BFA.AC.120 - BFA in Art and Computation
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2025 - 2026 | Curriculum | 4-year program
For the duration of the degree program, Art and Computation majors take core studios alongside their peers in the Computation, Technology and Culture (CTC) department’s Sound BFA program (one per semester, from sophomore to senior year). These studios introduce you to core themes in computational art and design, including interaction, networks and simulation, with the second studio building on the first with more advanced concepts and skills.
During your sophomore year, you will also engage in required intros to histories, theories and methods of computational art making. In junior year you delve deeper into code and digital technologies as a creative mediums, while considering key social, economic, political and scientific issues that affect the field. Further supported by studio electives and liberal arts courses across the RISD curriculum, the Art and Computation BFA culminates in a senior-year degree project through which you create a substantial body of work that expresses your interests in computational creative practice.
Learning outcomes
Graduates of the BFA program are prepared to:
write source code, author software, and program hardware to create art and design projects across multiple programming languages.
develop procedural literacy by engaging with systems, algorithms, and processes, and understanding computational aesthetics.
investigate and design human-computer interactions, exploring how humans and machines collaborate and interact as an integral part of creative practice.
explore the creative potential of technologies, combining traditional art-making techniques and crafts with digital fabrication, installations, and interactive media.
critically analyze the cultural, historical, and societal impacts of computational technologies, and articulate their influence on contemporary art and design practices.
engage with the ethics and politics of technology development and use, considering issues such as power, equity, and social and environmental justice.
independently develop and manage significant computational art or design projects, demonstrating problem-solving and iterative design skills.
First year | |||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | |||
15 | studio elective | 3 | 12 | ||
Sophomore | |||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | |||
CTC 2101 - Introduction to Computation | 3 | optional | CTC 2102 - Introduction to Physical Computation | 3 | |
CTC 2510 - CTC Core Studio 1 | 3 | CTC 2520 - CTC Core Studio 2 | 3 | ||
CTC 2515 - Seminar: Histories and Futures of Computational Art & Design | 3 | major, non-major or open studio elective | 3 | ||
major, non-major or open studio elective | 3 | Liberal Arts | 6 | ||
Liberal Arts | 3 | ||||
total credits | 15 | total credits | 15 | ||
Junior | |||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | |||
CTC 3101 - Materializing Code | 3 | optional | CTC 3102 - Human-Machine Interactions | 3 | |
CTC 3510 - CTC Core Studio 3 | 3 | CTC 3520 - CTC Core Studio 4 | 3 | ||
CTC 3515 - Seminar: Critical Issues on Technology | 3 | major, non-major or open studio elective | 3 | ||
major, non-major or open studio elective | 3 | Liberal Arts | 6 | ||
Liberal Arts | 3 | ||||
total credits | 15 | total credits | 15 | ||
Senior | |||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | |||
CTC 4510 - CTC Core Studio 5 | 3 | optional | CTC 4590 - Degree Project | 6 | |
major, non-major or open studio elective | 6 | major, non-major or open studio elective | 3 | ||
Liberal Arts | 6 | Liberal Arts | 6 | ||
total credits | 15 | total credits | 15 | ||
notes:
LIBERAL ARTS - 39 TOTAL CREDITS, 30 TAKEN AFTER THE FIRST YEAR including HPSS S301. See Liberal Arts Division for specific requirements
MAJOR ELECTIVES - 6 CREDITS chosen from courses in the Computation Technology and Culture (CTC) department
NON-MAJOR ELECTIVES - 12 CREDITS from studio subjects outside of the CTC department
OPEN ELECTIVES - 6 CREDITS may be a combination of studio courses, including those in the CTC department