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Academy for Creative Media

Colleges of Arts and Sciences
Crawford 210
2550 Campus Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-7736
Fax (808) 956-6662
E-mail: acm@hawaii.edu
Web: www.hawaii.edu/acm/

Faculty

C. Lee (Director)
T. Brislin, PhD (Chair)—media ethics; critical studies
L. Dorn, MFA—animation
K. Kardan, BS—animation and computer games
A. Misawa, MFA—cinematic and digital production
M. Mita—indigenous film, aesthetics, writing
J. Moffett, MFA—screenwriting, cinematic & digital production
K. Ng, PhD—critical studies

Degree and Certificates Offered: BA in creative media (through Interdisciplinary Studies)

The Academic Program

The Academy for Creative Media (ACM) emphasizes narrative, or story telling, theories, skills and application across multiple platforms of digital media and within a context of cultural and aesthetic values. More than just a “film school,” ACM seeks to empower students to tell their own stories of Hawai‘i, the Pacific and Asia, rather than have those stories told for them through a different cultural lens that is distant and often distorted. It is one of the few programs developing a unique program in Indigenous Filmmaking.

ACM offers a core curriculum in three tracks: Cinematic and Digital Production, Computer Animation and Game Design, and Critical Studies. A catalog of courses, academic planning guidelines, and program information can be found on the Academy’s website at: www.hawaii.edu/acm.

Undergraduate Study

Bachelor’s Degree

Linked with the Interdisciplinary Studies program, students have the flexibility to design an individual academic program around a core of ACM courses and electives from a variety of UH Manoa departments offering courses in film studies, digital design and technology. Students work in close consultation with faculty to develop an interdisciplinary program that reflects the development of academic, technical, creative and critical thinking skills.

Requirements

To declare a major in Creative Media, students must:

  • Have completed with at least a B (3.0) Cinema and Digital Media (ACM 255), and have completed 12 or more credit hours with an overall 2.5 GPA;
  • Be enrolled in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences;
  • Be accepted into the Interdisciplinary Studies Program.

To complete the Creative Studies major, students must design a detailed and acceptable academic proposal with adequate ACM faculty counseling that emphasizes one of the three ACM tracks, includes the required core of ACM courses, and is supplemented with elective courses from at least two other departments. Students must also ensure that their academic proposal satisfies the Interdisciplinary Studies program guidelines for self-designed majors, and that all required advising sessions with Interdisciplinary Studies are met.

Required Courses

ACM 255; 310, 315 or 320; 350 or 355; and 9 credits from among: ACM 360, 385, 460, 480, 485, or 490.

Computer Hardware and Software Requirements

The curriculum of the Academy for Creative Media requires students to have access to a laptop computer. Hardware and software specifications can be found at www.hawaii.edu/acm/computer.

Advising

Introductory information on the Academy, including guidelines for academic planning, can be found at www.hawaii.edu/acm. All students accepted for the major are assigned a faculty advisor. The Interdisciplinary Studies section within the Colleges of Arts and Sciences listings in this Catalog contains useful and important information. They can be found in Krauss 116, or call 808-956-7297.

Undergraduate Certificates

Undergraduate Certificates in Creative Media can be developed in several areas. Like the major, they are comprised of core ACM courses and electives from relevant and related departments. Students in other majors are eligible to undertake an undergraduate certificate program.

ACM Courses