The New Curriculum to Teach Computer Science Principles to Students in Digital Media Arts at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is developing a replicable model for teaching computer science to undergraduate students in arts schools, art departments, and arts programs. A two-semester course sequence, Applied Introduction to Programming and Algorithms, has been designed and is being offered as part of the core Media Arts curriculum. Using powerful, real-time, open source programming languages, ChucK and Processing, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) students with little or no computer science background are acquiring foundational programming skills that are immediately applied to their digital arts practice. Students generate code for real-time music compositions and live image synthesis/processing, creating technology-driven art while simultaneously gaining proficiencies in core computer science concepts and Digital Signal Processing (DSP). The project's approach is to teach computer science in a non-traditional computer science context. By providing skills and tools in programming, networking, and basic robotic control through a course designed specifically for artists as a means of furthering their creative work, a model is created for providing computer science curricula specifically, and STEM curricula more generally, to students from a diverse background and degree trajectory. All course material, code examples, syllabus and assignments are being made publicly available online.
