Digital Media » School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
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The image features individuals engaged with a computer displaying a digital media interface, emphasizing creativity and technology.

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: 

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

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.

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.

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.

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 
Back to Top

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
Back to Top

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 
Back to Top

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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