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Ira A. Fulton School
of Engineering
Herberger College
of Fine Arts
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TRANSDISCIPLINARY GRADUATE TRAINING:
MAS Ph.D. students train in translating, transporting and combining knowledge across disciplines for the development of innovative experiential media systems and accompanying theoretical models. The degree structure includes transdisciplinary media courses through AME, elective-course credits relating to the student’s research interests and substantial research and dissertation hours devoted to collaborative research within the AME network. Active participation in the AME interdisciplinary research teams allows MAS Ph.D. students to gain and contribute expertise in knowledge fusion.
Media, Arts and Sciences (MAS) PhD
A. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION
- A.1 Who is the degree for? What is the focus of the degree?
- A.2 Which unit offers and confers the degree?
- A.3 Learning outcomes of the MAS PhD
B. DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
- B.1 Number and breakdown of credit hours
- B.2 Coursework (39 credit hours)
- B.3 Research (33 credit hours)
- B.4 Comprehensive Exam
- B.5 Dissertation (12 credits hours)
- B.5.1 Dissertation committees
- B.5.2 Dissertation proposal
- B.5.3 Realization of proposed system and written thesis
- B.5.4 Defense
- B.6 Satisfactory progress and maximum time to degree
- B.7 Advanced standing
C. ADMISSION
- C.1 Admissions criteria
- C.2 Admission Process
- C.3 Financial Assistance
D. Questions/Contact
Media, Arts and Sciences (MAS) PhD
A. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION
- A.1 Who is the degree for? What is the focus of the degree?
The MAS PhD provides a pathway for the training of transdisciplinary media experts who specialize in knowledge fusion for media development. The MAS PhD also provides students with arts backgrounds the opportunity for high-end specialization in media development.
- A.2 Which unit offers and confers the degree?
The PhD in Media Arts and Sciences is awarded jointly by the Herberger College of Fine Arts and the Fulton School of Engineering through the Arts, Media and Engineering Program.
- A.3 Learning outcomes of the MAS PhD
Students graduating with a MAS PhD from AME will:
- Have a broad understanding of each of the four constituting areas of experiential media (Sensing, Perception and Modeling, Interaction and Feedback, Experiential Construction and Knowledge Evaluation)
- Be able to successfully integrate knowledge across the constituting areas for the creation of media systems of societal significance
- Have the computational and creative skills necessary for participating in media system development and implementation
- Be able to create and coordinate interdisciplinary teams for the development of an experiential media system
- Be able to test and evaluate media systems in real-life situations
- Be able to generalize the knowledge resulting from the development of a system into broad theoretical principles for experiential media
- Be able to generate high quality publications, presentations, inventions and products
- Be qualified to obtain positions in a variety of media, scientific, engineering and cultural venues
B. DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
- B.1 Number and breakdown of credit hours
The MAS PhD is a post-bachelor’s program requiring 84 credit hours. 39 of the credit hours will be from coursework, 33 from research, and 12 from dissertation work.
- B.2 Coursework (39 credit hours)
Required courses (30 credit hours): The 30 required course credits will be from the transdisciplinary media courses offered by AME. All students will be required to take at least two courses under each of the 5 constituting areas of experiential media (30 hours). The selection of the two courses under the introductory category will depend on the student’s entrance competencies (for example, students with an engineering background might be asked to take the history of media arts course and the media theory course). With the approval of the student’s advisor, up to one of the required ten AME courses (3 credit hours) can be substituted by another graduate level course offered by a collaborating department. One more of the required courses (3 credit hours) can be substituted by an independent study course (AME 790), again with the approval of the advisor.
Electives (9 credit hours): The 9 hours of elective credit can be from any graduate level courses offered at ASU. The selection of the courses will relate to the student’s research and application interests and will require the approval of the student’s advisor.
- B.3 Research (33 credit hours)
MAS PhD students, are expected to be research active throughout the realization of their degree. It is thus expected that students will be enrolled in a minimum of 3 research hours per semester [(4 years X 6 credits per year) + (1 years X 9 credits) = 33].
For all MAS PhD students, both general research credits and research assistantships will relate to work on projects from our common research/applications agenda. Like all graduate students in AME, MAS PhD students will work at the cross section of a research sub-area and an application area. The majority of MAS students will usually work in the experiential construction research area; specializing on integrating constituting types of knowledge for the creation of an experiential media system. A smaller number might work in one of the other four research areas if they have the necessary undergraduate background. The students’ application area will relate to their interests and background. Each student will be assigned a research and application area advisor from the faculty leading the research and application groups in which the student will participates. The primary advisor will be an AME faculty who will also be the academic advisor. The co-advisor can be any of the AME faculty or AME affiliated faculty. At the end of each semester the two advisors will submit a joint evaluation for the student that will assess the student’s academic and work performance.
