The Creative Media & Digital Culture Program offers a major and a formal minor program of study leading to the Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.) in Digital Technology and Culture (DTC). Additionally, students pursuing a B.A. in the Humanities or a B.A. in Social Sciences can select the DTC as a primary or secondary area of concentration. In all cases, The Creative Media & Digital Culture Program teaches students to conceptualize interactive, multimedia applications of computer technology and think critically about digital media and the ways humans interact and engage with them.

Through input from its stakeholders, including faculty, students, and an advisory committee comprised of community leaders from business and non-profit organizations, the CMDC Program has set five "Standards of Excellence."


Students in the program are asked to:

1. Envision, imagine and invent digital media objects that do not yet exist in the world and, in creating them, understand the importance to reflect upon their potential impact upon the people and cultures for which they are made and by which they will be used
2. Engage in the rigorous examination of assumptions and values about the self, others, and the world in order to advance knowledge and promote wisdom for bettering the environment and human condition
3. Communicate ideas and viewpoints clearly, elegantly, and creatively with a variety of technologies and modes of expression
4. Delight in discovery and experimentation, recognizing that leadership in innovation demands courage and curiosity and requires an understanding of many forms of and approaches to knowledge
5. Place civic engagement and service to the community at the heart of creation and innovation

Students are able to attain excellence by participating in class activities and extracurricular experiences offered through the Program. Additionally, the CMDC Program has linked the Standards of Excellence with 10 "Program Objectives" taught throughout its curriculum.


At the completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Technology and Culture, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate competency with computers for designing and distributing digital works in various mediums for effective human-computer interactions
2. Synthesize media forms for multimedia contexts
3. Employ the principles of visual form for sophisticated image manipulation
4. Understand the production and assessment of media objects
5. Identify and explain key principles of information architecture, effectively manage knowledge for both information retrieval and archival purposes, and evaluate and choose appropriate information architecture and knowledge management strategies for a given situation
6. Question the way digital media functions in multiple cultural contexts
7. Recognize various forms of language processing and their implications for media authoring
8. Appreciate the history of technological development, from local to global perspectives, and its implications for a variety of mediums
9. Utilize an interdisciplinary perspective in order to understand the basics of social, economic, and education changes brought about by digital media
10. Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums

For a downloadable document containing The CMDC's 10 Goals & Objectives, the five Standards of Excellence, nine Guiding Principles, etc., go here.

The B.A. in Digital Technology and Culture (DTC) offers 27 credit hours of core courses as well as 12 credit hours in one of two tracks: Media Authoring and Knowledge Management and Production. While many courses are specifically designed as DTC courses, some also come from such disciplines as Anthropology, Business, Computer Science, English, Fine Arts, History, MIS, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology so that students receive a well-rounded education in culture as well as in digital technology.

Along with exploring the theories underlying digital technology, DTC students can gain experience in areas such as web design, 2 and 3D animation, video production, social media, GPS technology, database management, live interactive performance, game development, and digital installations/exhibits. In the last year of the program, students take the Senior Seminar, aimed at enhancing skills for careers involving digital technology or preparation for graduate study.

Click here to see the Course Requirements for the B.A. in Digital Technology and Culture. A downloadable document of this plan is available in the Links section of this website. You can also receive information about the DTC Minor or learn more about a 1st Concentration or 2nd Concentration in DTC.

We welcome you to contact us directly. The Academic Advisor, Teresa Phimister, can assist with general university requirements and can be reached at 360-546-9664, phimister@vancouver.wsu.edu. The Program Director, Dr. Dene Grigar, can provide guidance with specific program information, courses, and career advice at 360-546-9487, dgrigar@vancouver.wsu.edu.

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