PhD in Arts and Technology

Program Description:

The School of Arts and Humanities at UT Dallas currently offers the BA, MA, MFA and PhD degrees in Arts and Technology. The PhD degree is the first of its kind in Texas. Arts and Technology (ATEC), a partnership between the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Arts and Humanities, encompasses and integrates into a coherent curriculum such areas as Computer Visualization/Animation; Interaction Design; Digital Sound Design; Computer Simulation and Serious Game Design; and On-line Worlds.

The goal of the doctoral program is to create a premier talent pool of digital content designers, developers, and scholars with advanced capabilities for research and application for commercial, cultural, and educational purposes. Students who graduate from the program are able...

  • To conduct independent research that explores issues of technology or technology/human interaction in a larger cultural, aesthetic, and/or scientific context; and/or
  • To develop new artistic, cultural, or commercial applications of digital technology/emerging media; and
  • To be qualified for tenure-line college and university positions in this burgeoning field.

The curriculum is designed to permit students, after fulfilling required courses that establish a shared theoretical context and knowledge base, to pursue a customized degree plan emphasizing one or a combination of the component areas. The purpose of this customized approach, which has proven successful at the master's level, is to foster the combination of focused expertise and intellectual agility that will prepare graduates to respond to inevitable changes in technology and the opportunities that they present. Graduates of the program will be prepared to apply their knowledge in the creation, applications, and cultural implications of digital media to a wide range of careers, some of which do not yet exist, in industry, public service, and higher education.

PhD in Arts and Technology Advisor:
Frank Dufour, PhD
ATEC 1.614
972-883-4129

Degree Requirements:

Category Semester Credit Hours
Required Courses 12
Prescribed Electives 21
Free Electives 9
Dissertation 18
TOTAL 60

Required courses:

Prefix and Number Required Courses Semester Credit Hours
ATEC 6300 Introduction: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Arts and Technology 3
ATEC 6331 Aesthetics of Interactive Arts 3
ATEC 7331 Interdisciplinary Research in Arts and Technology 3
HUHI 7387 Science and Technology in Western Culture 3
ATEC 8V99 Dissertation 18

Students are expected to complete these courses as early as possible in their degree plan.

Prescribed electives:

Prefix and Number Prescribed Elective Courses Semester Credit Hours
ATEC 6341 Game Design 3
ATEC 6351 Digital Arts 3
ATEC 6361 Writing for Interactive Media 3
ATEC 7340
 Advanced Studies in Arts and Technology 3
ATEC 7V81 Advanced Project Workshop 6
ATEC 7V82 Advanced Project in Interactive Media 6
ATEC 7620 Advanced Projects in Simulation and Game Design 6
ATEC 8305 Independent Research in Arts and Technology 3
HUAS 6375 Imagery and Iconography 3
HUSL 7332 Digital and Visual Rhetoric 3

Free Elective:

Free Elective Courses Semester Credit Hours

9 SCH in any organized 7000-8000 level courses offered by School of Arts and Humanities or the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science

 9

Requirements for Admission:

Students seeking the PhD in Arts and Technology should meet the following guidelines for admission:

  • A MA or MS in an appropriate field;
  • 6 SCH in advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in computer programming;
  • A grade point average in graduate level courses of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale;
  • Three letters of recommendation from individuals qualified to assess the applicant's academic preparation and probability of success in doctoral level graduate study;
  • An admission essay and portfolio of writing and/or relevant achievement.

The essay (approximately 650 words) should reflect the applicant's academic current or long-range interests and goals in research, teaching or other professional activities, and clearly indicate how the ATEC PhD program might enable the pursuit of them.

The portfolio should include any publications or other evidence of scholarly or creative endeavor achieved by the applicant and list academic and professional organizations in which the applicant is active and any fellowships, scholarships, or other honors received.

Applications will be reviewed by the ATEC Admissions Committee.

Students lacking the required courses in computer programming may be admitted provisionally and will have to meet with the ATEC PhD advisor to determine the best strategy in which to comply with this requirement.

University deadlines apply: http://www.utdallas.edu/admissions/graduate/steps/before.php

Doctoral Field Examination:

After successfully completing 42 semester credit hours in the doctoral program and fulfilling the programming requirement, a student is eligible to take the qualifying examination, a sequence of three written examinations and (upon passing these) an oral examination. To foster a sense of academic community and ensure the quality of the students' education, the qualifying examination will include a question designed to test basic understanding of a shared theory and knowledge base. The examining committee, composed of three tenure-line members of the faculty, oversees the definition and preparation of the three examining fields.

Dissertation Proposal:

Upon passing all parts of the qualifying examination, the student will enroll in ATEC 8305 and prepare a dissertation proposal with the faculty member expected to chair her/his doctoral committee. The proposal will include a description of the dissertation study, a review of the literature, the proposed methodology, the expected contribution to the field, and a suggested committee of four faculty members. All proposed members of the committee must formally approve the proposal and their participation. The Graduate Studies Committee will review the proposal and will accept it or recommend changes based on an established set of criteria.

Learn more about Dissertation Proposals

Completion, defense, and approval of doctoral dissertations will follow general University regulations and procedures: http://www.utdallas.edu/dept/graddean/dgFront.htm

Dissertation:

Students are formally advanced to PhD candidacy when they have successfully completed the qualifying examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. A four-person supervising committee is formed, normally from the examining committee plus another regular faculty member proposed by the student, to oversee dissertation work.

Each candidate then writes a doctoral dissertation, which is supervised and defended according to general university regulation. Every student must register for a minimum of nine hours of dissertation credit in two successive semesters and must maintain continuous enrollment thereafter for at least three semester hours during consecutive long semesters until the degree is completed. Any exception to this requirement is granted only by petition to the school's Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.