In this course, students will gain a foundational knowledge of Unreal Engine, learn about the industry workflows the engine is built around, and explore possibilities of its unique feature set. Students will be taught a generalist approach to working with UE, sampling many of the features and tools that make the software so powerful. The first half of the course will focus on teaching core concepts: setting up a project, making sense of the editor GUI, organization and naming conventions, and adding interactivity using Blueprints visual scripting, working with materials, integrating art assets, and building executable files. The second half of the course will focus on a group project where teams of students will apply their newfound knowledge in an iterative design process, refining ideas through playtesting while we explore more advanced features and concepts like diving deeper into Blueprints, Niagara particle systems, lighting and rendering, animation and sequences, sound design, and topics based on student interest like XR, Virtual Production tools, motion capture, Metahumans, live performance tools, and others. In addition to these technical topics, we will also learn about the evolution of UE into the software it is today, and look at the industries, practitioners, and artists using UE in their workflows so students can get an understanding of the professional landscape surrounding this popular program.

Over the past two decades, the programming language Python has emerged as a frequent tool of choice for creative technologists, artists, designers, practitioners, and researchers working in a wide variety of disciplines. Python is often applied to domains such as data visualization, IoT, computer vision, robotics, natural language processing, and machine learning. It has become an industry standard platform in all of these areas and more. Python has also been embraced as a highly effective teaching platform for learning to code. Development and community support for Python is massive, and the language can now be effectively used for almost any creative pursuit. This class will provide students with a thorough foundation of Python as a programming platform via a series of initial weekly projects. These exercises will focus on different aspects of coding (input, output, math, conditionals, looping, functions, classes, object-orientation). Students will also learn about the variety of ways this language is being used in the real world, via examples of actual applications and projects. Depending on students' coding experience (and external research or creative practice), they will (later in the semester) have a choice of either applying Python to their existing studio/research projects, or carrying out individual class projects with foci of their choice. This is an ideal course for Design+Technology, Data Visualization, or Code as a Liberal Art students at any level. No prior computer programming experience is necessary, although enthusiasm and curiosity are recommended.

Unity is a popular game development engine which can also be used to create powerful interactive experiences and simulations. In this course we'll start by learning the Unity basics that are essential for any type of project. Then we'll explore how to implement creative coding concepts in Unity—including interesting interactions, physics forces, animations, procedurally-generated behaviors, and visual effects. We'll learn to code C# scripts (and potentially HLSL shaders) to produce exciting effects that can be developed into innovative games and experiences.