Category Archives: Graduate

Courses for IMA Juniors and Seniors Only

Fall 2020 Fall 2021

The Neural Aesthetic (ITPG-GT 2994)

Making words and images public used to be difficult, complex, and expensive. Now it’s not. That change, simple but fundamental, is transforming the media landscape. A publisher used to be required if you wanted to put material out into the public sphere; now anyone with a keyboard or a camera can circulate their material globally. This change in the economics of communication has opened the floodgates to a massive increase in the number and variety of participants creating and circulating media. This change, enormous and permanent, is driving several profound effects in the media landscape today. This course covers the transition from a world populated by professional media makers and a silent public to one where anyone who has a phone or a computer can be both producer and consumer. This change, brought about by the technological and economic characteristics of digital data and networks, is upending old industries — newspapers, music publishing, moviemaking — faster than new systems can be put in place. The result is chaos and experimentation as new ways of participating in the previously sparse media landscape are appearing everywhere. This course covers the history and economics of the previous media landscape, the design of digital networks that upend those historical systems, and new modes of participation from weblogs and wikis and Twitter to fan fiction and lolcats. The course centers on readings and field observation, with three papers due during the course of the term.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

ITPG-GT 2994-000 (23993)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Wed12:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by

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

Project Development Studio (ITPG-GT 2564)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue

This is an environment for students to work on their existing project ideas that may fall outside the topic areas of existing classes. It is basically like an independent study with more structure and the opportunity for peer learning. This particular studio is appropriate for projects in the area of interactive art, programing, physical computing and digital fabrication. There are required weekly meetings to share project development and exchange critique. Students must devise and then complete their own weekly assignments updating the class wiki regularly. They also must present to the class every few weeks. When topics of general interest emerge, a member of the class or the instructor takes class time to cover them in depth. The rest of the meeting time is spent in breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of students working on related projects.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Graduate IMA Electives Spring 2026

Developing Assistive Technology (ITPG-GT 2446)

Assistive or Adaptive Technology commonly refers to “products, devices or equipment, whether acquired commercially, modified or customized, that are used to maintain, increase or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.” This multi-disciplinary course allows students from a variety of backgrounds to work together to develop assistive technology. Partnering with outside organizations students work in teams to identify a clinical need relevant to a certain clinical site or client population, and learn the process of developing an idea and following that through to the development of a prototype product. Teams are comprised of ITP students as well as graduate rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy students. Prerequisites (for ITP students): H79.2233 Introduction to Computational Media and H79.2301 Introduction to Physical Computing. This course has a lab fee of $201.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
3 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2025)

ITPG-GT 2446-000 (15734)09/02/2025 – 12/11/2025 Tue5:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by

Fall 2025 Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Physical Computing & Experimental Interfaces)

Reading and Writing Electronic Text (ITPG-GT 2778)

Credits: 4
Duration: 14 Weeks
Dates: Fri

This course introduces the Python programming language as a tool for reading and writing digital text. This course is specifically geared to serve as a general-purpose introduction to programming in Python, but will be of special interest to students interested in language and computer-generated text. Among the topics we’ll discuss are: the history and aesthetics of computer-generated writing in literature and the arts; computational linguistics; ethics and authorship in the context of computer-mediated language; poetic structure and sound symbolism; performance and publishing. Programming topics covered include: data structures (lists, sets, dictionaries); strategies for making code reusable (functions and modules); natural language processing; grammar-based text generation; predictive models of text (Markov chains and neural networks); and working with structured data and text corpora. Weekly programming exercises and readings culminate in a final project. Prerequisites: Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience. Prerequisite: ICM

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

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

Live Web (ITPG-GT 2734)

Credits: 4
Duration: 14 Weeks
Dates: Mon

The World Wide Web has grown up to be a great platform for asynchronous communication such as email and message boards. More recently this has extended into media posting and sharing. With the rise of broadband, more powerful computers and the prevalence networked media devices, synchronous communications have become more viable. Streaming media, audio and video conference rooms and text based chat give us the ability to create content and services tailored to a live audience. During this course, we focus on the types of content and interaction that can be supported through these technologies as well as explore new concepts around participation with a live distributed audience. In this course, we look at new and existing platforms for live communication on the web. We leverage existing services and use Flash, PHP, AJAX and possibly Processing/Java to develop our own solutions. Experience with ActionScript/Flash, PHP/MySQL and HTML/ JavaScript are helpful but not required.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

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

Applied Cryptography (CS-UY 4783)

Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue

This course examines Modern Cryptography from a both theoretical and applied perspective, with emphasis on “provable security” and “application case studies”. The course looks particularly at cryptographic primitives that are building blocks of various cryptographic applications. The course studies notions of security for a given cryptographic primitive, its various constructions and respective security analysis based on the security notion. The cryptographic primitives covered include pseudorandom functions, symmetric encryption (block ciphers), hash functions and random oracles, message authentication codes, asymmetric encryption, digital signatures and authenticated key exchange. The course covers how to build provably secure cryptographic protocols (e.g., secure message transmission, identification schemes, secure function evaluation, etc.), and various number-theoretic assumptions upon which cryptography is based. Also covered: implementation issues (e.g., key lengths, key management, standards, etc.) and, as application case studies, a number of real-life scenarios currently using solutions from modern cryptography. | Prerequisite: (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) and (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better) and MA-UY 2314.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
3 credits – 15 Weeks

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

Application Security (CS-UY 4753)

Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue

This course addresses the design and implementation of secure applications. Concentration is on writing software programs that make it difficult for intruders to exploit security holes. The course emphasizes writing secure distributed programs in Java. The security ramifications of class, field and method visibility are emphasized. | Prerequisite: CS-UY 3923

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
3 credits – 15 Weeks

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

Computer Networking (CS-UY 4793)

Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed
Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed,Tue,Thu
Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed,Tue,Thu
Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed,Tue,Thu

This course takes a top-down approach to computer networking. After an overview of computer networks and the Internet, the course covers the application layer, transport layer, network layer and link layers. Topics at the application layer include client-server architectures, P2P architectures, DNS and HTTP and Web applications. Topics at the transport layer include multiplexing, connectionless transport and UDP, principles or reliable data transfer, connection-oriented transport and TCP and TCP congestion control. Topics at the network layer include forwarding, router architecture, the IP protocol and routing protocols including OSPF and BGP. Topics at the link layer include multiple-access protocols, ALOHA, CSMA/CD, Ethernet, CSMA/CA, wireless 802.11 networks and link-layer switches. The course includes simple quantitative delay and throughput modeling, socket programming and network application development and Ethereal labs. | Prerequisite for Brooklyn Students: (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) and (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better) | Prerequisite for Abu Dhabi Students: ENGR-UH 3510 or CS-UH 1050 (C- or better) | Prerequisite for Shanghai Students: CSCI-SHU 210 (C- or better)

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
3 credits – 15 Weeks

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

The New Arcade (ITPG-GT 2063)

Credits: 4
Duration: 14 Weeks
Dates: Thu

With platforms like Steam and Itch.io making independent games more accessible to the public, we’re starting to see a movement toward physical installations of indie games as well. The New Arcade pays tribute to arcade cabinet designs of the 80’s and 90’s, but infuses them with new interfaces and digitally fabricated components. In this class, students will learn how to use the Unity game engine to design a simple arcade game. They’ll learn about aspects that separate an arcade game from other types of games, and interface their game with different kinds of hardware using microcontrollers. In the second half of the class, students will use Fusion360 to construct a new arcade experience using digital fabrication tools like laser cutters, and CNC machines. The class will culminate in a physical installation that showcases their game in a public gallery. Prerequisites: Physical Computing About Mark Kleback: https://wonderville.nyc

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Physical Computing & Experimental Interfaces) Spring 2026
Spring 2020

Pro Capture (ITPG-GT 2065)

This advanced experiential production course will introduce students to the latest techniques for stereoscopic 360 video, manual 360 video stitching and depth map creation, camera-paired Depthkit volumetric video, and mixed-format photogrammetry. Techniques introduced in the class will presume some working knowledge of more basic forms of these capture methods as well as how to integrate them into Unity. Alongside an intense technical focus, the course will also deconstruct recent groundbreaking experiential works that utilize similar experimental production designs. The format of each class will combine lectures and workshops with the ultimate goal of introducing students to the expectations demanded by professional productions. All of the techniques introduced are being employed by top experiential creators and creative studios. The course will try to show viable paths for students to engage with immersive media pipelines, at an expert level, with an expanded sense of possibility and inspiration. Topics heavily examined throughout the course include: surveillance, race, socioeconomics, carceral capitalism and technoscience, algorithmic bias and oppression, and post-work societal structures.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
2 credits – 5 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)

ITPG-GT 2065-000 (23513)03/25/2020 – 04/29/2020 Wed12:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Niederhauser, Matthew

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment)
Spring 2020

The Revolution Will Be Digitized (ITPG-GT 2064)

What is the relationship between American musician and poet, Gill Scott-Heron and cybernetics? Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” was created in hopes to wake-up 1970’s America from complicity in societal oppression to then realize the revolution begins in your mind and something created through active participation, not passive media consumption. While, iterated forms of cybernetics also challenge the notion that “technology [or society] is self-correcting”, through fostering design thinking and systems theory through a meta-scale analysis of computational practices, essentially promoting being an observer of systems through conversation with process and feedback loops. Both ideologies center intention and holistic design within innovation — concepts vital to the equitable well-being of society in a technocratic era. In this course, students will explore the origins and history of the internet and HCI technologies as stemming from hippie communes, counterculture and warfare; survey historical and current social relations in the U.S.; study how these social relations have been replicated and embedded into everyday technologies; and consider potential futures in tandem with rapid technological advancements. We will study the works of pioneering designers and thought-leaders from Norbert Wiener, Stewart Brand, and Victor Papanek to Alondra Nelson and Ruha Benjamin. Phenomena discussed throughout the course range from the power of Black Twitter, the social media revolution of Egypt’s Tahrir Square, to cryptocurrency being used in bail reform. After in-depth historical analysis of societal structures, geo-political dissent, and algorithmic patterns, students will engage with futurism and speculative practices, techno-culture manifestos, and design and systems theory to develop a variety of research-driven projects. We will conclude with using both second-wave cybernetics as a design framework, and an anthropological lens to imagine, innovate and design more equitable technocratic futures. Topics heavily examined throughout the course include: surveillance, race, socioeconomics, carceral capitalism and technoscience, algorithmic bias and oppression, and post-work societal structures.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
2 credits – 8 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)

ITPG-GT 2064-000 (23447)01/27/2020 – 03/23/2020 Mon12:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Melenciano, Ari

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Seminar/Studies)
Spring 2020

Math for Artists (ITPG-GT 2058)

In this class students will learn math tools to boost their digital practice, fix common problems, and understand the math behind our human perception of the physical world. This course spans different branches of math including geometry, linear algebra, logarithmic thinking, and statistics as they relate to a programmer making digital art with our contemporary media ecosystem. The aim of this course isn’t to become calculators, rather strengthen our intuition through historical and ethnomathematics perspectives and foster a new relationship to math. The prerequisites to this class are basic arithmetic skills and an introduction to programming. We will create applications using free and open-source software, including Python and p5.js.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)

ITPG-GT 2058-000 (23070)01/27/2020 – 05/11/2020 Thu6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Evening)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Kraft, Robert

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

Intangible Interaction (ITPG-GT 2055)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue

This course will focus on researching, designing, and defining Intangible Interactions together, and unveiling artistic potential in it. Intangible interactions are those that we engage in without involving direct physical contact. Some examples would be automatic toilets, shopping carts that stop rolling outside the shop, contactless thermometers, gesture-based interactions, theremin, artwork activated by your presence, and mid-air haptic experiences. Intangible interfaces don’t have a tangible form that explicitly instructs us how to interact with them, and these interactions utilize other forms of feedback than those we feel through touch. Hence, Intangible Interactions tend to be more nuanced rather than direct, and the system is intricately designed to read your intentions using sensors. While technologies used for intangible interaction–such as computer vision and sensors are now more available and accessible, knowledge around the design and implementation of effective intangible interactions is a much less explored subject. We will explore practical, artistic, and whimsical applications of intangible interaction and look at the ways it can enhance human-computer interactions in our everyday lives. For example, it can allow new ways to interact with educational exhibits, artifacts, and artworks. We will explore intangibility as a poetic medium that can open up possibilities for creating work that challenges human senses and perception. We will discuss what are cultural and social implications that we need to consider in designing intangible interactions—what does it mean for an interaction to be “intuitive” and what are some of the assumptions that are embedded into designs that we need to challenge? You will also be introduced to working with sound frequencies that are outside the hearable spectrum to create mid-air haptic feedback. Technical topics that will be discussed in the class include: non touch-based sensors including optical sensors; proximity sensing; presence detection; optimizing sensor readings on Arduino; extending capability of sensors with light pipes and lenses; body tracking with cameras; signals outside visible spectrums; environmental sensing; mid-air haptic. Assignments will include relatively small-scale production assignments, labs, thinking, ideating, and reading. For the final project, you will be prompted to conceptualize a project that is larger than a classroom scope. You will respond to a call-for-projects with a proposal along with a solid prototype for the project so you have fully fleshed materials to apply to resources such as grants and other opportunities in the near future. I want you to think big and equip yourself with practical and essential skills to build a sustainable art or design practice! A proposal writing workshop and structured peer reviews will be provided to support this process. Tags: intangible, interaction, artistic, poetic, physical, sensors, physicalcomputing, haptic, hci, research, art, design, environment, playful, fun, proposalwriting

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Physical Computing & Experimental Interfaces) Spring 2026
Spring 2020

Tangible Interaction & Device Design (ITPG-GT 2061)

Tangible interfaces are interfaces that you touch. You control them with your hands, feet, and other body parts. Their shape, feel, and arrangement provide feedback. This is where interaction design meets industrial design. In this class, you’ll design, program, and build devices with tangible controls in order to better understand how humans understand and control technical systems through our sense of touch. We’ll discuss physical interaction concepts such as expressive interfaces and utilitarian ones, real-time control vs. delayed control, and implicit vs. explicit interactions. You’ll learn programming and electronic techniques to sense state change, thresholds, peaks, and other signs of user action. You’ll also learn how to design, shop for, and construct housings for the devices you build. On the electronics side, the primary tools will be the microcontroller and common tangible controls: pushbuttons, switches, rotary encoders, rotary and slide potentiometers, force sensors and touch sensors. The class will also cover on-device feedback through LEDs, speakers, and force-feedback actuators. On the fabrication side, you’ll work with the tools of the shop and XXX CAD program. You’ll design and build four projects in the course of the semester. Projects will be designed (and parts specified). Projects will build on the skills learned in Intro to Physical Computing and Intro to Fabrication. Prerequisites: Intro to Physical Computing and Intro to Computational Media, or a working knowledge of microcontroller programming in Arduino; Intro to Fabrication or basic knowledge of laser cutter.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)

ITPG-GT 2061-000 (23076)01/27/2020 – 05/11/2020 Wed9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Igoe, Thomas · Light, Benjamin

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Physical Computing & Experimental Interfaces)