NMCC Overview

Welcome to the New Media and Culture Certificate website. We’re delighted that you’re here. We hope that you will find all the information you need on our website, but if not please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to assist.

Ask Us: Why NMCC?

  • The Certificate is a “value-added” component to your extant graduate degree. It is designed to offer recognized credentials in new media and culture without extending your time to degree. No matter what your career goals, your experience in the Certificate program will distinguish you from the crowd in a competitive job market.
  • The Certificate is appropriate for all graduate students, regardless of your home department or field of study. The innovative curriculum allows for a lot of flexibility. Students take 12 credits in new media histories, theories, and methods as well as 12 credits in electives. In addition to the pre-approved course offerings in new media, students may petition to substitute other, non-new media courses if the student’s work in the course is centered around the creation or use of a digital research or production tool. (For example, a student could petition for a course on Romantic poetry in which the student created an interactive website about Lord Byron to count toward the certificate as an elective.) As a result, our students come from an astonishing range of majors—among them: Photography, Journalism, Folklore, East Asian Studies, and Comparative Literature.
  • The future belongs to analytical and creative “thinker-makers”. With this in mind, the Certificate combines practical applications and production skills with rigorous scholarly preparation in theory and history. Digital Humanities is the most obvious instance of this trend in 21st century higher education (although a more appropriate and inclusive descriptor might be the Digital Liberal Arts). The history, criticism, and production of new media are inherently interdisciplinary; the certificate takes advantage of the divergent skill sets and course offerings emerging from the College of Arts and Sciences and the various professional schools across campus.
  • The Certificate offers a collaborative community for new media scholars and cultural producers who are sometimes isolated by traditional disciplinary and institutional boundaries. The certificate is a hub for networking and professional development events. NMCC affiliated faculty are committed to providing socialization and support for new media scholars at UO, regardless of their home department. We can recommend the best conferences, research topics, and journals for your professional and scholarly interests. The Certificate website features profiles of all certificate students and promotes student projects, allowing our students to reach broader audiences.

Ask our students: Why NMCC?

“As we transition out of the broadcast era and into what some scholars call the ‘network era,’ I think it is critically important to understand how new media and the networks that interconnect the devices we use to access those media are affecting us personally, interpersonally, culturally and socially. The New Media certificate is helping me to better come to grips with many of these aspects.” (R. Eanes)

“I am pursuing the NMCC in order to deepen my knowledge about the theory informing the study of new media and culture, to learn more about new media technology, and to expand my consideration of new media technologies outside the realms previously explored by folklorists.” (M. Winkelman)

 

“The NMCC is a type of certification that hiring universities can look at and see I’m a historian that is always looking forward, and not just interested in older technology like telegraphy, radio, and photography.  I’m also considering more professionally-oriented jobs in project management and consulting, and for future employers this certificate signals ‘Hey, this person has spent a lot of time thinking about the impacts and forms of new media.'” (B. Peake)