Digital Studies Certificate

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Introduction

From social media and mobile phones to the algorithms in self-driving cars, digital and information technologies are everywhere. The Digital Studies Certificate provides students with the opportunity to investigate the relationships between new communication technologies and society and to develop skills creating digital media messages and products.

Social sciences and humanities majors can use this certificate to develop and demonstrate their technical skills, while science and engineering students can use it to build expertise in understanding the social and cultural aspects of new technologies. Students from any CU Denver school or college who earn the Digital Studies Certificate will be able to demonstrate to a wide range of potential employers or graduate schools that they have both technical skills and the ability to critically analyze new media. Students who successfully complete the Digital Studies Certificate will be able to:

Describe and analyze the relationships between digital media and their cultural, social, political, and ethical contexts
Use digital media to communicate messages to a variety of audiences
Use digital media to solve problems in a range of disciplines and situations
Use digital media and related analytical skills as career-building tools

Program Delivery

This is a hybrid program, with courses on-campus and online.

Declaring This Certificate

Eligibility: CU Denver students in any discipline can enroll in the program at any point in their undergraduate studies.
CLAS’s Interdisciplinary Studies program sponsors the certificate, and the CLAS Director of Digital Initiatives will provide advising and administrative management.
Application Procedures: Students are encouraged to apply for the Digital Studies Certificate at any point in their undergraduate studies. To apply, students should print and complete a Digital Studies Certificate Application and submit it to the CLAS Director of Digital Initiatives.

General Requirements

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Program Requirements

A minimum of 12 hours of required credits: 1 course (3 credits) from each of the 3 clusters (for a total of 9 credits), plus the remaining 3 credits from any one of the three clusters. At least 6 credits must be upper-division. (See below for courses in the three clusters.)
Co-curricular requirement: Students must attend at least 3 Career Center sessions, which can include events, workshops, or 1-on-1 appointments.
To obtain the certificate, a student must achieve a 3.0 GPA average in all approved Digital Studies courses.
Credits applied to the certificate must be earned at CU Denver.
The certificate will be awarded when a student graduates with the bachelor’s degree.

Digital Studies Certificate Course Clusters

Theory and Analysis: Courses in this cluster focus on theorizing, explaining, and describing the relationships between digital, media, and communication technologies and society. They enable students to critically assess and analyze digital media and information, such as understanding the biases in seemingly neutral Google search results or examining how people use Twitter to build social movements
Digital Media Production: Courses in this cluster focus on developing hands-on skills in the use of digital, media, and communication technologies. They provide opportunities for students to develop their skills with a variety of digital tools, such as digital photography, mapping, and social media management.
Integration: Courses in this cluster bring together both understanding and using digital, media, and communication technologies.

Other courses may apply to each cluster with the approval of the Director of Digital Initiatives certificate advisor.