Thanks for your time. I've recently been accepted to the University of Virginia for undergraduate work. I like this university a great deal, but I'm concerned that because they seem to be lacking in a design department (except arts), it may be suboptimal for preparation toward a career in Human-Computer Interaction Design.
I have read the obligatory two pages of Google results, as well as contacted Mr. Dan Saffer and several others in the past about how to go about planning an undergraduate curriculum. Specifically I read Dan's Article * on this very topic, but he has since then posted more ideas which I am unable to recover in a Google search with the time I've allotted for this project today. In any case, I have taken to the idea of designing an interdisciplinary curriculum based on the best programs in practice at this time. I've read over Carnegie Mellon's bachelor's in HCI**, and I believe many (if not all) of the courses will be available at UVA. I will continue updating here as I gather more information, but the primary reason for my posting is that I would like to gather this community's opinions on the following: 1) Is HCI or any related discipline a reasonable undergraduate degree? Why or why not? 2) How can this (or a similar) first undergraduate program be approached in such a way that it will both provide a strong understanding of the work involved in Interaction Design, and grant proof of competence (and thus fulfill the requirement of HCI undergraduate education on job applications)? What would the degree-specific courses look like? 3) Speaking in terms of UVA specifically, can a degree be conferred from a listing of courses that are not tailored specifically to design itself? Their courses range from cognitive science to computer science to art to human factors and interactivity. I plan to provide a list of applicable coursework from their course catalog*** as I learn more. 4) What other thoughts do you have in regard to this subject? I'm keen on designing for interactivity and I would like my curriculum to mirror these interests. Thank you very much for any consideration or advice toward a creative solution to these issues. --Chris * "So you want to be an Interaction Designer" http://adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000656.php ** Carnegie Mellon's Secondary Undergraduate Curriculum http://www.hcii.cmu.edu/undergraduate-major-curriculum *** University of Virginia Course Catalog (I will be pulling courses primarily from the College of Arts and Sciences). http://etg08.itc.virginia.edu/cod.pages/20092/cod.html ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
