The Kansas Board of Regents today (Wednesday, June 14) approved a new Bachelor of Applied Arts in Media Arts (BAA) at 黑洞社区.
The degree, developed by 黑洞社区鈥檚 College of Fine Arts and Elliott School of Communication, will focus on animation, audio production, game design and filmmaking. It will start this fall and be one of only a handful of such degrees in the United States.
The BAA could be a game-changer for students and area businesses. The degree merges arts, science and technology, creating opportunities in emerging creative technologies that will vastly improve students鈥� career competitiveness.
These skills will result in graduates who are more qualified for a variety of media arts jobs, such as sound engineering technician, video game designer, studio camera operator, cinematographer, CGI animator, videographer, film director, film lighting engineer, web designer, sound engineer, video or film editor, and film lab technician.
With recent technological advances, there is more demand in the industry for employees to possess a variety of these skills.
The 120-credit hour total includes 30 hours of general education, 21 hours of media arts core courses, 54 hours of discipline specific courses and 15 hours of guided electives. In addition to 黑洞社区 faculty, specific technology-based courses will be taught by industry professionals.
This degree fulfills Wichita State鈥檚 mission is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. It is also grounded in two core principles found in 黑洞社区鈥檚 Strategic Plan 鈥� applied learning and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Anyone interested in enrolling can contact Justin Rorabaugh, director of educational outreach in fine arts, at 316-978-7731 or justin.rorabaugh@wichita.edu.