Syllabus

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Course Information

Course Title: Interactive Media Studio
Semester: Fall 2026
Weekly In-class Study Time: 5 Hours
Weekly External Study Time: 9 Hours

Instructor:
Vinny Roca, Scripps College
vroca@scrippscollege.edu

Office Hours:
By appointment on Tuesday & Thursday 4:00 - 5:00

Course Description

Interactive Media Studio is a studio-based course for advanced Media Studies students with prior course work in digital art and programming. Students will additionally be able to make use of prior course work in 3D digital design, video art, and game design when producing projects. The course is focused on teaching the fundamentals of interactive media design using the Unity game engine. Although the class will largely be focused on the history, theory and production of commercial and art games, students are not require to produce video games for their projects. This course encourages experimentation with interactive media and each student will work individually with the instructor to develop their projects.

Course Outline

The goal of this course is to address three key questions:

What is the history of techniques used to produce interactive media art?
How does technological and cultural context effect the production of interactive media art?
How do contemporary media artists produce interactive media works?

To address these questions, this course will focus on three units:

Unit	Focus	Technology	Tutorial	Project
1	The Arcade	Integrated circuits	Space shooter	Public Game
2	Multimedia Art	CD Rom	Point and Click	Interactive Zine
3	Game Artists	Game engines	One on ones	Personal Game

During each unit we will focus on a particular historical moment in the history of interactive media. To explore the historical time frame associated with each unit we will engage with media and readings. The first two units will explore the embeddedness of these histories within the frameworks of the Unity game engine. The final unit will explore the contemporary approaches to interactive media by artists, designers and game makers.

Unit 1: Public Games

Week 1-4: Tutorial, Exercise, Readings
Week 5-6: Public Game

Unit 2: Multimedia Art

Week 7-9: Tutorial, Exercise, Readings
Week 10-11: Interactive Zine

Unit 3: Contemporary Approaches

Week 12-15: Personal Game

Learning Outcomes and Course Objectives

The objective of this course is for advanced students to develop technical media art skills through the development of playable media projects, and to contextualize this knowledge within contemporary theories of interactive media. Through projects, assignments, presentations, readings, technical tutorials, and lectures, students will achieve the following learning outcomes:

Gain the design, software, and programming skills required to develop interactive media art.
Gain an understanding of the contemporary cultural impact and role of interactive media art.
Ability to analyze interactive media art as cultural and artistic objects.
Ability to craft expansive interactive media projects.

Course Breakdown

%	Course Item
27.5	Final Game
22.5	Arcade Game
22.5	Point and Click Game
10	Participation
10	Attendance
7.5	Responses

%	Letter Grade
93-100	A
90-92	A-
87-89	B+
83-96	B
80-82	B-
77-79	C+
73-76	C
70-72	C-
67-69	D+
63-66	D
60-62	D-
0-59	F

Class Website

This class website contains the course syllabus, schedule, assignment descriptions as well as written lecture notes and resources. To move our learning away from content management solutions and quantified grade management, this website has been particularly crafted for this class and I welcome any feedback on how the design or content can further facilitate learning.

For those interested, this website is written in markdown using Obsidian with slightly off-beat syntax to get links working. Jekyll is used to compile the markdown into a static site, and custom layout and CSS is used to build on the Minima theme. The color scheme of this site is based on Flexoki. The website exist as a repository on GitHub and is hosted using GitHub Pages. Gifs are recorded using LICEcap. The typeface if Funnel Sans by Kristian Möller

Grading Criteria

Projects and Late Work

Grading Criteria for each project can be found in the Projects section of the class website.

All project components should be turned in before the start of class on their due day. Project components will lose one letter grade for each day they are late. Project components received more than three days past due date will not be accepted. Unexcused absences during proposal and playtesting sessions will result in students receiving a zero for their proposal or playtest grade. Unexcused absences during critique days will result in a two letter grade reduction in the final project grade.

Participation

Playing, understanding, and designing interactive media in a collaborative effort. As such, active participation in all aspects of the class is crucial. Students are expected to actively participate in all aspects of the course. In order to prepare for active participation, students are expected to engage with assigned material before each class session. Phones and laptops are strictly prohibited from being used in-class unless noted otherwise. Use of electronic devices during class will significantly impact the final participation grade.

Attendance

Students are expected to be prepared for class by the start of our class meeting time. Students are allowed one free unexcused absence during the semester. Students may not use their one unexcused absence during critique, proposal or playtesting sessions. Additional absences will only be excused for documented illness, emergencies, or religious observances. Students who arrive to the class after the class meeting time will be marked as tardy. Three tardies will be considered an unexcused absence. Each unexcused absence will decrease the attendance grade by 20%. 5 or more unexcused absences will result in a zero attendance grade. Each unexcused absence beyond 5 will result in a 20% decrease in the student’s participation grade.

Statement of Inclusion

We understand the classroom as a space for practicing freedom; where one may challenge psychic, social, and cultural borders and create meaningful artistic expressions. To do so we must acknowledge and embrace the different identities and backgrounds we inhabit. This means that we will use pronouns, respect self-identifications, and be mindful of special needs. Disagreement is encouraged and supported, however, our differences affect our conceptualization and experience of reality, and it is extremely important to remember that certain gender, race, sex, and class identities are more privileged while others are undermined and marginalized. Consequently, this makes some people feel more protected or vulnerable during debates and discussions. A collaborative effort between the students and Instructor is needed to create a supportive learning environment. While everyone should feel free to experiment creatively and conceptually, if a class member points out that something you have said or shared with the group is offensive, avoid being defensive; instead approach the discussion as a valuable opportunity for us to grow and learn from one another. Alternatively, if you feel that something said in discussion or included in a piece of work is harmful, you are encouraged to speak with the Instructor.

Statement adopted from voidLab at https://github.com/voidlab/diversity-statement.

Land Acknowledgement

We would like to respectfully acknowledge that Scripps College sits within the historic homeland of the Tongva people. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and colonization in our area. We acknowledge the strength and resilience of the Tongva people of the past, present, and future as the original caretakers of the land, water, and air, and we recognize our responsibility to be respectful stewards of the Scripps College campus. Today, this area and this campus are home to many Indigenous people from across the globe and we are proud that they are part of our community and institution.

Accommodations

The instructor will work individually with each student on reasonable accommodations.

If you have questions about accommodations for the course, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Campus Disability Coordinators: