The Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM) is an interdisciplinary research center that studies and shapes media transition and emergence from diverse perspectives. Through critical thinking and making, we cultivate technological equity and fairness in our classrooms, in our communities, and on the internet. BCNM offers two programs for graduate students at UC Berkeley, a Designated Emphasis in New Media and a Graduate Certificate.
Designated Emphasis
BCNM's designated emphasis is for selected students from any Berkeley doctoral program. It provides enhanced skills in analyzing and/or designing future media with an awareness of historical, social, cultural, and other perspectives that might not be visible from any single disciplinary point of view. Students completing the PhD program receive the designation "in New Media" on their diplomas. New Media Designated Emphasis students are also eligible for a variety of fellowships and graduate student instructor positions through BCNM.
Graduate Certificate
The Graduate Certificate in New Media is an addition to existing master’s degree-granting programs. Students receive a certificate with the designation “Graduate Certificate Program in New Media,” which certifies their successful completion of the New Media requirements. The award is posted to students’ transcripts. Designed to enhance interdisciplinary graduate studies at UC Berkeley, the graduate certificate program emphasizes a critical understanding of the nature and implications of new media, broadly conceived, drawing on theories and methodologies from across the disciplinary spectrum—the arts, the humanities and social sciences, and science and engineering. The Graduate Certificate in New Media provides students with a competitive edge for some of the most desirable jobs in industry and academia and may enhance opportunities for innovative and collaborative research.
Any UC Berkeley PhD student in good standing may apply. Admission to the BCNM Designated Emphasis program is determined by the BCNM DE Academic Programs Committee. Applications are accepted twice a year, with deadlines for admission on March 1 and November 1. To apply, students must send the following to the Berkeley Center for New Media:
letter of intent,
curriculum vitae,
letter of recommendation from their UC Berkeley faculty adviser,
Berkeley course transcript,
BCNM course requirements worksheet,
BCNM application form.
Admission to the Masters Certificate Program
Any UC Berkeley master's student in good standing may apply. Applications are accepted twice a year, with deadlines for admission on March 1 and November 1. To apply, students should send the following through to the Berkeley Center for New Media:
letter of intent,
curriculum vitae,
letter of recommendation from their UC Berkeley faculty adviser,
Berkeley course transcript,
BCNM course requirements worksheet,
BCNM application form.
Additionally, applicants may supplement their portfolio with their own research publications and creative productions, which pertain to the critical study of new media, in the form of DVDs, websites, and so on. Submitting a creative portfolio is optional.
Select at least two additional 3-4 unit courses that significantly deal with new media, approved by the BCNM graduate adviser. All NWMEDIA courses automatically count towards the elective requirement.
It is possible to provide evidence of equivalent level of experience/skill in an area and request a waiver of a core course by writing a petition to the DE academic program committee, endorsed by your program adviser, describing how the requirement has been met with a previous course (include a copy of your transcript to confirm completion) or provide evidence of equivalent experience. Questions about the core requirements may be addressed to the BCNM graduate adviser, Alex Saum-Pascual, at saum-pascual@berkeley.edu.
Qualifying Examination
Your PhD qualifying exam committee must include at least one member of the BCNM Graduate Group/Affiliated Faculty who will evaluate your knowledge related to the designated emphasis.
Dissertation
Your PhD dissertation topic must be related to New Media and your PhD dissertation committee must include at least one member of the BCNM Graduate Group/Affiliated Faculty who can evaluate it from that perspective.
Certificate Requirements
Curriculum/Coursework
Core Classes
Certificate students must take one of the following core seminars offered each year by BCNM:
Students should take two 3-4 unit graduate courses that substantially deal with new media and are approved by the Graduate Advisor. Each elective should represent a different field of the following three fields: humanities, arts/design, technology. Contact the Associate Director for a list of courses that have been approved in the past.
The following courses are pre-approved to count for electives:
The Peter Lyman Graduate Fellowship in new media, established in the memory of esteemed UC Berkeley Professor Peter Lyman, provides a stipend to a UC Berkeley PhD candidate to support the writing of his or her PhD dissertation on a topic related to new media. The fellowship is supported by donations from Professor Barrie Thorne, Sage Publications and many individual friends and faculty. Funds total approximately $6,000 each year. More information can be found here.
Summer Research Fellowships
The Center for New Media offers summer research fellowships of $1,000 to support its graduate students’ research agendas. More information can be found here.
Conference Fellowships
We’re proud to support our students as they share their scholarship across the globe. Each semester, the BCNM is able to offer a small subsidy for students attending the premiere conferences in their fields. To be eligible to apply, students must be presenting a paper or poster on their research at a professional conference. Grant amounts depend on the location of the conference and the number of applications received. More information can be found here.
Undergraduate Research Support.
Each year, graduate students have the opportunity to apply for undergraduate research assistance. We select three to four projects and fund a research assistant to support the graduate's work. The graduate student also receives $500 for their mentoring. More information can be found here.
