Category Archives: Undergraduate

Courses for All IMA Students

Computer Systems Organization (CS-UH 2010)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed

The course focuses on understanding lower-level issues in computer design and programming. The course starts with the C programming language, moves down to assembly and machine-level code, and concludes with basic operating systems and architectural concepts. Students learn to read assembly code and reverse-engineer programs in binary. Topics in this course include the C programming language, data representation, machine-level code, memory organization and management, performance evaluation and optimization, and concurrency.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 General Elective IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Computer Networks (CS-UH 3012)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu,Fri

Have you ever wondered how the internet or Facebook is able to support a billion simultaneous users? This course teaches students the design and implementation of such Internet-scale networks and networked systems. Students learn about the principles and techniques used to construct large-scale networks and systems. Topics in this course include routing protocols, network congestion control, wireless networking, network security, and peer-to-peer systems. Upon completing this course, students are able to initiate and critique research ideas, implement their own working systems, and evaluate such systems. To make the issues more concrete, the class includes several multi-week projects requiring significant design and implementation. The goal is for students to learn not only what computer networks are and how they work today, but also why they are designed the way they are and how they are likely to evolve in the future. Examples are drawn primarily from the internet.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Discrete Mathematics (CS-UH 1002)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed,Tue,Thu

Discrete mathematics concerns the study of mathematical structures that are discrete rather than continuous, and provides a powerful language for investigating many areas of computer science. Discrete structures are characterized by distinct elements, which are often represented by integers. Continuous mathematics on the other hand deals with real numbers. Topics in this course include: sets, counting techniques, logic, proof techniques, solving recurrence relations, number theory, probability, statistics, graph theory, and discrete geometry. These mathematical tools are illustrated with applications in computer science.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Quantitative Reasoning Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Capstone Project in Computer Science 1 (CS-UH 4001)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Credits: 4
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Credits: 4
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Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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The capstone experience in Computer Science requires students to engage in a long-term, mentored learning experience that culminates in a piece of original work. The specific project is developed during the Research Seminar in Computer Science. During the Capstone Project, the proposed work comes to fruition in the form of a research paper along the lines of those in a scholarly computer science journal. Students also participate in a capstone research symposium during which they present their work orally.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Capstone Project in Computer Science 2 (CS-UH 4002)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Duration: 15 Weeks
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Continuation of CS-UH 4001

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Introduction to Computer Science (CS-UH 1001)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed,Tue,Thu
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed,Tue,Thu

Computer Science is an innovative and exciting field that focuses on producing efficient solutions for solving problems in any field. This course introduces students to the foundations of computer science. Students learn how to design algorithms to solve problems and how to translate these algorithms into working computer programs using a high-level programming language. The course covers core programming concepts including basic computation, data structures, decision structures, iterative structures, file input/output, and recursion. Students also learn the elements of Object Oriented Programming (OOP), such as objects, classes, inheritance, abstraction, and polymorphism. A final project allows students to combine these concepts to produce a large program of their design.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Spring 2026 Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Software Art: ASCII to Algorithm (IM-UH 2321)

ASCII to Algorithm is an introduction to the history, theory and practice of computer-based artistic endeavors in the field of visual arts. It traces the path of early encounters with the computer as a tool for artists and surveys the computational foundation that positions contemporary software art as more system than object. We will be elaborating and discussing concepts and paradigms specific to computing platforms, such as data representation, generative art, image processing and computational creativity. Drawing on those, students will explore their own artistic practice through the exclusive use of their computers. This computational playground will highlight and reflect upon the broader impact of digital technologies on our relationship to art, and on our understanding of the artistic process. Programming experience in JavaScript is preferred but not required.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Network Everything (IM-UH 2112)

This course explores the possibilities and challenges of designing alternate physical network interfaces. Through weekly readings, class discussions, and a series of projects, students will create physical objects that talk to each other over distance. Various wireless communication mechanisms such as radio (Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi, and raw), infrared, and ultrasonic are used in the context of creating novel “smart” devices. Topics of discussion in this course include networking protocols and network topologies; network time versus physical time; mobile objects; and wireless networks. Opportunities to build collaborative and creative campus-wide networked projects and systems will also be explored.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

IM-UH 2112-000 (24975)01/29/2019 – 05/16/2019 Tue11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Morning)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 2112-000 (18392)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 2112-000 (24976)01/29/2019 – 05/16/2019 Thu11:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Morning)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 2112-000 (18550)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Temporary Expert: Developing a Research-based Art Practice (IM-UH 1513)

