The Bachelor of Fine Arts in New Media, Art & Technology (NMAT) combines tradition and innovation in a four-year, undergraduate degree for students desiring to develop practical skills and strong knowledge in areas including, but not limited to: digital media, web/mobile media, 2D & 3D studio art & design, virtual media, and emergent media. Students will develop effective art and design skills across both traditional and digital media, preparing them for a variety of career paths and the possibility of pursuing graduate education. Students will experience a robust set core of courses in New Media, Art, & Technology with interactions with all the faculty in the program. This mentorship process and system will help them develop an academic strategy to further tailor their educational paths and to customize the degree to their own interests and career plans. Students can choose from either the Design or Studio Track. The progressive curriculum offers skills, knowledge, and in-service learning; providing valuable pathways into many occupations, including graphic design, illustration, publishing, commercial art, fine art, web design and development, videography, cinematography, and photography. 

The major consists of 84 credit hours of courses in New Media, Art, & Technology, divided amongst a required core, courses within a chosen concentration, art history/theory/philosophy, and senior capstone. At IU Kokomo, the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in New Media, Art, & Technology features an innovative multidisciplinary approach, with coursework taught by faculty from a variety of fields. Coursework includes topics such as digital imaging, web design, printmaking, graphic design, painting, sculpture, 2D and 3D studio art, video and photography, portfolio development and internships. In addition, all students are encouraged to tailor their coursework and to focus on their particular interests and goals. 

Mission

New Media, Art, & Technology is a program that prepares students to be critical, adaptive, inquisitive, effective, and creative thinkers and makers, communicators, and problem-solvers, able to succeed as relevant professionals in a multitude of established and emerging fields. 

Goals

Students who complete the program will:

• understand how to produce industry-standard media works and professional-level fine artwork.
• have the practical and theoretical knowledge to critique artworks.
• possess the verbal, historical and theoretical knowledge to present their work to a variety of audiences.
• produce a written thesis and a small portfolio of their work suitable for advancement within their chosen field.

Requirements

1. Fulfillment of Campus General Education Requirements (36 hours) 

2. All New Media, Art, & Technology courses (NMAT or FINA) require a C grade or higher to count toward the major or minor.

3. As a method to ensure student success and to better prepare students for the workforce and/or graduate programs, students will need a late-model Windows or Macintosh laptop computer. Please read the IU ComputerGuide (computerguide.iu.edu) for recommendations and assistance. The UITS-Kokomo IT Training Center provides assistance with software installation and also tutoring assistance to students for computer technology issues. Visit iuware.iu.edu to download up-to-date software, available at NO CHARGE.

4. New Media, Art, & Technology BFA Core Foundation (27 hours)

All students earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in New Media, Art, & Technology must take:

• NMAT-F 101 Drawing Foundations (3 cr.)
• NMAT-F 102 2D Design / Color Theory (3 cr.)
• NMAT F 103 3D Foundations (3 cr.)
• NMAT-F 250 Connected Foundations (3 cr.)
• NMAT-D 216 Studio in Digital Media I (3 cr.)
• NMAT-D 257 Graphic Design I (3 cr.)
• NMAT-S 230 Painting 1 (3 cr.)
• NMAT-S 240 Intro to Printmaking Media (3 cr.)
• NMAT-S 270 Sculpture 1: Theory and Practice (3 cr.)

The NMAT faculty will review students in the New Media, Art, and Technology degrees after the completion of the foundation program. This 200-level review will require students to submit physical and digital works from each of the foundation topics covered in NMAT-F 101, 102, 103, 250, 216, 257. 230, 240, and 270. Students will need to save and document their work throughout their freshman and sophomore years in order to properly prepare for the review. The comprehensive review will help students understand their strengths, weaknesses, and direction within the program.

5. New Media, Art, & Technology BFA Concentration Areas

Choose Design Track or Studio Track (36 credits in NMAT) 

Students work with faculty and advisors to customize their own plan within the concentration.

The Design Track features characteristics that are considered critical to the design process in general and prepare students pursuing careers in a design field such as graphic design or web design. It is focused on, but not limited to: client/organization based art/design in graphics, video/photography, web, illustration, and commercial art.  Students participate in work across all media, but must complete at least 15 credits of 300 or 400 level NMAT courses. 

The Studio Track features characteristics of studio arts practice in general and prepares students pursuing a particular art practice along with a research agenda and thesis that outlines the creative research and conceptual agenda associated with the creative practice. This process intends to prepare the student for serious pursuit of an MFA degree or to become an entrepreneurial artist. Students participate in work across all media but must complete at least 15 credits of 300 or 400 level NMAT courses.  

• NMAT-G 346 Classics in Philosophy of Art (3 cr.)
• NMAT-G 405 Concepts and Images (3 cr.)
• 9 credits of art history

Students in the design track must take NMAT-H258 History of Graphic Design as one of their 3 art history courses.

Students in the studio track must take FINA-A354 Contemporary Art: 1960 to the Present as one of their 3 art history courses.

• NMAT-G 491 Professional Practices (3 cr.)
• NMAT-G 499 Senior Thesis Capstone (3 cr.)