The 19-credit Certificate in Design and Creative Technologies (DCT) is a new program to prepare undergraduate students for the innovative roles the visual arts and digital media play in shaping contemporary culture. This certificate integrates research-driven design thinking and digital media-making with the study of technologies used in professional creative industries.

Centering Design Thinking 

At the core of this certificate is “Design Thinking” a framework which students can adapt to their own creative work. 

  • Design Thinking is a cross-disciplinary creative problem-solving process which combines analytical thinking, creative thinking, and practical skills. 
  • Design Thinking is a mindset and approach to learning, collaboration, and problem solving. In practice, the design process is a structured framework for identifying challenges, gathering information, generating potential solutions, refining ideas, and testing solutions. 
  • Design Thinking can be flexibly implemented, serving equally well as a framework for different kinds of technology-driven projects—communications, products, systems, and services.