During the planning and realization of their dissertation, MAS PhD students will have the opportunity to create and manage their own team for the realization of an original application task or a subtask of an existing application activity. This opportunity will only be given to students who can demonstrate that they have a workable plan. This opportunity will give the students extensive hands-on experience with integration of different types of knowledge for the creation of a new mediated system and with team management. Students who do not wish to head a new team can center their dissertation on feathering of an existing application task working with members of an existing team. In the written part of their dissertation, MAS students will be expected to include a section that generalizes their knowledge integration and team management experience and proposes improved or novel knowledge fusion models for the creation of experiential media and/or new theoretical foundations for experiential media.
- B.4 Comprehensive Exam
When nearing completion of their coursework students will have to pass a comprehensive exam. The exam will test whether students have a broad understanding of each of the five constituting areas of experiential media and of the connections that exist between them. Comprehensive exam committees must include the student’s research and application advisors and a third AME faculty from a different research and application area. Reference lists (books, media, and software) to be used for preparing for the examination are set by the examination committee at least six months ahead of examination date. Comprehensive exams will include a written section (essays or questions on the material). They may also include an oral section (questions and discussion with the student). Comprehensive exams are scheduled by AME’s education coordinator.
- B.5 Dissertation (12 credits hours)
The dissertation stage consists of four sub-stages:
- Forming the dissertation committee
- Writing the proposal and approval by dissertation committee
- Realization of the proposed media system and writing of thesis
- Defense
A student must register for 12 credits of dissertation. Those credits must be split between at least two semesters. A student can register for dissertation credits only after the student’s dissertation proposal has been approved and the comprehensive examination has been passed.
- B.5.1 Dissertation committees
Upon successful completion of their comprehensive exams, students may form their dissertation committee and prepare their dissertation proposal. Dissertation committees must include the student’s research and application advisors, one more ASU faculty and up to two members external to ASU. The make up of the dissertation committee must be submitted by the student’s research advisor for approval by the AME faculty or graduate education committee.
- B.5.2 Dissertation proposal
The proposal must show innovation and significant contribution to experiential media development, further the research activities of the student’s groups, and show possible paths for extensibility of his/her work beyond the scope of the dissertation. The proposal may suggest a new research approach to an existing application task of the AME common research/application agenda or suggest a new application task. The proposal must also show that the interdisciplinary group necessary for realizing this task has been identified and is committed to realizing the project and that the student has the necessary knowledge and background for the realization of the project. Proposals must be submitted to the dissertation committee (through the education coordinator) at least 15 days ahead of the dissertation proposal review date. Dissertation proposal review dates are scheduled by the education coordinator.
- B.5.3 Realization of proposed system and written thesis
PhD dissertations must result in:
• An operating, innovative experiential media system inspired by a need of societal significance (societal impact must be shown), which has been developed by an interdisciplinary team and has been tested in real-life situations.
• An accompanying written dissertation that presents the theory behind the system, presents the system structure and the development procedure, places the system and theory in the context of previous and current work, explains and supports the need for the system and its intended uses, presents the evaluation and validation procedures and results, suggests paths or models for generalizing the knowledge resulting from the system and its development procedure and paths for extending the work beyond the scope of the dissertation.
- B.5.4 Defense
The dissertation committee reviews progress on both the system and written dissertation and when appropriate contacts the education coordinator for scheduling the first reading and defense dates. The education coordinator works with the student and committee to schedule 1st reading and defense dates. The first reading and defense dates must be at least 30 days apart. A close to final version of the system and dissertation must be submitted to the committee at least 15 days ahead of the 1st reading date. Committee members will provide written feedback to the student by the 1st reading date. The final version of the system and dissertation must be submitted to the committee 15 days ahead of defense date.
- B.6 Satisfactory progress and maximum time to degree
At the end of each year an evaluation of each MAS PhD student is jointly submitted by the research area and application area advisors (as well as academic advisor if different). The evaluation is based on:
- Academic progress: MAS students are expected to maintain a 3.25 grade point average or above. Students not maintaining this GPA will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and a recommendation regarding whether a student will be continued in the program will be made by their advisor.
- Participation and contributions to research/application groups.
- Progress in research output and deliverables. By the time of graduation, an MAS PhD student is expected to have compiled a research product record that, at minimum, includes 1 major* and 1 standard* research product in which the student has a leading role and 3 minor* research products in which the student has significant contributions. It is expected that this record will be achieved in a gradual, well-distributed manner throughout the course of the student’s PhD studies. The student’s annual progress should show satisfactory progress towards achieving this record. *Please see link for definitions of products.
