University of Regina launches new degree, diploma options
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“The reason I took this program is because you can do so many different things, so it’s exciting that they’re adding more that you can do,” student Kadence Meredith said.
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Growing up, fourth-year University of Regina (U of R) computer science student Kadence Meredith loved making art, especially if it included technology.
That’s why the U of R’s Creative Technologies program stood out to her when she was looking at her post-secondary options.
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The program includes multiple disciplines and platforms such as interactive media and installation, visual communication and graphic design, virtual and augmented reality, 3D animation, sound art, mobile app design and development, and computer gaming. According to the U of R, it’s the only program of its kind in Saskatchewan and the other prairie provinces.
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“This program is a great blend of exploring my creative interests while also developing logical problem solving skills, and getting a knowledge of culture, media and project management,” Meredith said at the U of R on Friday.
“While this program is a media, arts and performance program, there are opportunities to explore other interests by studying complementary disciplines like some of my classmates studying business or film or, in my case, computer science.”
Meredith has been studying creative coding, building interactive installations, and doing professional research on artificial intelligence.
“This has all set me up to pursue grad school, continue my research and keep creating.”
A new degree and two diploma options in the creative technologies and design program area were launched by the Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance (MAP) on Friday, including a Bachelor of Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Technologies, and a two-year Diploma in Creative Technologies.
“I’m so excited. The reason I took this program is because you can do so many different things, so it’s exciting that they’re adding more that you can do,” Meredith said. “It also shows that the program is growing which is awesome because I just feel like everyone should experience this.”
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Charity Marsh, program coordinator for Creative Technologies & Design and professor in the faculty of MAP, said before the expansion, the program only offered a bachelor of arts within Creative Technologies, and that it’s exciting to see the program expanding and providing more opportunities for students.
Marsh said the program is unique because students can receive a two-year diploma in creative technology or computer science at other institutions and then earn a bachelor’s degree in the Creative Technologies & Design program at the U of R.
“So within two years you have a degree, so you have a diploma and a degree which sets you apart in a lot of different ways and leads to even more career paths,” she said at Friday’s announcement, adding there are many different careers that can come from the program including app development, visual communication and graphic design, and design for augmented and virtual reality.
After the announcement, Meredith and other students in the program were able to showcase their projects.
Meredith has been working on her fourth-year capstone project — an interactive installation with the working title “Descendant” — for around a month. When a person stands in front of an interactive sensor, their silhouette will show up on one side of the screen. Meredith said the other side is “all about particle flow,” as people can interact with their environment.
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She was inspired by memories, the desire to hold onto them and eventually letting them go.
“As a fourth-year year university student it just feels like time is flying by, so I started with that concept and I was trying to find ways to visualize that while also using my coding skills and building interactive installations,” she said. “I learned about this software called TouchDesigner and that’s what let me to it where I can manipulate real time media.”
Meredith also showed a group project that she worked on last year, called panoramic turntables. She said the project, which allows people to hear sound when they touch different parts of a three records, is all about play and interactive media.
Each record is decorated with the same painting, with each one getting slightly more abstract. The first record plays raw audio, while the others become more abstract, as the sound was warped and edited in post production.
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