Additional Conference and Research Support
Each year, BCNM provides seed funding for student-led conferences. These awards are available by petition to the director and program officer.
Space
Cubicles are available by application on the fourth floor of Sutardja Dai Hall. The BCNM also administers 340 Moffitt, which can be booked for classes, office hours, seminars, and meetings.
Community
We are affiliated with several working groups across campus, including the New Media Working Group and the Color of New Media Working Group.
Our faculty cross schools and divisions across campus and are available to offer interdisciplinary advice and mentoring.
Teaching Opportunities
The BCNM strives to provide its graduate students with opportunities for teaching experience. Each year, the center employs three to six GSIs (graduate student instructors) to staff small discussions or assist with grading its three core courses.
The BCNM seeks to offer summer session courses and encourages its students to apply for these positions.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021
This course provides a broad historical and theoretical background for new media production and practice. The class will map out theoretical approaches from different disciplines and allow graduate students to discuss and apply them to their own research projects. History and Theory of New Media: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Required for all students in the Designated Emphasis in New Media
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Held in conjunction with the Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium which brings internationally-known speakers to campus to present their work on advanced topics in new media: http://atc.berkeley.edu. Students will enhance skills in questioning new media: how to think critically about new media, how to use new media resources to research pioneering work in new media, how to form incisive questions about new media, and how to evaluate and create effective presentations on topics in new media. Questioning New Media: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Required of all students in the Designated Emphasis in New Media
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 2 hours of colloquium per week
Terms offered: Fall 2014
In this methods course we will study key languages of new media innovation, ranging from flow charts to scripting languages and circuit diagrams. Our study method involves the creation and application of sensing devices in an urban context, and engages students in establishing chains of references which connect ground truth to data, data to information, information to people, people to actions, and actions to policies. Taking into account technical, political, cultural and literacy questions we seek to connect our data production work with information needs of underserved communities in the Bay Area region. New Media Methods: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 9 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 5 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Critical Making will operationalize and critique the practice of “making” through both foundational literature and hands on studio culture. As hybrid practitioners, students will develop fluency in readily collaging and incorporating a variety of physical materials and protocols into their practice. Students will envision and create future computational experiences that critically explore social and culturally relevant technological themes. No previous technical knowledge is required to take this course. Class projects involve basic programming, electronic circuitry, and digital fabrication design. Tutorials and instruction will be provided, but students will be expected to develop basic skills in these areas to complete course projects. Critical Making: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 8 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 4 hours of studio per week 10 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of studio per week
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2019
Critical Practices is a hands-on studio design course where students work at the intersection of technological innovation and socially engaged art. Students will integrate a suite of digital fabrication tools with social design methods to create work that engages in cultural critique. Working with innovative technologies and radical, new art practices, this course will explore: hybrid art forms, critical design for community engagement, interventions in public spaces, tactical media, and disobedient objects. These new making strategies will reframe our notions of people, places and participation.
Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
From postcards and maps to mobile phones, this course considers the history and future of locative media, as technological, situated, and navigational ways of expressing and understanding space, location, and bodies.
This is a theory and making course. It is designed to help students traverse the nuances between a) critically engaging with theoretical ideas and implementing the questions that they raise into their practice and b) critically engaging with the technological production of space and place, and implementing the questions that it raises into theory. Locative Media: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 4.5 hours of seminar per week 12 weeks - 4 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
This course explores the theory and practice of Tangible User Interfaces, a new approach to Human Computer Interaction that focuses on the physical interaction with computational media. The topics covered in the course include theoretical framework, design examples, enabling technologies, and evaluation of Tangible User Interfaces. Students will design and develop experimental Tangible User Interfaces using physical computing prototyping tools and write a final project report. Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
This course will cover new interface metaphors beyond desktops (e.g., for mobile devices, computationally enhanced environments, tangible user interfaces) but will also cover visual design basics (e.g., color, layout, typography, iconography) so that we have systematic and critical understanding of aesthetically engaging interfaces. Students will get a hands-on learning experience on these topics through course projects, design critiques, and discussions, in addition to lectures and readings. Interface Aesthetics: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
See Schedule of Classes for current section offerings. Topics deal with new media and related issues. Special Topics in New Media: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 3 weeks - 5-15 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of lecture per week 10 weeks - 1.5-4.5 hours of lecture per week
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of seminar and 1-2 hours of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-6 hours of seminar and 2.5-4 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 2-4.5 hours of seminar and 2-3 hours of discussion per week 10 weeks - 1.5-3 hours of seminar and 1.5-3 hours of discussion per week 12 weeks - 1.5-2.5 hours of seminar and 1.5-2.5 hours of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Individual study or research with Center for New Media- affiliated faculty. This course provides the opportunity to search out and study in detail subjects unavailable in the ordinary course offerings. Unit credit will reflect conparable work per unit as regular courses, and will include both meetings with faculty sponsor and independent work. Individual Study or Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of independent study per week
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