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School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
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Department of Computational Arts >> Digital Media

Digital Media

BA

Interested in both tech and creativity? Our Digital Media program is a unique combination of art, science and innovation that prepares you for exciting careers in the gaming and digital world. In this program, you’ll explore the intersection of creative expression and cutting-edge technology—think video game design, sound, virtual reality, data visualization and interactive installations. With access to specialized labs, expert faculty and Toronto’s vibrant digital media scene, you’ll develop the skills to shape the future.

Offered collaboratively by Computational Arts (School of Arts, Media, Performance, and Design) and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Lassonde School of Engineering) 

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Program Overview

In the program, start with an 18-month core program, then select one of three specialized streams. Upper-year courses focus on independent work and collaborative projects, fostering individual growth and large-scale development skills. In addition to gaining in-depth knowledge with cutting edge technology, students graduate with the creative skills for the future of work, including computational thinking, sensemaking, resilience, teamwork, and human-machine collaboration. Students use code and programming as tools for creative expression in forms such as games, immersive and 3D environments, internet of things (IoT), interactive performance, and data visualization.

Sample Courses

As a Digital Media student you can take courses like: 

  • Introduction to Interactive Digital Media I & II 
  • Game Mechanics  
  • Digital Fabrication 
  • Introduction to Virtual Reality 
  • Simulation and Animation for Computer Games 
  • Electro-Acoustic Orchestra 

Career Opportunities

As a Digital Media student you can become:

  • Game Programmer/ Manager/ Designer/ Developer 
  • AR/VR Developer 
  • New Media Artist 
  • Front End Application Developer 
  • Web Programmer/Manager/Developer/Designer 

Degree Level
Undergraduate

Degrees Offered
Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department
Computational Arts

Duration
4 years

Entry Options
Fall, Winter or Summer

View Degree Checklist
Talk to an Academic Advisor

Next Steps

We’re excited that you’re considering applying to York University's School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD). Check out our step-by-step guide to submitting an application.

How to Apply

Student & Alumni Testimonials

One thing I love about the Digital Media program is that it’s at the intersection of art and technology. I’m learning incredible technical skills and I’m using that to create art in so many different forms. I have so much creative freedom.

Prachi Sadhwani

Fourth-year Digital Media student

International Student – India/Jamaica

Learning the technical skills that are part of computer science gave me the backbone to create. I'm able to express my creative ideas in new ways, it's opened many doors for me in academia and personal projects.

Amir B

Digital Media Student 

Coming out of the Digital Media program gave me a unique advantage in being a front-end developer who has a creative background and is able to think a bit more creatively about development.

Daniel James (BA ’17)

Front-end Software Engineer – Helium Inc.

Program Highlights

Ontario’s only degree program that integrates art, computer science, and engineering.

Explore creative expression through innovative technology.

Work closely with faculty members on their groundbreaking research in one of numerous digital research labs.

Professional internship opportunities through Lassonde’s Co-op office.

Bring interactive digital installations to life with the Transmedia Lab. A multi-purpose space that is home to events and acts as a makerspace for our Digital Media students.

A collage of images showcasing a performance and filming in colorful, illuminated spaces.

Streams

The Common Core  

In the first 18 months of the program students in the Digital Media program complete a common core curriculum built from a mix of courses from Computational Arts and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Topics such as interactive art, programming, and critical studies provide students with the theoretical and practical background needed to succeed in the program and in the field's future. 

Your choice of three streams 


Digital Media Game Arts

Video Games are a defining cultural form of the 21st century. Games Arts in Digital Media has a broad and forward-looking perspective on game education with an approach that incorporates interdisciplinary collaboration and new gaming frontiers.  

The Digital Media Games Arts stream teaches the skills of game development and design from concept to production. Students will gain hands-on experience working with professional game engines across various platforms, including mobile media, web-based, gallery, and urban gaming.   

The Digital Media Games Arts stream examines emerging trends where the boundaries of games are challenged, including alt gaming, queer games, Not Games, and urban gaming.  


Digital Media Arts

The Digital Media Arts stream focuses on artistic expression through technology. With its blend of offerings in digital performance, physical computing and fabrication, and mixed reality, the program encourages a seamless continuum between virtual reality and the world we inhabit. While emphasizing offerings in AMPD, the stream in Digital Media Arts emphasizes creative coding and computational and systems thinking as methods for creative expression.  

The Digital Media Arts stream has the most flexibility of the three streams. Students can pursue a range of interests in exploring the cutting edge of new media and new contemporary art forms.  


Digital Media Development

The Digital Media Development stream encourages resilience and adaptability in the ever-shifting landscape of new media technology. Emphasizing Electrical Engineering and Computer Science offerings, the Digital Media Development stream provides a specialized track into our most advanced options in Digital Media, such as low-level game development, human-computer interaction, signal processing, virtual reality, and machine learning simulation.   

Students in this stream are well situated to work in digital media and tool development areas that represent a high-demand sector in the creative industries. Students graduate knowing how to adopt new technologies and paradigms as they arise and keep on the field's cutting edge for the unforeseeable future. 

