“A Path To Constructing A Diverse Future in Digital Media Arts” presented by Roberts, Moore and Mclaughlin
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Futures and Speculations
Presentation Title:
- A Path To Constructing A Diverse Future in Digital Media Arts
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
Underrepresented minorities (URMs) interested in digital art and visual computing as career paths face unique challenges that can redirect their futures away from design. These challenges can be social, economic, or cultural and have historically led to a lack of diversity in the digital arts industry. Our institutions aim to get a better understanding of these challenges. We then hope to design solutions from the resulting research to create a pipeline that diversifies the future of art and technology. Our goal is to build roadmaps for URM middle-school students who wish to pursue art and technology in Higher Education and help overcome challenges that can hinder their ambitions.
This project stems from an ongoing collaborative research project between the Digital Media Arts Program at Prairie View A&M University and the Department of Visualization at Texas A&M University with industry guidance from Gearbox Software and funding from the Simons Foudation’s Science Sandbox. The project’s primary focus is increasing enrollment in high school courses that lead to students being college ready, with a long-term goal on career readiness for digital world building, game development and other visual computing disciplines, for this project. This project aims to understand and build tools to address cultural and socio-economic barriers faced by minority students that wish to pursue the combination of art and technology as a career choice. The research data gathered from this study will be used to improve curricula and address issues that cause friction in pursuing digital art and visual computing careers.
