NWMEDIA 90-001 | Session D | 3 units
SOUND DESIGN FOR NEW MEDIA APPLICATIONS
E. Er
Class 13382 | MTWR 10AM-12PM
This course explores the fundamental principles of sound design in the context of new media. Students will learn how to craft immersive soundscapes and design audio for interactive and multimedia applications, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, video games, and installation art. Through hands-on projects and theoretical discussions, the course will cover digital sound synthesis, spatial audio techniques, and the integration of sound with visuals and physical environments. Students will also experiment with cutting-edge tools and software to develop their own creative sound designs, preparing them to engage with the evolving landscape of new media art and technology.
NWMEDIA 90-002 | Session D | 3 units
INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST MEDIA STUDIES
V. Martinez
Class 13410 | MWF 1-3:30PM
We will examine the historical relationship between media (television, film, and social media) and representations of underrepresented and marginalized groups.
NWMEDIA 123 | Session D | 4 units
COMPUTER GRAPHICS ANIMATION
G. Niemeyer
Class 13753 | TWR 1-4PM | Online
Computer Graphics Animation constitutes a default method of image synthesis for fine art, game design, cinema, and advertising. This production-intensive studio course introduces students to professional CG Animation tools (Adobe Animate, Blender, Python, After Effects) as well as an overview of animation styles, aesthetics, philosophies and cultures. Sessionly project assignments based on tutorials cover modeling, texturing, lighting, animation, and rendering. Final projects focus on animation portfolio work with scenes, characters and animation sequences to be exported to video and game design.
NWMEDIA 151AC | Session C | 4 units
TRANSFORMING TECH
Matthew Berry
Online (asynchronous)
In this course, we will study major tech industry controversies and heavily criticized tech products, policies, and effects, including technologies used at the U.S.-Mexico border, social media platforms’ spread of disinformation and fake news, racial bias in algorithms, and internet trolling and harassment. We will also examine tech companies’ long-running tendency to exclude women and non-Asian minorities, and how tech workers have occasionally come under fire for the industry’s harms. Students will be required to brainstorm and design their own interventions into the workings of the tech sector to make it more inclusive, equitable, and diverse.
NWMEDIA 131| Session A | 3 units
DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE 101: THE HIDDEN FOUNDATIONS OF THE INTERNET
Nicole Starosielski
Class 13699 | Online, asynchronous
Class 13703 | TR 10AM-12PM | Online
This course offers an in-depth exploration of the foundational elements of digital infrastructure. It examines the critical role of these physical infrastructures in emergent internet technologies such as cloud computing and edge computing. Students will investigate how data centers and cables underpin modern digital services such as video streaming, online gaming, and e-commerce. The course will cover the historical development of data centers and cables, their impact on the evolving landscape of internet technology, and the core components of these facilities and networks. By understanding these critical components, students will gain a comprehensive view of how digital infrastructure supports and transforms the modern world.
NWMEDIA 132| Session D | 3 units
HOW TO BUILD A GLOBAL INTERNET: DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FROM SUBSEA CABLES TO DATA CENTERS
Staff
Class 13990 | Online, asynchronous
Class 13993 | TR 10AM-12PM | Online
You are tasked with constructing subsea cables that stretch across oceans and data centers that store and compute digital content. Without these foundational infrastructures, a global internet could not exist. Yet these mega-projects can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to execute. What is required to build such massive systems and facilities? What kinds of political, environmental, and technological challenges will you face? In this class, as you consider developing the internet’s backbone in different parts of the world, you will learn to answer these questions.
NWMEDIA 133| Session D | 3 units
TECH WARS: SECURITY, GEOPOLITICS, AND RESILIENCE OF DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES
Staff
Class 13996 | Online, asynchronous
Class 13999 | MW 10AM-12PM | Online
The internet is not only a place for sharing and interconnection, it is also a site of conflict, competition, and geopolitics. This course takes the students deep into the importance of security and protection to the digital infrastructures that support all internet traffic, especially the subsea cables and data centers that form the network’s backbone.