Learning Outcomes

Throughout the program student will: 

  • Develop a computational basis for the creation of digital media imagery and sound, using cutting edge technology in the creation of games, new forms of art, and the simulation of 3D environments.  
  • Explore the theoretical, artistic, aesthetic and experiential ideas that provide a comprehensive understanding of digital media creation.  
  • Get hands-on experience creating digital media works and investigate the ways in which culture is, and can be, produced through technology.  
  • Examine the broad socio-cultural effects of digital media, and contemporary theory and research on the uses of, and responses to, digital media.  
  • Build a foundation of skills for the future, including new media literacy, design mindset, transdisciplinarity, computational thinking, sensemaking, enterprise, resilience, and human-machine collaboration. 

Foundation

  • Gain the theoretical and practical background needed to succeed in the program and the future of the field. 

Specialization

  • Specialize in one of the three streams: Digital Media Game Arts, Digital Media Arts, Digital Media Development.

Ambitious Large-Scale Projects and Team Building

  • Work on large-scale projects in a classroom that functions as a studio-office environment with real-world clients and collaborators.  
  • Learn role assignment, task management, multi-stakeholder engagement and project frameworks needed to develop large projects.  

Your Independent Creative Voice and Professional Practice

  • Develop self-directed, ambition projects that explore cutting edge topics in the domain of Digital Media.

How to Apply

York University has a set of general admission requirements. In addition to these requirements, AMPD programs may require additional prerequisite courses, minimum grades and/or a supplementary application component like an audition or portfolio review. Be sure to familiarize yourself with all admission requirements before you apply. 

Review Admission Requirements

Submit your application through:

  • the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC) application*, or
  • the York University application.

Ensure that you apply by the application deadline. Approximately 5-10 business days after you submit your application, you will receive an email containing your York reference ID which will allow you access to view updates about your application using our online platform, MyFile.

*Please note, if you are applying to a program that requires a supplementary application you must submit your application through OUAC.

Admission to Digital Media is based on academic achievement. A portfolio review is not required. 

Digital Media Course Clusters

Courses in Digital Media are organized into six thematic clusters, providing students with flexibility of personal direction they can pursue in the program, regardless of the stream they choose. These clusters have been carefully curated so that students can build strong foundations in the area(s) that interest them most, building a trajectory to their future careers.

  • CORE
  • GAMES
  • INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE
  • MIXED REALITY
  • 3D FABRICATION AND PHYSICAL COMPUTING
  • SONIC ARTS

CORE

  • Introduction to Interactive Digital Media 
  • Fundamentals of Digital Media Studies 
  • Media Signal Processing 
  • Publishing in Digital Media 
  • Net-Centric Computing 
  • Programming for Digital Media 
  • Building Interactive Systems 
  • Collaborative Project Development 
  • Digital Media Capstone Project 
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GAMES

  • Game Development I 
  • Game Development II 
  • Game History, Genre, and New Direction 
  • Game Mechanics 
  • Introduction to 3D Modelling 
  • Introduction to 3D Animation 
  • Simulation and Animation for Computer Games 
  • Artificial Life, Generative Art and Creative Code 
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INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE

  • Introduction to Interactive Digital Media 
  • Fundamentals of Digital Media Studies 
  • Media Signal Processing 
  • Publishing in Digital Media 
  • Net-Centric Computing 
  • Programming for Digital Media 
  • Building Interactive Systems 
  • Collaborative Project Development 
  • Digital Media Capstone Project
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MIXED REALITY

  • Introduction to Interactive Digital Media 
  • Fundamentals of Digital Media Studies 
  • Media Signal Processing 
  • Publishing in Digital Media 
  • Net-Centric Computing 
  • Programming for Digital Media 
  • Building Interactive Systems 
  • Collaborative Project Development 
  • Digital Media Capstone Project 
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3D FABRICATION AND PHYSICAL COMPUTING

  • Introduction to Interactive Digital Media 
  • Fundamentals of Digital Media Studies 
  • Media Signal Processing 
  • Publishing in Digital Media 
  • Net-Centric Computing 
  • Programming for Digital Media 
  • Building Interactive Systems 
  • Collaborative Project Development 
  • Digital Media Capstone Project
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SONIC ARTS

  • Introduction to Interactive Digital Media 
  • Fundamentals of Digital Media Studies 
  • Media Signal Processing 
  • Publishing in Digital Media 
  • Net-Centric Computing 
  • Programming for Digital Media 
  • Building Interactive Systems 
  • Collaborative Project Development 
  • Digital Media Capstone Project 
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Get Ready to Apply

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Important dates

Stay informed about all the key dates and deadlines for applying. Make sure to submit your application by the specified deadline to ensure guaranteed consideration. Note that some programs require a supplementary application, so be sure to check the deadlines for those as well

Check all deadlines

TUITION FEES & FUNDING

Tuition and Fees will be paid to York University. For information on Undergraduate Tuition and Fees, please see the Future Students Website. Entrance Awards, Scholarships and Bursaries are available each year to support your education.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FINANCES

REQUIREMENTS

Our programs are open to students directly from high school, those with previous post-secondary studies, international students, exchange students, and mature applicants.

See admission requirements

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Get in Touch

Reach out to us for more information on our programs, upcoming events, open houses, and applying to AMPD. We're here to assist you with any questions you may have and to help guide you through the application process.

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