Interactive Media Arts

Interactive Media Arts (IMA) is an academic community of artists, thinkers, and makers dedicated to cultivating cutting-edge theory and practice within the field of media arts. We foster interdisciplinary research and encourage critical and artistic exploration. IMA is committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive environment that nurtures creativity, experimentation, and collaboration. Through rigorous intellectual inquiry, dynamic creative expression, and community engagement, we train future generations of artists and scholars who will reshape the ever-evolving landscape of emerging media. Explore the Interactive Media Arts website for updates on upcoming events, the latest news, and more!

Requirements for the Major

Students can choose to follow the academic bulletin from the year that they were admitted or a more recent academic bulletin. For example, if you were admitted to NYU Shanghai in Fall 2019, you can choose to follow the academic bulletin 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022.

2026-2027
2025-2026
2024-2025
2023-2024
Click to View More Archived Academic Bulletins

2022-2023

2021-2022

2020-2021

2019-2020

2018-2019

Planning the Major

To declare the Interactive Media Arts major, students must have a final grade of C, or currently enrolled in the following courses in Interaction Lab or Media Design Lab (Previously Communications Lab) or Creative Coding Lab.

Course Schedule Course Schedule
Curriculum Worksheet Curriculum Worksheet
Study Away Pathways Study Away Pathways

Faculty Mentors

Faculty mentors are the leading faculty and experts in the major disciplines. Students can reach out to faculty mentors for specific questions about the major, and references for connecting with relevant discipline resources. If you have specific questions about specific fields of study within the major, you can search for faculty through the faculty directory.

 
Leon Eckert
Gottfried Haider
Interactive Media Arts FAQs
Foundation Courses

All IMA majors take a required foundation course, What is New Media?, a course designed to give students a strong theoretical and historical background in new media arts. They may then choose between 3 other foundation courses: Interaction Lab, Communications Lab, and Creative Coding Lab. Interaction Lab introduces students to the fields of interaction design, physical computing, and digital fabrication and provides students with foundational skills in electronics prototyping and an introduction to basic computer programming. Communications Lab introduces students to the concepts and tools used to produce multimedia content for print, photography, audio, and video. Creative Coding Lab introduces students to the fundamentals of computation, software design, and web technologies.

Elective Courses

Students then choose from a range of electives across the disciplines of art & design, humanities, science, and computation, with great freedom to make selections based on their personal interest and future career goals. Starting from their sophomore year, students are introduced to advanced labs and seminars where they can sharpen their technical skills, learn about professional environments, and develop richer and more complex conceptual frameworks. Every student will receive guidance in their choices and - in their junior and senior years - be encouraged to specialize in a particular area of concentration. All majors finish with a two semester Capstone Studio course based on a topic of their own choosing. The IMA capstone synthesizes theoretical research and practice to produce an emerging media project that is critically informed by a related research essay.

Course Prerequisites

* = offered in Fall ’23 in Shanghai

The requirements below are from the online version of the 2023-2024 bulletin. Note that the online version has some updates not in the printed version so you should consult the online version.
 
The below courses are not an exhaustive list and only include existing Shanghai courses. More Shanghai courses will be created in future semesters. To search for courses in the Global Network which fulfill this requirement, click here.
 
FOUNDATIONAL COURSES: 12 credits
This foundation is required. 
INTM-SHU 205What is New Media*

4 credits, 

Prerequisites or Corequisites: Writing as Inquiry

Students may choose any two of the following courses:
INTM-SHU 101Interaction Lab*4 credits
INTM-SHU 103Creative Coding Lab*4 credits
INTM-SHU 120Communications Lab*4 credits
ELECTIVES: 20 credits

Please note that starting from Fall 2019 semester, IMA/IMB elective courses will no longer have categories. Therefore, you will be expected to complete 20 credits without being accountable to the categories.

Example Courses:
INTM-SHU125Digital Arts and New Media*4 credits
INTM-SHU 195After Us: Post-human Media4 credits
INTM-SHU 200Topics in IMA:
Algorithmic Cultures		4 credits
INTM-SHU 201The Minimum Viable Product4 credits
INTM-SHU258Machine Learning for Artists and Designers*4 credits, Prerequisite: INTM-SHU 103 Creative Coding Lab OR CSCI-SHU 11 Intro to Computer Programming
INTM-SHU266Digital Heritage*4 credits
INTM-SHU280CVR / AR Fundamentals4 credits 
ADVANCED ELECTIVES: 8 credits
Example Courses:
INTM-SHU 301Advanced Lab: Open ProjectPrerequisite: Sophomore standing
INTM-SHU304Advanced Lab: Web Page to Web Space*4 credits, Nature of Code, Machine Learning for New Interfaces, Critical Data and Visualization, ABC Browser Circus, Kinetic Interfaces, Machine Learning for Artists and Designers, Expanded Web, or Movement Practices and Computing or ICS.
INTM-SHU 305TAdvanced Seminar: Hello Metaverse2 credits, Prerequisite: Instructor Consent
Again, they are not exhaustive lists and only include existing Shanghai courses. More Shanghai courses will be created in future semesters. To search for courses in the Global Network that fulfill the categories, click the Global Courses Satisfying Shanghai Degree Requirements spreadsheet. If you find a course that's not on the list and you would like it to be reviewed to count for an IMA requirement, please email the course number, full course name, and location where it is taught to your advisor.
CAPSTONE: 8 credits
INTM-SHU 400Capstone Studio I*

4 credits,  

Senior students with primary or secondary major in IMA

INTM-SHU 401Capstone Studio II*

4 credits,  

Senior students with primary or secondary major in IMA

 

Senior Thesis / Capstone Requirement

In order to comply with accreditation requirements, NYU Shanghai requires all students to complete either a capstone requirement in the form of a senior thesis and/or a required capstone course in the primary major.

Students in the Interactive Media Arts primary major must complete the capstone requirement by taking both INTM-SHU 400 Capstone Studio I (4 credits) and INTM-SHU 401 Capstone Studio II (4 credits). These courses are offered in the Fall and Spring and must be taken in person in Shanghai, meaning students must be in Shanghai during that semester(s). 

All primary majors finish with a two semester Capstone Studio course based on a topic of their own choosing. The IMA capstone synthesizes theoretical research and practice to produce an emerging media project that is critically informed by a related research essay.

Starting from Fall 2025, students taking Interactive Media Arts as their secondary major must take another 8 credits of IMA elective courses to replace the capstones.

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