What does it mean to become a “temporary expert?” How does one develop one’s own creative research-based practice? This course will address these questions by engaging with Abu Dhabi’s environmental and social dimensions as a subject for research, context and imaginative art and design opportunities. Students will adopt a wide variety of tools and strategies in order to lay the foundations for a research-based art practice that considers materials, media, context, and audience, as well as one’s personal strengths and desires. Over the course of the semester, students will develop art and design projects that interface with a multiplicity of other disciplines, and engage in idea exchange with experts in the field. Through hands-on practice, case studies, and readings on systems thinking, communication, and the idea of “the public,” we will explore method, documentation and presentation of research, as well as the merits of both success and failure.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

IM-UH 1513-000 (24971)01/29/2019 – 05/16/2019 Tue2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 1513-000 (18534)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 1513-000 (24972)01/29/2019 – 05/16/2019 Thu2:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 1513-000 (18535)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate
Fall 2019 Fall 2020

Sensors, Body, & Motion (IM-UH 3114)

Using computer vision, machine learning, gesture recognition, wearable technology, projection mapping, a variety of sensors, and OpenFrameworks (C ), students will create interactive art and performances that leverage the full potential of the human body. Directly injecting “people-sensing” into an artwork via these readily accessible open source technologies, generates a unique feedback loop, or dialogue-like relationship, where a person and a computer are continuously reacting to each other’s senses. This course will examine this feedback loop, specifically how a person is directly integrated into the artistic expression of the work. Ultimately, students will create interactive installations and performances where the human body is the central component of the artwork.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2020)

IM-UH 3114-000 (19156)

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Undergraduate

Desert Media Art (IM-UH 3315)

How does bringing an artwork outside change its interaction with people and the environment? What new possibilities exist if we create an electronic artwork that can travel with us and be installed anywhere? Desert Media Art is a production-based course where students research, propose, produce, install, and document an electronic artwork designed for Abu Dhabi’s desert. The desert is an iconic landscape with a rich history of use by artists as an alternative to the white box of the gallery. We will study historical and contemporary outdoor art practices as well as local ecology and culture. Students will work in groups to create an Arduino-based project that is battery powered and ready to be taken into the field. The project will be installed in the desert, documented, and then presented in an indoor exhibition. Technologies used will include Arduino, 3D printing for enclosure design, rapid prototyping using laser cutting, battery power, and video production. Students will not just build a project and install it in the field, but also learn how to communicate their work to the public using video documentation and indoor exhibition.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2025)

IM-UH 3315-000 (13628)

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate
Summer 2022 Summer 2023

Interactive Media in the World (IM-UH 1114J)

This course explores the principles of Interactive Media put to use in the real world. Interactive Media is technology in the service of inventors, artists, designers, developers, educators, and other creatives, who use it to create experiences and devices that are insightful, critical, and thought provoking. Participants will learn the principles of Interactive media (programming, electronics, and design) and how to build projects using the Arduino prototyping platform. We will visit galleries, museums, studios, workshops, classrooms, and labs. We will hear from artists, designers, inventors, teachers, and other practitioners. Israel/Palestine’s art, design, and technology scene and community of artists, educators, museums, designers, inventors, and entrepreneurs is an opportunity to explore the contemporary world of Interactive Media. Visits will include many diverse locations, and students who speak the local languages – Hebrew and Arabic – are especially encouraged to join; however, English will be used everywhere we go. Students will work both individually and in groups. Technical and critical readings and discussion will culminate in a production project that will respond to what we’ve learned. This course will be held in Tel Aviv for the J-Term 2023 session.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 2 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Physical Computing & Experimental Interfaces) Undergraduate
Spring 2022

Connections Lab (IM-UH 2324)

From intelligent chat-bots and video-sharing apps to social media platforms and virtual reality hubs, our world is infused with mediated, networked systems for communication. While these tools were a luxury a couple years ago, today they are almost a necessity. Every day we are knowingly or unknowingly using a handful of connected applications to communicate with people across the world. With this course we want students to be more than participants in these tools, but also become active creators. In this course, students will design and develop their own creative connected web applications. By coding (using JavaScript) and producing original online experiences that bring people together in playful yet purposeful ways, students will gain valuable insight into the inner-workings and implications of our connected world. The course will culminate in students creating their own connected applications that can be used by peers.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 16 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Undergraduate
Fall 2021

VFX in the Age of Virtual Production (INTM-SHU 257T)

In this era of virtual production, time-based media faces new opportunities and challenges in terms of pipelines, workflows, and distribution. Decentralizing, hybridizing, and outsourcing among film studios, production houses, broadcast design, interactive studios, and the gaming industry have become major topics of discourse in academia and industry. This course focuses on the history/context, present practice, and the emerging trends of VFX studies and its applications. Through collaborative research with academia and industry, the course investigates the theory and practice of VFX studies and further examines the feasibility of emerging technologies through the spirit of entrepreneurship. Prerequisite: Interaction Lab / Creative Coding Lab / Communications Lab / Application Lab Fulfillment: IMA Major Electives; IMB Major Interactive Media Elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

