the Digital Curation graduate certificate program.

See also the description of the program and the application process provided at UMaine Online,

Digital Curation Graduate Courses

DIG 500 – Introduction to Digital Curation

As the introductory course to the Digital Curation program, this class surveys the variety of digital artifacts that we consciously or unconsciously create and consume today, with a focus on how to collect and manage digitized and born-digital artifacts and their related data.  Students lean technical skills such as how to digitize analog documents, photographs, and videos, as well as curatorial knowledge such as how selection criteria vary as a function of type of institution (archives v. libraries v. museum) and field (art v. archeology).  The course also reviews methods for ensuring the ongoing integrity of the artifact and laws governing the acquisition and use of intellectual property, such as how copyright extends to images, editions, and future versions of a work.
Credits: 3

DIG 510 – Metadata Systems

This course covers digital formats for describing the contents and contexts of artifacts with an emphasis on their use in libraries, archives, and online repositories.  This includes a discussion on the need for and use of metadata in a variety of digital contexts, exposure to specific metadata standards used in a number of fields, and demonstrations of how these metadata are expressed in several output formats. Prerequisites & Notes

DIG 500 strongly recommended
Credits: 3

DIG 540 – Digital Collections & Exhibitions

This course covers the technical means and social consequences of assembling and sharing cultural data and artifacts.  Topics include the fundamentals of relational databases; a survey of collection management packages, both proprietary and open-source; and an introduction to the special concerns and programming concepts necessary to customize off-the-shelf database solutions for domain and content appropriateness.
Prerequisites & Notes
DIG 500 and 510 strongly recommended
Credits: 3

DIG 550 – Digital Preservation

This course acquaints students with the challenges of, and best practices for, preserving digital artifacts.  Topics include a survey of the (sometimes bewildering) array of formats for digital media, along with their vulnerabilities and half-lives; analysis of various preservation strategies (storage, migration, emulation, reinterpretation); institutional, legal, and practical impediments to preservation; preservation standards and resources for digital media (Media Matters, Variable Media Questionnaire).
Prerequisites & Notes
DIG 500, 510, and 540 strongly recommended

Credits: 3

DIG 580 – Digital Curation Internship

Digital Curation Internships provide valuable experiential learning in an emerging and changing field that provides complex challenges. An internship experience is essential to the certificate program, providing students with current and vital knowledge and skills they will need in the workplace. Internships provide students opportunities to reinforce their academic learning, and provide opportunities to establish professional contacts. Because our digital curation curriculum is online, and because our students will be located in many different places, we offer two types of internships: place-based and virtual.
Prerequisites & Notes
Permission.
Credits: 1-3

Elective Courses

Additional elective complementary courses are suggested at UMaine Online