Computation & Media

Overview

Our B.Tech Computation and Media (BTCM) is a four-year, eight-semester, rigorous and complex interdisciplinary program involving a matrix of courses from Computer Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Journalism and Mass Communication, and general engineering  It prepares the students to be engineers, who are enabled to enter the news, entertainment, and user media and other related industries while being fully equipped with the skills and competencies required for the application of these new technologies.

An example of a carefully curated interdisciplinarity is when students learn language models, writing, media production, and the psychology of human-computer interaction so that they can adopt it in various ways in newsrooms, game development, film production, and advertising strategy. 

Media, art and technology have interfaced with one another at each phase of technological development, from photography to the internet. Today’s technology includes the media consumer. Not only is it interactive—it is quickly becoming immersive. The adoption of these new technologies has been across industries. However, these are primarily communicative technologies, and the communication-related industries are utilizing them, increasingly and in phases. 

Game design is a thriving user-media industry requiring such a skill set. Game design encompasses the ability to use modelling and animation, immersive storytelling, and, increasingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI). Like game design, sports media is another industry whose talent is in high demand in many countries.

In general, immersive storytelling is an exciting new norm whether in games or gamification forms: Industries like tourism, which depend on promotional communication, may use augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technology, for example, and blend artificial intelligence (AI). A new form of extended reality (XR) is increasingly being explored. Experiential and immersive storytelling in virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, Data visualization, Videos using 360-degree cameras and spherical film will form the pivot of the learning in our program. 

News broadcast has particularly benefited from the new technological ecosystem. For example, the sociological ramifications of technology were particularly on display when The New York Times used the XR technology to place the viewer in the middle of a refugee camp in Syria to experience war first-hand. By highlighting the horrors of conflict that are usually a distant and detached reality, the media consumer is suddenly involved in change-making. This is a journalistic function, and it comes with ethical concerns. Similarly, the United Nations has evolved the “UN VR App”, which highlights urgent problems and urges citizens at large to take action. Our student will straddle this complex and fascinating journey of tech-enabled mediated communication with sociological, cultural and ethical considerations.

Programme

Specific goals

  • Utilize new and emerging technology as enablers of a new communicative society that is interactive, personalized and diverse.
  • Prepare student as specialized and technology-driven storyteller with adequate learning in media and communication.
  • Adopt continuous assessment but reinforce in-class testing method.
  • Emphasize learning through multiple methods—classroom, tutoring, simulated practice—that culminate in student-constructed products.
  • Prepare student through syllabi for learning in the evolving environment of the policies, technologies and practices of emerging technology with use cases related to media and communication.

There will be a heavy and increasing emphasis on concept and practice in each advanced semester, with appropriately close interactions with both scholarship and industry. By the end of the programme, a competent and specialized project will be expected.

Curricula (list of courses)

