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Department: Integrated Media

The Center for Integrated Media

Integrated Media (IM) is a cross-disciplinary supplemental concentration of workshops, seminars and critiques offered by The Center for Integrated Media (CIM) at CalArts. The cross-disciplinary curriculum is designed specifically for advanced graduate students whose creative use of media and technology goes beyond their primary areas of study in art, dance, film/video, music, theater and creative writing. The Center for Integrated Media is designed to accommodate those students who want to interact with their peers from across the Institute within a learning environment that features a collective studio, an exhibition space and digital media tools, enabling them to explore new spatial and environmental installations, media based performance, digital video, sound, gaming, interactivity, object based media and the Internet.

Prospective graduate students who are interested in The Center for Integrated Media can apply to the relevant métier MFA program and indicate their intention to be considered for IM on their admissions application. Applicants to IM should review the IM portfolio and essay requirements in addition to their métier program requirements. MFA program faculty and IM faculty review these applications jointly. Applicants are expected to show a high level of artistic and critical ability required for the métier program and, at the same time, demonstrate significant intention to experiment with digital media technologies through a cross-disciplinary creative practice.

IM students must fulfill all of the requirements of their métier MFA programs. In addition, students must complete 2 IM seminar classes, an IM critique class, a Project Development class and produce an IM project during their final year of residency. Further coursework can include elective courses on technical and theoretical subjects such as media theory, network topologies, new software and hardware, programming basics, digital video production and editing, interactive systems and new Internet applications.

Applicants to IM should review the IM portfolio and essay requirements in addition to their métier program requirements. These applications are reviewed jointly by MFA program faculty and IM faculty. For more information, visit the Center’s website.

Integrated Media Concentration Requirements

  • IIMC500 Conversations on Media, Culture and Practice

  • IIMC510 Research and Practice Seminar

  • IIMC670 Integrated Media Project Development

  • IIMC690 Integrated Media Project Critique

  • 1 Media Based Elective with an IM faculty

Integrated Media Learning Goals

  • Actualize the complex dialectic between the creative process and new forms of media;

  • As content producers, integrate diverse forms of practices into multi-platform artistic expressions;

  • Forge creative research into the media arts, science, technology and cultural studies;

  • Think critically and communicate persuasively about the aesthetic and political possibilities inherent in media and culture; and

  • Conceptualize, plan and execute sophisticated projects that articulate a distinct vision using a broad range of media and transdisciplinary skills.