Theatre programs provide preparation in all aspects of the creation of professional theater, both on-stage and behind-the-scenes. Many schools offer the opportunity to specialize in a particular area of study, whether acting, directing, playwriting, theater design and technology or production. Like other performing arts programs, the college theater experience will combine practical learning opportunities with a solid foundation of theatre theory and history.
Time-Based Media programs are essentially umbrella programs for animation, digital technology, interactive media, and video. Using acquired skills in drawing, sculpture, and digital art; an understanding of light, sound and motion; and education in character development, editing, and scriptwriting, students learn to tell and create meaningful stories and unique sequences. Graduates are prepared for careers as video editors, producers, practicing studio artists, and animators.
Toy design is a new and growing area, which previously related only to traditional children’s toys. It now includes computer and interactive game design. Students enrolled in Toy Design programs will receive education and experience in the ideation, marketing and engineering of toys, fully preparing them for employment in the industry.
Transportation design is a specialized offshoot of industrial or product design. Although often thought of as simply car design, this area of study now is broadening to include other forms of transportation such as motorcycles, buses, recreational vehicles, and even bicycles. It combines some mechanical and practical knowledge with artistic three-dimensional abilities. The work is most often with corporations, either as a staff designer or as a consultant to those corporations.
Like many other areas of art and design, video can encompass a wide range of formats and approaches. At one end of the spectrum are fine arts-oriented videos. At the other end are full-scale Hollywood productions such as “Good Will Hunting” (directed by Gus Van Sant, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design). And in between those are video installations, independent videos, documentaries, and many other variants of the same media. Accordingly, describing the work environment in these...