Digital Technologies and Emerging Media (DTEM) Major

The Digital Technologies and Emerging Media (DTEM) major takes a critical approach to the internet and participatory technologies. It draws from a broad tradition of communication and media studies research; social science disciplines including anthropology, psychology, sociology, and political science; and the humanities and fine arts.

The major is designed to encourage greater understanding, critical thinking, and analysis of emerging technologies such as the web, social media, mobile apps, video games, wearables, and the like, while also offering a number of production and writing classes. Students wishing to pursue engineering or digital production should augment the major with classes in computer science, visual arts, journalism, and new media and digital design.

To declare a major in Digital Technology and Emerging Media, students must either have earned:

Option 1: 2.5 cumulative GPA + 30 earned credits

OR

Option 2: 2.0 cumulative GPA overall + 3.0 GPA in 2 CMS courses + 30 earned credits

  • Qualifying CMS courses can include:
    • COMM 1000 + a major specific course (e.g., FITV 1501: Understanding Film)
    • OR
    • 2 major-specific courses (e.g., JOUR 1702: Introduction to Journalism + JOUR 2711: Intermediate Multimedia Reporting)

  • Upon graduation from the Digital Technology and Emerging Media major, students will have achieved the following curricular goals:

    1. Develop a critically-informed understanding of the key characteristics of digital technologies and emerging media, their affordances, constraints, histories, and infrastructures.

    2. Learn to analyze digital media as not only tools, but a set of industries and institutions, and a site of political and cultural contestation, creative practice, and professional production.

    3. Gain the skills to plan, develop and execute appropriate methodologies for researching digital media from a variety of perspectives.

    4. Be conversant with the ethical, regulatory, political, and economic issues raised by the emergence and evolution of digital media and communication systems - especially as they relate to matters of social equity and equality, right, privacy and surveillance.

    5. Demonstrate an understanding of the practice of digital technology design, and develop a critical understanding of their processes of invention, creation, deployment and use.
    • COMC 4340/ COMM 3103: Freedom of Expression
    • COMC 3370/ COMM 3476: Ethical Issues in Media
    • COMC 3330/ COMM 3110: Peace, Justice and the Media 
    • COMC 3350/ COMM 3112: Media Law
    • COMC 3380/ COMM 3106: International Communication
    • DTEM 4440: Privacy and Surveillance
    • DTEM 4480/ COMM 4005: Digital Media and Public Responsibility
    • FITV 4570/ COMM 4001: Films of Moral Struggle