Course Requirements
Prerequisite Course
The DCMA program requires students to have the skills necessary for design proficiency. Students may test out of this prerequisite.
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DMA 402 | INTRO TO VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS PRINCIPLES | 4 |
Core Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CMNS 570 | INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL CMN | 4 |
| DMA 525 | FOUNDATION OF DIGITAL MEDIA | 4 |
| DMA 527 | CREATIVE PROCESS AND STRATEGY | 4 |
| MPOP 575 | DIGITAL MEDIA ETHICS | 4 |
Advanced Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DMA 530 | DESIGN THINKING AND STORYTELLING | 4 |
| DMA 535 | STORYTELLING ACROSS MEDIA | 4 |
Electives
Students are required to take sixteen (16) credit hours of elective courses: eight (8) credit hours from the College of CDM Electives and eight (8) credit hours from the College of Communication Electives. The three focus areas (Narrative Craft, Emerging Media, and Design Strategy) within each list are meant to cluster the electives to help students build meaningful skill sets.
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| College of CDM Electives | 8 | |
| Narrative Craft | ||
| DMA 490 | PORTFOLIO | |
| DMA 590 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA ARTS | |
| GAM 462 | RITUAL, MYTH AND GAMES | |
| INTD 430 | SPECULATIVE DESIGN FUTURES | |
| Emerging Media | ||
| DMA 490 | PORTFOLIO | |
| DMA 590 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA ARTS | |
| GAM 469 | VIRTUAL REALITY GAME DEVELOPMENT | |
| GAM 479 | ADVANCED VIRTUAL REALITY GAME DEVELOPMENT | |
| HCD 442 | DESIGNING INTERFACES FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES (FORMERLY EXP 442) | |
| Design Strategy | ||
| DMA 490 | PORTFOLIO | |
| DMA 590 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA ARTS | |
| HCD 421 | DESIGN AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE | |
| HCD 440 | DESIGNING PLAYFUL EXPERIENCES (FORMERLY EXP 440) | |
| HCD 441 | DESIGNING LEARNING EXPERIENCES (FORMERLY EXP 441) | |
| HCD 480 | COLLABORATION STUDIO | |
| College of Communication Electives | 8 | |
| Narrative Craft | ||
| CMNS 524 | NARRATIVES IN HEALTH CARE | |
| JOUR 507 | VISUAL COMMUNICATION | |
| JOUR 515 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN JOURNALISM | |
| JOUR 522 | MULTIPLATFORM NEWS EDITING | |
| JOUR 526 | POLITICAL COMMUNICATION | |
| JOUR 545 | NEWS DOCUMENTARY | |
| MPOP 502 | MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES | |
| MPOP 520 | TOPICS IN MEDIA STUDIES | |
| MPOP 544 | TOPICS IN DOCUMENTARY STUDIES | |
| MPOP 550 | FANDOM AND ACTIVE AUDIENCES | |
| PRAD 540 | CRISIS COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT | |
| PRAD 551 | ADVERTISING AND COPYWRITING | |
| Emerging Media | ||
| CMNS 545 | COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY | |
| JOUR 520 | DATA JOURNALISM | |
| JOUR 542 | SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE NEWS | |
| MPOP 530 | NEW MEDIA AND CULTURE | |
| PRAD 595 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS & ADVERTISING | |
| Design Strategy | ||
| CMNS 512 | TOPICS IN APPLIED COMMUNICATION | |
| CMNS 582 | QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS | |
| JOUR 500 | REPORTING BOOTCAMP | |
| JOUR 544 | ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM | |
| MPOP 503 | CRITICAL ANALYSIS | |
| MPOP 506 | MEDIA LITERACY | |
| PRAD 515 | WRITING FOR A COMMUNICATION CAREER | |
| PRAD 540 | CRISIS COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT | |
| PRAD 556 | STRATEGIC PLANNING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS | |
| PRAD 585 | RESEARCH, DATA AND INSIGHTS | |
Thesis/Capstone
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DMA 695 | THESIS I | 4 |
| DMA 698 | THESIS II | 4 |
Master's Thesis Project
Students must complete a Master's Thesis Project as part of the degree requirements. Students have the option to work individually or collaboratively in groups of 2-4 for their Master’s Thesis Project.
The finishing requirement guideline for the Master's Thesis Project is as follows:
Thesis I & II Courses: Students must complete the Thesis I and Thesis II courses (each 4-credit) in the second year. They are required to work with the course instructor between two quarters to develop a self-directed project that implements creative storytelling and design approaches towards transmedia production.
External Advisor: In addition to the Thesis course instructor, students are required to find an external advisor that is not an existing faculty in the School of Design (SoD) at DePaul University to provide mentorship on their thesis project. The external advisor can be another faculty at DePaul University, a faculty at a different university, or a professional from industry. Students must meet at a minimum of 2 times with their external advisor.
Thesis Defense: Students are required to participate in a thesis defense at the end of Thesis II. The thesis defense committee will consist of 3 members, with at least one member from the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) and at least one member from outside of CDM. The committee chair must be a DCMA faculty and must hold a terminal degree. DCMA faculty will assist in the process of putting together the Thesis Defense Committee for each student.
Public Showcase: Students must present their thesis project in a public setting format. Formats can include exhibition, screening, workshop, public lecture, public discussion, etc. This should be developed with in conversation with DCMA faculty. Additionally, students are required to submit a 10 min presentation video of their thesis research and practice at the end of each Thesis course.
Writing: There are three components for writing, these are an in-depth project research report with detailed production plan, a reflection narrative about the student’s external advising experience, and a professional portfolio process book detailing the development process of the thesis project. For detailed guidelines for each of these documents, please see the section Writing Guidelines.
Students must have completed the necessary prerequisite classes and at least 8 courses (32 credit hours) in the DCMA program toward their 48 required credit hours (credits earned from Introductory Courses do not count toward the required total credits). Students should schedule a meeting with a faculty member to discuss the requirements.
Thesis milestones: