Students that have successfully completed CSCI-UA 479 Data Management and Analysis are not eligible to take CSCI-UA 60 Database Design and Implementation. Introduces principles and applications of database design and working with data. Students use python as they prepare, analyze and work with data; SQL to study the principles and implementations of relational databases; and are introduced to other database paradigms such as NoSQL. Students apply these principles to computer systems in general and in their respective fields of interest.
Prerequisite: Three years of high school mathematics or equivalent. No prior computing experience is assumed. Students with computing experience should consult with the computer science department before registering. Offered every semester. 4 points. This course introduces students to both the practice of web design and the basic principles of computer science. The practice component of the course covers not only web design but also current graphics and software tools. The principles section includes an overview of hardware and software, the history of computers, and a discussion of the impact of computers and the internet.
Introduction to Data Science offers the fundamental principles and techniques of data science. Students will develop a toolkit to examine real world examples and cases to place data science techniques in context, to develop data-analytic thinking, and to illustrate that proper application is as much an art as it is a science. In addition, students will gain hands-on experience with the Python programming language and its associated data analysis libraries. Students will also consider ethical implications surrounding privacy, data sharing, and algorithmic decision making for a given data science solution.
Data Science for Everyone is a foundational course that prepares students to participate in the data-driven world that we are all experiencing. It develops programming skills in Python so that students can write programs to summarize and compare real-world datasets. Building on these data analysis skills, students will learn how draw conclusions and make predictions about the data. Students will also explore related ethical, legal, and privacy issues.
This class acquaints the student with the fundamentals of Design by focusing primarily on layout, composition & color through use of the grid. The grid is a fundamental building block for publication design (print & digital), website design, & animation design. This class focuses primarily on Graphic Design but proposes basic concepts that can be extrapolated into other design fields. Classes will be client & solutions-based and will assume a professional career orientation. Additionally the class will provide a current overview of what’s happening in the contemporary design world through field trips, readings & presentations.
This course serves to familiarize the student with the fundamentals of typography. Typography forms the basis of our contemporary communication. Students will gain design abilities based on analogue techniques as well as digital software. The class explores letterform design & moves subsequently to typesetting exercises performed using the letterpress printer & computer. Compositions exploring typography as color, form, & image will be examined for visual impact as well as meaning. The history of typography is incorporated beginning with Guttenberg in the 1400’s through the classic designers of the 17th & 18th centuries, type-design through Russian Constructivism, the Bauhaus, & Modernism to contemporary digital type design.
Assignments, critiques, & demonstrations related to the specific level on which the course is being given. The use of the computer to augment & expand conceptualization & expression has provided the artist with some of the most important new means for visual thinking since the Renaissance invention of perspective. Students learn how to use the computer as an extension of the visualization process & its specific applications in both two-dimensional & three-dimensional art.
Introduction to Programming for Games is a course that introduces students to the concepts, problems, and methods of computer programming, and how these apply to the creation of video games. Throughout the semester, students will have weekly programming assignments, first using Processing with the Java programming language, then the Unity3D Game Engine with C#. There will be a midterm game in Processing and a final game in Unity. The course assumes no prior programming knowledge, and is designed to touch on the basic principles of digital design in form of computer code. There will be an emphasis on programming fundamentals; they will be motivated through the lens of designing and producing video games.
Understanding Story is a class composed of lectures, discussions, screenings, readings, critical and creative writing, group critiques and presentations. The course is designed to expose the student to the fundamental principles of storytelling across a spectrum of mediums, including the written story, playwriting, film, poetry, dance, games, photography, fine art and music. How do all these different art forms tell stories? How can the student apply what is learned to their own creative work? History and theory of story will be studied and used to inspire personal and creative work in order to better understand how story can most successfully be expressed in different mediums and reach its audience.
This is an intensive, hands-on workshop addressing the complex challenges of game design. The premise of the class is that all games, digital and non-digital, share common fundamental principles, and that understanding these principles is an essential part of designing successful games. Learning how to create successful non-digital games provides a solid foundation for the development of digital games. Students will analyze existing digital and non-digital games, taking them apart to understand how they work as interactive systems. A number of non-digital games will be created in order to master the basic design principles that apply to all games regardless of format. This course is subject to a non-refundable department fee, please see the Notes section for more detail.
This class is an overview of the field of video games that approaches them from several theoretical and critical perspectives. No special theoretical background or prior training is needed to take the course, but to have had a broad practical experience with and basic knowledge of games is a distinct advantage. Also, an interest in theoretical and analytical issues will help. You are expected to actively participate in the lectures, which are dialogic in form, with ample room for discussion. The course will prepare the student to: – Understand and discuss games from a theoretical perspective – what are the components of a game? – Apply new theories and evaluate them critically. – Assess and discuss game concepts and the use of games in various contexts. – Analyze games, and understand and apply a range of analytical methods.
This course provides an overview of critical thinking on contemporary media production, media outcomes and media systems. Introduce theoretical approaches and practice used to analyze the content, structure, and context of media in society. We will explore factors shaping media texts, including: politics, economics, technology, and cultural traditions. The dominant critical perspectives that contribute to our understanding of media will be read, discussed, and employed. The course has three broad objectives: 1. Develop a critical awareness of media environments, 2. develop a familiarity with concepts, themes and theoretical approaches of media criticism, and the terms associated with these approaches and 3. develop an ability to adopt and adapt these frameworks in your own analyses of mediated communication.
This course introduces students to key concepts in history of media and communication, and to the stakes of historical inquiry. Rather than tracing a necessarily selective historical arc from alphabet to Internet or from cave painting to coding, the course is organized around an exploration of case studies in context.
In this course students will build form the skills they learned in 3D Modeling and 3D Animation to produce 3D for Interactive Applications. Projects may be geared to scientific, engineering or entertainment applications according to individual skills and professional aspirations. | Prerequisites: DM-UY 2133
Today’s applications are increasingly mobile. This course teaches students how to build mobile apps for Android or iOS devices, as well as how to deploy them in app stores. The history of mobile computing is also explored. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 2193
Students conceive, produce, direct, and edit a short film exploring the Paris experience with smartphone technology. A survey of cellphone cinema history leads to the study of visual storytelling principles and techniques, which students apply through practical exercises. Choosing among available short film genres (experimental, documentary, portrait, essay, fiction), students are trained through every stage of the movie making process: pitching the idea, scripting and storyboarding, shooting, and editing. Each student finishes the course with a facility in smartphone video technology as well as a coherent film record of his or her particular vision of Paris.