The Berkeley Center for New Media is a cross-disciplinary research and teaching program that offers its own graduate courses, recommends related courses, and encourages research collaborations to enhance the intellectual community of UC Berkeley scholars interested in new media.
BCNM’s Designated Emphasis (D.E.) program is for selected UC Berkeley Ph.D. students from any Berkeley home department with research interests in new media. It is supplemental to the Ph.D. program in the regular departments, and provides enhanced skills in analyzing and/or designing future media with an awareness of historical, social, cultural, and other perspectives that might not be visible from any single disciplinary point of view. Upon completion of all requirements and the dissertation, your transcript and diploma will read “Ph.D. in [Home Department] with Designated Emphasis in New Media.”’
Please note: Students must apply for the D.E. at least 3 months before their Ph.D. Qualifying Exam.
The course requirements are in addition to, but may overlap with, the Ph.D. course requirements of your home department. Courses for the Designated Emphasis in New Media must be taken for a Letter Grade (LG), not as Pass/No Pass (P/NP).
Course requirements for the Designated Emphasis in New Media have changed. If you are currently pursuing the DE in New Media, you have the option of switching your program to the new requirements. If you would like to continue with the course plan you filed when you entered the program, click here.
The BCNM is cross-disciplinary and builds on three areas of inquiry: Humanities (H), Technology (T) and Art/Design (A). Some experience with all three is required. BCNM DE students must therefore complete the following three core courses:
It is possible to provide evidence of equivalent level of experience/skill in an area and request a waiver of a core course by writing a petition to the D.E. Academic Program Committee, endorsed by your program advisor, describing how the requirement has been met with a previous course (include a copy of your transcript to confirm completion) or provide evidence of equivalent experience. Questions about the core requirements may be addressed to the BCNM Graduate Advisor, Coye Cheshire, at coye@berkeley.edu.
D.E. students must enroll in an additional two classes that significantly deal with new media. Courses should be three or four credits, and must be approved by the BCNM Graduate Advisor. Use the DE Course Requirements Worksheet to file these courses with the program.
Your Ph.D. Qualifying Exam Committee must include at least one member of the BCNM Graduate Group / Affiliated Faculty who will evaluate your knowledge related to the Designated Emphasis. Your Ph.D. dissertation topic must be related to New Media and your Ph.D. Dissertation Committee must include at least one member of the BCNM Graduate Group / Affiliated Faculty who can evaluate it from that perspective.
Interested students should apply at least 3 months before their Ph.D. qualifying exams. Applications are accepted twice a year: November 1 and March 1. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision within one month of the deadline.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of training and research in the BCNM Designated Emphasis, and depending on your background, completion of the BCNM D.E. could add one or possibly two additional semesters to your total program. Please note that no additional time can be added to your home department’s established normative “time to degree” to compensate for this.
Any UC Berkeley Ph.D. student in good standing may apply. Admission to the BCNM Designated Emphasis program is determined by the BCNM DE Academic Programs Committee. Applications are accepted twice a year, for Fall and Spring admittance to the program. Applications for Fall 2017 admission are now closed. Spring 2018 applications will be due November 1, 2017.
To apply, please fill in this form and submit the following materials in hard copy to the BCNM office in 426 Sutardja Dai Hall, or scan and email them to lara@berkeley.edu:
BCNM DE students are required to complete the following two core courses:
The BCNM is cross-disciplinary and builds on three areas of inquiry: Humanities (H), Technology (T) and Art/Design (A). Some experience with all three is required based on completing three relevant graduate courses offered at Berkeley. To complete the Breadth requirements for the D.E., students must identify and complete one Berkeley graduate course relevant to each area. It is possible to provide evidence of equivalent level of experience/skill in an area and request a waiver of a breadth course by writing a petition to the D.E. Academic Program Committee, endorsed by your program advisor, describing how the requirement has been met with a previous course (include a copy of your transcript to confirm completion) or provide evidence of equivalent experience. Questions about the breath requirement may be addressed to the BCNM Graduate Advisor, Coye Cheshire, at coye@berkeley.edu.
Your Ph.D. Qualifying Exam Committee must include at least one member of the BCNM Graduate Group / Affiliated Faculty who will evaluate your knowledge related to the Designated Emphasis. Your Ph.D. dissertation topic must be related to New Media and your Ph.D. Dissertation Committee must include at least one member of the BCNM Graduate Group / Affiliated Faculty who can evaluate it from that perspective.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of training and research in the BCNM Designated Emphasis, and depending on your background, completion of the BCNM D.E. could add one or possibly two additional semesters to your total program. Please note that no additional time can be added to your home department’s established normative “time to degree” to compensate for this.
Interested students should apply at least 3 months before their Ph.D. qualifying exams. Applications are accepted twice a year: November 1 and March 1. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision within one month of the deadline.
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