Undergraduate Computing and the Arts

Computing and the Arts is an interdepartmental major designed for students interested in integrating work in computing and one of the arts disciplines:  Art, History of Art, Music, Architecture, or Theater and Performance Studies.

For students coming from a computing perspective, issues in music, art, art history, architecture, and theater and performance studies present interesting, substantive problems to solve.  These problems arise from asking questions such as: How can a musician use a computer to compose?  What are the limitations of current software tools used by artists?  What types of analyses do art historians want to do?  What are the challenges in designing and using virtual sets in the theater?  How might virtual worlds help to envision new forms of artistic expression?  What can be learned by trying to create a robotic conductor or performer?

For students coming from an artistic perspective, studying methods in computing offers them a systematic approach for achieving their vision.  Currently many computational tools in the arts are treated like black boxes.  The users prod the interfaces and make up their own theories about cause and effect.  A CS foundation will allow them to understand existing tools better and therefore to use them more rationally.  Furthermore it will give them insight into things that fundamentally can and cannot be done with computers, so they can anticipate the future development of new tools for computing in their fields.

A complete guide to the major is available in the form of the C2 undergraduate handbook.

Getting started by track:

     Architecture - Michael Schlabs (DUS)

     Art - Alexandria Smith (DUS)

     History of Art - Craig Buckley (DUS)

     Music - Nathaniel Adam (DUS Fall 2023) and Anna Zayaruznaya (Due Spring 2024)

     Theater and Performance Studies - Hal Brooks (DUS)