A full time MAS PhD student is expected to finish her/his degree within 5 or 6 years from the start date. The maximum length of time allowed for degree completion for MAS PhD students is 7 academic years from the start date. A student must file a petition with the unit to extend their degree completion past 7 years.
- B.7 Advanced standing
Students may be allowed to apply up to 21 credit hours from a previously awarded master’s degree towards their MAS program degree requirements with committee and program director approval.
C. ADMISSION
- C.1 Admissions criteria
Domestic applicants to the Media Arts and Sciences program must hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution in order to be eligible to apply to the program. International applicants should see http://www.asu.edu/graduate/admissions/international.html for details regarding academic credentials requirements. The applicant’s field of study during the undergraduate program is not limited to fields considered closely related to media.
Each applicant must demonstrate entry-level competencies. This can be demonstrated primarily through a portfolio. The portfolio may include previously developed media products or projects and/or publications demonstrating an understanding of and involvement with digital media and computation. Entry level competency can also be partially demonstrated through coursework and may include such courses as: Media Authoring Tools, Computer Music, Computer Graphics and Animation, Media Theory, Film Theory, Multimedia Systems, Interactive Technologies, Signal Processing, Digital Design, Advanced Computer Programming courses. Additionally, the statement of purpose must show an understanding of current issues in digital media and computation, detail the applicant’s qualifications and experience relating to digital media and computation and explicate how this background has prepared them for the degree. The statement must also show an understanding of the transdisciplinary nature of the degree and provide well-supported reasons (career and educational goals) for wanting to pursue transdisciplinary study in experiential media.
Applicants will be required to submit an official ASU graduate application through the Division of Graduate Studies (http://www.asu.edu/graduate/admissions), an Arts, Media and Engineering supplemental application form, official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework(if applicable), official GRE scores, a curriculum vitae, statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation and a portfolio of supporting material (see above).
Regular admission may be granted to applicants who have achieved a grade point average of 3.25 (4.0 scale) or better in the last two years of work leading to the bachelor’s degree and who are competitive in the applicant pool as evidenced by their portfolio/supporting material, their statement of educational/career goals, the letters of recommendations and GRE verbal, quantitative, and analytical scores. International students also need to meet English proficiency and financial guarantee requirements as stated in the Graduate catalog and on the Division of Graduate Studies website (http://www.asu.edu/graduate/admissions/international.html).
An applicant who does not meet minimum academic standards for admission to the program may be considered for provisional admission, with the requirement that they address deficiencies in their entry-level competencies as indicated by the admissions committee in the offer letter. The offer letter will also indicate whether these deficiencies are to be addressed through specific courses or research and creative work and will also give a timetable for fulfilling these requirements.
- C.2 Admission Process
Applicants are required to submit an official ASU graduate application form (www.asu.edu/graduate/admissions), an Arts, Media and Engineering supplemental application form, official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework(if applicable), official GRE scores, a curriculum vitae, statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation and a portfolio of supporting material. Please see "Applying to MAS Program" for complete details regarding the admissions process.
- C.3 Financial Assistance
AME encourages students to utilize all available university resources for financial support. Information on financial support opportunities may be found on the ASU Division of Graduate Studies website.
When applying to the MAS program, students also may apply for an AME research assistantship or IGERT traineeship. Research assistantships and IGERT traineeships are specific to a cross-section of a research and application area within the common AME research agenda. If applying for an AME research assistantship or IGERT traineeship, students should indicate their preference for research and application areas in their statement of purpose chosen from the areas shown in the matrix. Students should also detail their qualifications and previous work relating to the areas they have chosen. Students may apply for any cross-section of research and application areas shown in the matrix. Cross-sections can be populated by more than one student. The preferred research and application areas should also be indicated on the student’s AME application cover page. Students are encouraged to discuss their research assistantship or IGERT traineeship application with the lead faculty corresponding to their areas of interest.
The NSF IGERT program at AME began in fall 2005. It supports the training of graduate students who are:
• Interested in integrated development of experiential media systems,
• U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and
• Enrolled in an AME science or engineering Ph.D. concentration or the MAS PhD program.
For more information on the IGERT, please see ame.asu.edu/nsf.
D. Questions/Contact
Please contact the AME Education Coordinator with any questions:
699 S Mill Ave. Suite 395
PO Box 878709
Tempe, AZ 85287-8709
V 480.965.2456 | F 480.965.0961
ameed@asu.edu
Use this button to see an online list of Graduate Faculty for the Media Arts and Sciences PhD:
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