A proposal to establish a new School of Creative Technologies at Illinois State University was approved in late November by the Illinois Board of High Education. A statement Tuesday from the university announcing the expansion said the program, which is run under the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts, was founded in 1999 and previously called Arts Technology.
It started with two faculty members and about 30 enrolled students; since then, it's grown to at least 285 undergraduate and graduate students, according to the statement. Students majoring in the program can now elect sequences in audio and music production, game design; or interdisciplinary studies. A master's program is also offered.
Described by the university as a popular program, ISU expects Creative Technologies to grow to over 400 majoring students by 2027, the statement continued.
Jean Miller, dean of the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts, and said the Creative Technologies program, listed in ISU course catalogues under the acronym CTK, is a beautiful example of how the faculty within that academic unit has brought all of the fine arts together into one practice.
The dean also said Tuesday's announcement marked a long-awaited change that presents an exciting opportunity for all in the fine arts college and the larger ISU campus.
Around a year ago, CTK professor Rose Marshack told The Pantagraph that the program was centered in the midst of the college's schools of art, music, and theater and dance, also noting it's an interdisciplinary effort. Additionally, she's the program's director and will continue to fill that role on an interim basis until a permanent school director is hired through an external search process.
Eight full-time instructors are teaching CTK courses, plus seven who teach on a part-time basis. Miller said among the part-time group are guest-teaching industry professionals, like Eddie Breitweiser, director of area sonic arts nonprofit pt.fwd.
Miller said aligning the program among the college's other schools makes sense on a structural level, and operationally. While the definition of a university "school" varies by institution or college, she said the fine arts college is structured by schools.
"The college schools have a reputation for employing a conservatory approach to teaching," Miller said, adding that's based on applied craft and skill, performance and professional practice. Other majors that applies to include art, music, theater and dance education, music therapy and fine art history, she said.
Marshack said becoming a school will mean faculty can really concentrate on the fine arts aspects of CTK courses.
"It just means your teachers will be there more for you," she said she would tell students anxious about the change. "It's greater acknowledgement that ... the school cares very much about interdisciplinarity and technology."
Miller said over the past decade, students had dabbled in Creative Technologies to learn a different approach or take on a course. But as technology advanced over the last decade, she said they found a population that wanted to major in it.
"That is a sea change," the dean said. "It really demanded that we do something to formalize that school."
Other changes to come with that formalization include establishing a permanent operating budget and hiring a director, budgetary staff, advisers and other support staff. Miller said the next phase of setting day-to-day operations and a calendar for the CTK school is underway, as well as developing bylaws, and tenure and promotion documentation.
DRIVING THE BEATS
Marshack said the Creative Technologies program is perfect for the type of student she was going in to college. She said she's really good at technology, but wished be creative with it, too.
She teaches courses on music business and and computer programming for creatives. In the latter class, Marshack said an early assignment tasks her students with illustrating a superhero avatar from primitive shapes and colors.
Marshack said CTK alumni have gone on to work for video game developers like Blizzard, makers of real-time strategy game Starcraft; and Naughty Dog, creator of the Crash Bandicoot series. She also said they've invited guest speakers to campus, such as Ian MacKaye of punk rock band Fugazi and Mike Morasky, a composer for video game developer Valve.
Core courses in the audio and music production sequence will be audio production, audio theory, and music concepts. A teaching recording studio in the Center for the Visual Arts building is now online and being used for all AMP classes, Marshack said.
After hours, she said the studio is being used for recording by both student and faculty groups.
One new sequence that may be added is a virtual and augmented reality, Marshack said. She also said they have hopes of creating a synthesizer laboratory. That's because they have a ARP 2600 Grey Meanie synthesizer she believed was purchased by CTK's founder, ISU Professor Emeritius David B. Williams. Miller said Williams was a visionary.
Marshack said that model of synthesizer created the R2-D2 sounds heard in the "Star Wars" film series, and only 35 of those machines were made.
What makes the CTK major sequences unique from music performance and business majors in the School of Music is the technology aspect, she said. Students will take classes on intro to web design and computer programming, where they will learn the mindset of technology.
"We feel that's really important," Marshack said.
"With advances in technology software and innovations in interactivity and artificial intelligence, the opportunities for students with a degree in Creative Technologies are endless," stated Miller. The statement added career opportunities can include game developer, software engineer, video and audio editor, VR/UI/UX designer, digital content specialist, music producer, video animator and more.
When Marshack studied computer science at the University of Illinois' computer engineering college, she said she took a class on AI in 1984 that used the Scheme programming language.
While it's fine for professors to instruct students to avoid using AI for fundamental learning assignments, Marshack said they also encourage students to ask an AI program to explain concepts they have trouble understanding.
"You're not embarrassed to ask a question to an AI," she said, adding she wants students to explore AI as much as possible.
Marshack said the onset of AI will bring many more wonderful opportunities to the world. She likened it to the following metaphor she read about in a book titled "The Overworked American."
She said before the washing machine was invented, people only owned a few articles of clothing.
What followed the invention of the washing machine, Marshack, said, is that people bought more clothes.
"We're going to make more work for ourselves," she said. "We're going to make more creativity for ourselves."
Marshack said: "It's going to be like a car that we can drive. Now we don't have to take horses anymore."
©2024 The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