INTM-SHU 257T-000 (20125)08/30/2021 – 12/10/2021 Mon,Wed4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Late afternoon)at ShanghaiInstructed by Chen, Wu Wei

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Seminar/Studies) Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Mobile Food as Media Infrastructure (INTM-SHU 293)

This course examines mobile food networks as a method to research and map the contemporary city. In Shanghai, over the past few years, there has been an enormous transformation in the way the city feeds itself. Street food stalls, restaurants and marketplaces have all migrated online. This tendency towards virtualization was intensified during the Coronavirus pandemic, when, during lockdown, people used their phones to order food, which was delivered straight to their door.This course treats mobile food delivery as a media infrastructure. It examines how these new delivery systems form part of a distributed urban ecosystem that underlies the emergence of a Sentient City. Students will use the tools of critical cartography and digital storytelling to explore the cultural, economic and political issues that are raised by the explosive growth of mobile food delivery. Research topics include the economics of company platforms; logistical networks; the reorganization of food production; the socio-economic conditions of delivery workers; changing cultural habits of urban residents; the shifts in the city’s built environment as well as the design of the apps themselves. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA Major Electives; IMB Major Interactive Media Elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment) Undergraduate
Fall 2021

After Earth: Technology & Ecology (INTM-SHU 196T)

This class focuses on the history and theory of ecology-related digital media, emerging technological solutions to the environmental crisis, and cultural imaginations that address the possibility of human extinction and ecosystem collapse. Zooming in on both luddite and futurist proposals for post-carbon futures across the global political and cultural spectrum, the class discusses emerging technologies in scientific and popular discourses about ecological futures. From geo-enginnering to terraforming, space colonialism, genetic engineering, and other scenarios that relate to the technological survival of humanity in fraught environmental conditions, it aims to take students to the forefront of contemporary technological imaginations related to our future on (and off) this planet. Prereq: None. Fulfillment: IMA Major Electives; IMB Major Interactive Media Elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Seminar/Studies) Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Advanced Lab: Shaders (INTM-SHU 303T)

Learn how to creatively harness the power of your computer’s graphics card by writing your own shaders! Shaders are small programs that run on the GPU and are used for purposes most commonly related to graphic effects, video post-processing, and the generation of geometry. They are an incredibly powerful tool for creating hardware accelerated graphics and form the building blocks of the modern graphics pipeline. Vertex, fragment, and geometry shaders will be the main focus of the course. However, if time permits, compute shaders (GPGPU) will also be explored. The topic will be approached platform-agnostic, so that it can be applied to the different implementations in various software environments such as WebGL, Unity, Max, Touch Designer, etc. This an advanced-level 2-credit course. Prerequisite: Instructor Consent Fulfilment: IMA/IMB elective; IMA advanced elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
2 credits – 8 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Undergraduate
Fall 2019

Construction of Authenticity in Contemporary Art (INTM-SHU 201T)

The possibility of truth telling has been challenged and debated throughout the history of art and across various genres. What does it mean to tell the truth in art? How does art cross the boundaries between the real and the fake, truthfulness and misrepresentation? This course will examine social engagement in art and the construction of authenticity in creating works based on trust rather than the truth and will investigate a variety of artistic sources and genres including, but not limited to, propaganda, documentary, video art, public art, and installation art. Students are expected to develop projects demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the subject. Prerequisite: Interactive Lab, Communication Lab, Application Lab or permission of instructor Fulfillment: IMA/IMB elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment) Undergraduate
Spring 2022

Advanced Lab: Open Project (INTM-SHU 301)

This course offers students the opportunity to develop a self-initiated project with close mentorship from a faculty member. Projects undertaken can span the areas of conceptual research, business development, creative practice, and media production. The course includes structured weekly workshop and critique times with peers and special guests. It is expected that students will be invested in the work of their peers by providing feedback and carefully consider the feedback they receive during critiques. In addition to weekly meeting times, students are expected to also participate in regular one-on-one meetings with faculty, peers, and guests. A formal project proposal, weekly assignments and documentation, a final project presentation, and participation in the IMA End of Semester show are all required. Although students are encouraged to continue work they may have initiated in a prior class, they may not combine or in any way double count work from this class in another class taken in the same semester. Group work is allowed assuming all group members are enrolled in this class. Students may take this course in either the first or second 7 weeks for 2 credits or repeated across 14 weeks for 4 credits. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. Fulfilment: IMA/IMB elective; IMA advanced elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
2 credits – 7 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)

INTM-SHU 301-000 (19667)at ShanghaiInstructed by

INTM-SHU 301-000 (25298)03/28/2022 – 05/13/2022 Tue9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at ShanghaiInstructed by Parren, Eric

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate