This CPATH project builds a community engaged in integrating computing with performing and fine arts. Building on an existing infrastructure, the traditional computer science curriculum is revitalized by streamlining the core computer science courses and developing an interdisciplinary major focused on arts and humanities. Artbotics and performatics students and faculty work together in a multi-disciplinary teams supported by a regional group of project advisors and collaborations representing active museums, theaters, engineering, computer science professional organizations in the area. The project group centered at Massachusetts Lowell will then reach out to build a community of practitioners through workshops, conference events, and an alliance with the National Center for Women and Information Technology.
The intellectual merit of this project lies in strong project team and the expertise of the collaborative partners participating in the project. The project features an extremely comprehensive assessment plan that should provide concrete insights that are of great value. The project has the potential to articulate the connections between computer science and the arts thus enhancing the overall discipline of computing.
The broader impacts of the project lie with the potential to enhance the education and opportunities of a broader group of students and region. The community outreach component builds capacity nationally to revitalize computing education and thus directly impact the computing education of students and faculty across the nation. The project can serve as a national model for blending computer science with other arts and humanities disciplines.
