Academic Program Proposal

Date Proposal Activated	Institution and Proposal	Degree Awarded	Academic Program Name	Objection Deadline	MHEC Final Action	Final Decision Date
3/3/2016	University of Maryland College Park Proposal	PBC	Digital Studies in the Arts and Humanities	5/2/2016	Approved	6/29/2016
Digital Studies in the Arts and Humanities Program Description
University of Maryland, College Park is proposing to offer a new stand-alone Post-Baccalaureate Certificate titled:  Digital Studies in the Arts and Humanities.  The 15-credit hour program will allow Arts and Humanities graduate students to bridge their academic studies with knowledge of digital tools, theory and resources that are used in their discipline.  The curriculum includes new forms of digital media and identity.  Students will engage in creative practices utilizing digital media and apply computational tools and techniques to areas of traditional humanistic study or artistic practice.  Appropriate electives will emphasize digital methodologies.  The curriculum incorporates a three-credit praxis course within an arts and humanities discipline.  The types of student activities will vary depending on the student’s academic field but the projects could include using text mining algorithms to analyze a corpus containing thousands of documents, applying new critical approaches to online media or representation, and using 3D animation to construct an immersive environment for the study of a historically significant space or place.  Data visualization, geographic information systems and 3D animation are other areas that can be applied in traditional arts and humanities fields.