School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology
Doctor of Philosophy in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
60 semester credit hours minimum beyond the master's degree
Faculty
Professors: Anne Balsamo, Christine (xtine) Burrough, Paul Fishwick, Roger Malina, Dean Terry, Marilyn Waligore
Associate Professors: Olivia Banner, Heidi Cooley, Monica Evans, Eric Farrar, Todd Fechter, Sean McComber, Josef Nguyen, Andrew Scott
Assistant Professors: Kevin Sweet, Christine Veras, Hong An Wu
Professor Emeritus: Mihai Nadin
Clinical Professor: Tim Christopher
Overview
The PhD program in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication is designed for those who wish to engage in deep scholarship or to develop artistic, cultural, or commercial applications of digital technology and emerging media. With a diverse group of faculty and a curriculum that integrates scholarly study with creative practice, ATEC cultivates creative scholars, scholarly practitioners, and interdisciplinary researchers. The PhD in ATEC additionally prepares students to teach arts- and technology-related courses in colleges and universities. Students seeking a PhD in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication will normally complete a minimum of 60 semester credit hours (42 semester credit hours in coursework and 18 semester credit hours in dissertation) beyond a master's degree or its equivalent, pass doctoral field examinations, submit a dissertation proposal, and complete and defend a dissertation.
Students who have not previously completed six semester credit hours of coursework in computer programming are required to complete ATCM 6304.
Major Core Courses: 9 semester credit hours
ATCM 6000 ATEC Colloquium
ATCM 6300 Approaches to Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
ATCM 6301 Aesthetics of Interactive Arts
ATCM 7331 Research Methodology in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
Students are expected to complete ATCM 6300 in their first semester and the remainder of these courses within the first 18 semester credit hours in their degree plan.
Prescribed Electives in ATEC Research Methodologies: 3 semester credit hours
ATCM 6361 Design Research Methods
ATCM 6376 Media and Cultural Studies Methods
ATCM 6390 Social Science Research Methods in Emerging Communication
ATCM 7332 Creative Practice Research Methods
Prescribed Electives in Methods-intensive ATEC Courses: 3 semester credit hours
ATCM 6304 Computer Processing for Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
ATCM 6326 Research in Sound Design
ATCM 6352 Socially Conscious Games
ATCM 6366 Information Architecture and Design
ATCM 6371 Visualization Research
ATCM 6375 Critical Approaches to Emerging Media Studies
ATCM 6377 Creativity as Social Practice
ATCM 6386 Digital Textuality
ATCM 6387 Emerging Media Studio
ATCM 6388 Critical Making
Recommended Electives: 15 semester credit hours
Fifteen semester credit hours in any graduate course in ATEC. The suggested courses below may be of particular interest to doctoral students:
ATCM 6322 Experimental Interactive Media
ATCM 6335 Game Design and Development
ATCM 6371 Visualization Research
ATCM 6383 Digital Culture
ATCM 6386 Digital Textuality
ATCM 6389 Special Topics in Networked Cultures
ATCM 6390 Social Science Research Methods in Emerging Communication
ATCM 6395 Special Topics in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
ATCM 7340 Advanced Studies in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
ATCM 7390 Advanced Special Topics in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
ATCM 7620 Advanced Projects in Simulation and Game Design
ATCM 7V81 Advanced Doctoral Project Workshop
ATCM 7V82 Advanced Projects in Interactive Media
Free Electives: 12 semester credit hours
Twelve semester credit hours of electives in any organized graduate-level courses offered by ATEC or in any organized 6000- or 7000- level courses offered by the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology; Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science; School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences; Naveen Jindal School of Management, School of Economic; Political and Policy Sciences; School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; or School of Interdisciplinary Studies. All free electives are subject to approval by the Graduate Advisor.
Doctoral Field Examinations
After completing 36 semester credit hours of coursework applicable to the degree plan, students may proceed to the doctoral field examinations, a sequence consisting of three written sections and one oral section that takes place over the course of one month. The exam covers material from the ATEC Common Exam (ACE) list and three field-specific bibliographies. The examining committee, composed of three members of the graduate faculty, oversees definition and preparation of the three examination fields within guidelines established by the program.
Dissertation (18 semester credit hours minimum)
Students are formally advanced to PhD candidacy when they have successfully completed the doctoral field examinations and received final approval for their dissertation from the four-person supervising committee and the ATEC Graduate Studies Committee.
Each candidate then writes a doctoral dissertation, which is supervised and defended according to general University regulations. Every student must register for a minimum of nine dissertation semester credit hours in two successive semesters and must maintain continuous enrollment thereafter for at least three semester credit hours during consecutive long semesters until the degree is completed. Any exception to this requirement is granted only by petition to the school's Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.