Spartan Daily

New "Art, Media and Technology" degree in the works, SJSU's Office of the Provost wants fewer units for approval

Professors from the department of art and design are working on a new degree called "Art, Media, and Technology."

“In the real art world, sculpture and digital art have never really been completely separated,” associate professor Shannon Wright said. 

Head of the spatial art area, Wright said she has been working for years with students in digital media art.

Joel Slayton, a professor who started the digital media art program 25 years ago, has been working with a lot of spatial art students over the years,  Wright said.

Students were also a huge part of how the idea manifested, according to digital media professor James Morgan.

“Our spatial students were building things, but they were also wanting to create websites,”  Morgan said.

The same went for digital media students wanting to create physical art.

"In their Capstone gallery projects, they would be involved with a gallery show and would have to fabricate something to display with what they were working with," said Morgan.

"I think it's interesting, and my boyfriend is a video game design major," said Sadie Navarro, freshman fine arts major.

Morgan said it was a "no-brainer" to include both sets of skills in the same degree program, because they were learning them anyway.

“From my standpoint, I think sculptures shouldn’t just get to work with old school processes and be oblivious to computer things because computers are ubiquitous now,” Wright said.

A year and a half ago, the professors started the process of putting the program through the curriculum committee, according to Wright.

“It would create a new merged program that would allow students to become skilled in both making things with traditional techniques," she said. "This could include metal casting, woodworking, ceramics, glass (all a part of spatial art)."

The students can also learn to make videos, interactive digital work and can play with robotics as well asbecome more contemporary artists in general and vice versa, Wright said.

People that make sculpture include electronic components or digital components, she said.

“They might have video elements in their artwork or they might make interactive things where you walk in and maybe you trigger a motion detector, for example, that causes something to happen,” Morgan said.

In digital art, there has been a move towards doing it yourself, she said.

"A bunch of people converge that are interested in making thing," she said. " People who might have been really computer oriented are now starting to drift towards wanting to use computer numerically controlled equipment like laser cutters and CNC routers."

A Computerized Numerical Control is a tool to control machine tools through computer data, such as using a laser for wood-cutting, according to Wright.

The program was enthusiastically supported all the way through the curriculum review processes, Wright said.

"But there was one hitch, which was that programs were not being approved that have more than 120 units. We now have to lose a few of the units. We have to organize it in a way that makes sense," she said.

The proposal was turned down by the provost in December, according to undergraduate studies associate vice president Dennis Jaehne.

"Justification for programs to continue to require more than 120 units shall include, at the time of the next regularly scheduled program review, documentation of accreditation requirements, or of specified needs from employers or graduate or professional schools, or of other compelling needs," according to theAcademic Senate's policy recommendation in 2001.

There's a long process that needs to happen, according to Morgan.

"We need to make sure that this isn’t going to impact our accreditation as an art school," he said. "We need to make sure we can actually change the number of unit’s we’re working with so we can actually create a program that’s viable and valuable as a professional degree (BFA)."

Spatial art and digital media are already converging, according to Morgan.

"You’ve got a laser cutter or a wood router that depends on digital files," Morgan said. "So is that a digital media class, or is that a sculpture class? Really, it’s both."

"By combining (digital media) with the spatial area, we’re really looking forward to contemporary manufacturing processes," Morgan said.

"I feel like creating new experiences is good for people," animation/illustration major Mina Armanii said. "Neither is better than the other."

"Most BFAs are 132 units, but new degrees cost money. Administration should support it, and it seems unfair," Armanii said.

However, Morgan is not discouraged by the setback.

“We just have to go back and recalculate and rebuild the program,” Morgan said. "It’s not tragic, but it’s just a difficulty.”