Major Requirements

Major Requirements

A major in Media Arts and Sciences requires12 units of course work, at least eight of which must be above the 100 level and at least two of which must be at the 300 level. No more than one can be 350 or 360. MAS majors are required to take: threeintroductorycourses, at least three corestudio artcourses, and at least three corecomputer sciencecourses. Students are also required to create and present anonline portfolioby the Fall semester of their senior year.

Overview of the MAS Major

  • 3 units: Intro
  • 3 units: ARTS
  • 3 units: CS
  • 3 units: any three courses that are approved for MAS majors
    • Note: we recommend that MAS majors include one media production course and one media culture course as a part of the course planning. While these are not required, taking these courses will enrich your experience in the MAS program.

Flexibility has been built into the major to allow students to adapt their course of study to their interests. Majors may choose an optional concentration in eitherMedia Arts(by taking two additional core studio art courses), or inMedia Sciences(by taking two additional core computer science courses). Majors are also encouraged (not required) to take at least one approvedmedia culturecourse and an advancedmediaproductioncourse.

In addition to other courses at Wellesley, students can take approved courses at the MIT's Media Lab and Comparative Media Studies program or at Olin College of Engineering. Seesample ways to structure the major.

For questions about transfer credits, contact Jordan Tynes (jtynes@wellesley.edu).

Introductory Courses

There arethree requiredintroductory courses in the MAS major. One from Art History, Studio Art, and Computer Science respectively:

  • ARTH 100The Power of Images: An Introduction to Art and its HistoriesorCAMS 101Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies

  • AnyARTS 100level course (or the equivalent CAMS courses)

  • CS/MAS 115Computing for Socio-Techno Web

Note:

If you have already taken CS 111, you may still take CS 115 as your introductory course.

If you've taken CS 111 and would like to opt out of CS 115, you may count CS 111 as your introductory course and must take CS 204 as one of your CS core courses.

ARTS (Studio Art) Courses

At least three requiredARTS courses (at least five required for an emphasis inMedia Arts) from the following:

CS (Computer Science) Courses

At least three requiredComputer Science courses (at least five required for emphasis inMedia Sciences) from the following:

  • CS 111Computer Programming and Problem Solving

  • CS 121Intro to Game Design

  • CS 203Computer Music

  • CS 204Introduction to Front-End Web Development

  • CS 220Human-Computer Interaction

  • CS 221Digital Worlds for Gaming

  • CS 230Data Structures

  • CS 232Artificial Intelligence

  • CS 304Databases with Web Interfaces

  • CS 305Machine Learning

  • CS 307Computer Graphics

  • CS 315Web Search and Mining

  • CS 320Tangible User Interfaces

  • CS 321Mixed and Augmented Reality

  • CS 323Social Computing

Media Culture Courses

At least one Media Culture courseis recommended (not required) from the following:

  • ARTH 225Modern Art Since 1945

  • ARTH 226History of Photography: From Invention to Media Age

  • ARTH 391Persuasive Images

  • CAMS 201Technologies of Film & Media

  • CAMS 210Critical Histories of Computing: from Cybernetics to Social Media

  • CAMS 218Theories of Media from Photography to the Internet

  • CAMS 222"Being There": Documentary Film and Media

  • CAMS 272The Ludic Imagination: Histories and Theories of Games and Play (note: course no longer offered)

  • CAMS 276Media Publics (note: course no longer offered)

  • PHIL 222Ethics of Technology

  • PSYC 218Sensation and Perception

Production Courses

At least one Production course is recommended(not required) from the following (can be done in groups):

Honors may be supervised by members of the departments associated with the major in accordance with the requirements of the host department. Supervisors from other departments can be arranged by permission of the directors.

Honors Thesis

In addition to theCollege's Honors Thesis requirements and timeline, please see below for the MAS Program's guide to proposing and finishing a thesis. Students with an MAS/ARTS concentration are strongly encouraged to enroll in ARTS 317/318 during their thesis year and will be advised to do so by any studio art faculty supervising a thesis.

  • Spring of 3rd year: Identify a faculty member in the field of study you will be focusing on who has expertise in your research area and who can serve as your advisor.
  • Summer between 3rd and 4th year: Work with your advisor on your proposal and committee selection.
  • If theproposal被批准，学生将被允许注册MAS 360。
  • Fall of 4th year: Prepare for and satisfactorily pass a midterm review organized by your advisor.
  • End of Fall of 4th year: Your advisor must notify the MAS co-directors of a satisfactory midterm review in order for the student to be allowed to enroll in MAS 370.
  • Spring of 4th year: Work with your advisor to organize your oral review at the end of the Spring semester (Students with an MAS/ARTS concentration will also participate in the Art Department's senior exhibition through their enrollment in ARTS 317/318)
Related Courses for MAS Credit

The courses listed below are representative of Wellesley and MIT courses that emphasize topics related to the MAS major. Students may include courses not listed below in their major with permission of the program directors.

  • ANTH 232Anthropology of the Media

  • ANTH 246从符号到字节:古埃及和未来of Digital Humanities

  • ARTH 222/MAS 222Network Analysis for Art History

  • ARTH 373/CLCV 373Antiquities Today: The Politics of Replication

  • CAMS 208/ENG 208Writing for Television

  • CAMS 234/ENG 204The Art of Screenwriting

  • CS 231Fundamental Algorithms

  • CS 234Data, Analytics, and Visualization

  • CS 242Computer Networks

  • CS 332Visual Processing by Computer and Biological Vision Systems

  • MUS 213Video Games: Composition and Criticism

  • MUS 276American Popular Music

  • MUS 300History, Theory, Analysis and Ethnomusicology: Music and Sound in Video Games

  • PHIL 203Philosophy of Art

  • SOC 231 Art, Media, and Culture (note: course no longer offered)

  • THST 200That's What She Said: Trailblazing Women of American Comedy

  • THST 207Stagecraft

  • 确实209Scenic Design as Collaborative Art

MIT Courses

TheMIT Media Laband theMIT Comparative Media Studies Programoffers a large variety of courses that may be appropriate for a MAS major. These offerings vary per semester; please consult the MIT catalog atstudent.mit.edu/catalog/mMASa.htmlandstudent.mit.edu/catalog/mCMSa.html.

Olin Courses

The Olin College of Engineering offers the following course that may be appropriate for a media arts and sciences major.

  • ENGR 2250 User-Oriented Collaborative Design

Online Portfolio

Students must create and present an online portfolio by the end of the Fall semester of their senior year. The website must showcase the student's work created over their time at Wellesley. The website should be expressive of your work, but also able to provide a good foundation for showing off any future work. Portfolios should include an"about" section and/or artist statement(if applicable) and a CV or other professional information. Additionally,a page for each individual workyou want to highlight with detailed descriptions.