Posted by SMAD March 12, 2009

The faculty of the School of Media Arts & Design are pleased to announce university approval for a new SMAD curriculum. The new requirements have been planned over the course of several years. The new curriculum only affects incoming SMAD majors -- those notified of admission in March 2009. Student who were admitted to SMAD prior to spring 2009 will remain under their existing concentrations and requirements. Below are some highlights.

* The "Interactive Media" concentration becomes "Converged Media."
Students who still want to pursue advanced study and application of interactive media have that option under the new curriculum. For example, students can still take SMAD 307, SMAD 308 and SMAD 404 in sequence. However, many students want to learn about the creation and delivery of content via multiple media formats (print, video and web) and for these students there is flexibility in the new curriculum to pursue a path of what is being called media convergence.

* The "Print Journalism" concentration becomes "Journalism."
Trends in the industry indicate we ought to be preparing multi-platform journalists. The new curriculum continues to emphasize information gathering, reporting and writing, but it also enables students to develop skills needed not just in print, but in video, broadcast, online and all forms of new media as well.

* The "Corporate Communication " concentration now has an introductory course that will provide students with a better understanding of basic corporate communication principles, while maintaining an emphasis on effective writing. SMAD 341 changes from "Web Communication" to "Information and Communication Technologies" to encompass a wider range of technological tools available to corporate communicators.

* The "Digital Video & Cinema" concentration remains largely unchanged, with the exception of more flexibility in classes used to fufill requirements.

* SMAD now goes from a 33 hour major to a 36 hour major. Again, this only affects students admitted to the major in spring 2009 or later. Students admitted to SMAD prior to spring 2009 still fall under the 33 hour major.

New Curriculum: Requirements and Checksheet

For Majors Notified of SMAD Admission in Spring 2009 or Later
2009-2010 Major Requirements	2009-2010 Major Checksheet