Ajay Kapur, Associate Dean of Research and Development in Digital Arts. Photo: CalArts/Scott Groller.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) a grant of $111,881 to develop a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum for undergraduate students across CalArts’ diverse arts disciplines.

The two-semester curriculum is designed to teach essential computer science skills to beginners. Classes will begin this fall and are open to students in CalArts’ six schools: Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater.

This innovative arts-centered approach to teaching computer science was developed by Ajay Kapur, associate dean of research and development in Digital Arts, and Perry R. Cook, permanent visiting lecturer and founder of the Princeton University Sound Lab. It offers a model for teaching that can be replicated at other arts institutions and extended to students in similar non-traditional STEM contexts.

“As artists increasingly employ technology, it is essential that arts institutions provide courses offering students the tools with which to conceptualize and generate new ideas, new artistic approaches, and potentially new technologies,”  CalArts President Steven D. Lavine said. “At CalArts, we prepare students for success in today’s creative economy — and this means guiding their artistic development while offering them a cutting-edge technological curriculum tailored specifically to their needs as artists.”

Using the open-source programming languages ChucK and Processing, students with little or no computer science background will gain programming skills that can be immediately applied to digital arts practice.

“Every assignment is an art-making assignment,” Kapur said. “We are teaching computer science principles through the arts. With each creative project, students build upon a growing repertoire of technical skills.”

Arts colleges are not commonly awarded funding to originate STEM curriculums. However, CalArts has long been at the forefront of arts and technology practice, and is uniquely positioned to develop such a curriculum. The Institute’s Music Technology curriculum is unique in the world, engaging students in custom software design, circuit design for human-computer interfacing, and the use of robotic mechanical systems and artificial intelligence in musical and artistic practice. CalArts’ School of Film/Video, with its renowned animation program, has been a global leader in innovations in computer graphics and advanced digital media technologies.