School of Media Arts & Design
Roland Dille Center for the Arts 116, (218) 477-2126
Chair: Alexandria Fogarty
Faculty: Anthony Adah, Ryan Clancy, Don Clark, Trista Conzemius, Alexandria Fogarty, Nan Hu

The School of Media Arts & Design offers majors in Animation, Film Production, Film Studies, and Graphic & Interactive Design. Minors offered are in Film Studies, Film Production, Graphic & Interactive Design, and Media Arts.

The faculty and students of the School of Media Arts & Design are linked together by a common focus on the creation and analysis of messages that powerfully affect their chosen audience. We provide a challenging, contemporary, relevant curriculum within the context of the liberal arts that prepares our graduates to become contributing and ethical citizens in a diverse, global community. We promote creativity, critical thinking, and lifelong discovery through courses that integrate theory and history with practice and application.

Animation
The BFA degree in Animation provides a broad range of classes that focus on both traditional and contemporary animation techniques, including the theory, practice, and aesthetics of motion image creation, image sequencing, and frame manipulation. Students are introduced to filmic systems, motion image history and theory, media arts practices, as well as a range of software, hardware, practical tools and techniques.

Course projects and lectures focus on stop motion, rotoscoping, pixilation, technical graphics, motion graphics, 3D modeling, abstract and experimental animation, animation for live performance, installation, interactive and new media environments.

Graduates may find employment with animation studios, video production houses, television stations, multimedia, web, and advertising agencies, as well as data visualization markets in science, medical, and business fields.

Film
The School of Media Arts & Design offers a BFA degree in Film Production, as well as a BA degree in Film Studies. These majors are designed for students who wish to work in some aspect of the film industry as well as those who are interested in the academic study of film.

The Film Studies major focuses on the theoretical and historical analysis of cinema as it relates to various genres, directors, and other topical studies. Emphasis is placed in visual and critical analysis, media literacy, curating, festival programming and critical writing skills. Students are encouraged to build a writing portfolio and to publically present academic work at the Student Academic Conference, as well as professional conferences.

The Film Production major gives students the opportunity to get hands-on experience in directing, producing, cinematography, sound and picture editing, sound recording, and screenwriting. Production classes incorporate the traditional format of 16mm film, HD video and new digital technologies into the curriculum. Abstract motion image creation, experimental practices, installation, documentary and non-fiction practices, as well as narrative filmmaking are all taught within the major. Students will build a portfolio of work from freshman through senior year.

Graduates of our program have gone on to work for major galleries, film festivals, post-production houses, trailer and special effects houses, television networks, independent feature film production, and freelance positions in all departments of production. Additionally, our students have gone on to some of the top graduate schools in North America.