Code Course L T P C
Sem I MA1101 Math I – Calculus & ODE 4 1 0 5
CE1101 Earth and Environmental Sciences 2 0 0 2
MC1101 Fundamentals of Drawing & Practice 0 0 4 2
CS1101 Introduction to Computer Science 2 1 2 4
JM1101 Learning to Learn 1 0 2 2
JM1102 Photography I: Still and Moving Images 1 0 4 3
JM1103 Introduction to Media and Communication 1 0 2 2
HS1103 French I 0 2 0 0.5
Sem I Total 11 4 14 20.5
Sem II Code Course L T P C
MA1202 Math II – Linear Algebra, Complex Analysis 3 1 0 4
PH1201 Physics – I 2 1 2 4
CS1202 Discrete Mathematical Structures 2 0 0 2
CS1203 Data Structures 2 2 2 5
JM1202 Visual Communication and Graphic Design 0 1 4 3
MC1202 Professional Writing 1 0 0 1
HS1205 Professional Ethics 1 0 0 1
MC1201 Introduction to Game Design 1 0 4 3
HS1206 French II 0 2 0 0.5
Sem II Total 12 7 12 23.5
Sem III Code Course L T P C
MA2103 Math III – Probability and Stats 3 1 0 4
CS2102 Design and Analysis of Algorithms 3 1 0 4
CS2101 Optimization Techniques for AI 3 0 0 3
MC2101 Object Oriented Programming 2 0 2 3
MC2102 Introduction to Computation and Media 2 0 0 2
MC2104 Computer Graphics 2 0 2 3
JM2109 Media Production 0 0 8 4
HS2109 Economics (fractal) 3 0 0 1.5
HS2108 French III 0 2 0 0.5
Sem III Total 18 4 12 25
Sem IV Code Course L T P C
MA2204 Math IV – Numerical Methods 3 0 2 4
CS2204 Theory of Computation 3 0 0 3
CS XXXX ML with Python 3 0 2 4
CS XXXX Programming Workshop 0 0 2 1
MC2201 Modelling and Animation 2 0 4 4
MC2204 Advanced Computer Graphics 2 0 2 3
HS2210 Design Thinking 1 0 2 2
HS2211 French IV 0 2 0 0.5
HS2212 Financial Accounting (fractal) 3 0 0 1.5
Sem IV Total 17 2 14 23
Sem V Code Course L T P C
CS3102 Operating Systems 3 0 2 4
CS3103 DBMS 3 0 2 4
AI3107 Digital Image Processing 2 0 2 3
MC3101 Augmented, Virtual & Extended Reality 2 0 2 3
MC3102 Interactive Sound and Music 2 1 2 4
MCXXXX Elective I 3 0 0 3
HSXXXX HSS Elective I 2 0 0 2
HSXXXX French V (optional) 0 0 0 0
Sem V Total 17 1 10 23
JM1299 Social Sensitization Internship 0 0 6 3
Sem VI Code Course L T P C
MC3201 User Centred Design Methods 2 0 2 3
MC3202 Data Visualization and Communication 2 0 2 3
MC3203 Media Pscyhology 2 0 0 2
MC3204 Computational Creativity 2 0 2 3
XXXXXX Elective II 3 0 0 3
PR3201 3rd year Project 0 1 4 3
HS3214 Introduction to Professional Development and Employability Skills 2 0 0 2
HSXXXX HSS Elective II 2 0 0 2
HS3215 French VI (optional) 0 2 0 0
Sem VI Total 15 3 10 21
Internship 0 0 0 0
Sem VII Code Course L T P C
MC4101 Human Computer Interaction 2 0 2 3
HSXXXX Entrepreneurship Practice and Lean Startup Management 3 0 0 3
XXXXXX Elective III 3 0 0 3
PR4102 Final Year Project Phase 1 0 0 18 9
HSXXXX HSS Elective III 2 0 0 2
HS4116 French VII (optional) 0 2 0 0
Sem VII Total 10 2 20 20
Sem VIII Code Course L T P C
XXXXXX Elective IV 3 0 0 3
XXXXXX Elective V 3 0 0 3
PR4201 Final Year Project Phase II 0 4 10 9
HS4217 French VIII (optional) 0 2 0 0
Sem VIII Total 6 6 10 15

Curricula (list of courses)

Semester 1 Semester 2
JM1101 Learning to Learn JM1201: History of Media
JM1102 Photography JM1202: Visual Communication and Graphic Design
JM1103: Introduction to Media and Communication JM1203: Introduction to Advertising, PR, Communication Management
JM1104: Literature, Art, Storytelling JM1204: Fundamentals of Writing and Editing
JM1105: News Analysis I JM1205: News Analysis II
JM1106: Data Communication and Basic Software JM1206: Media Technologies
JM1107: Professional Communication JM1108: Media, Gender, Human Rights
JM1209: Media Production I
JM1298: Know your industry I
JM1299: Social sensitization internship or Guided project
Semester I
Math I – Calculus & ODE
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fundamentals of Drawing & Practice
Intro. To Comp. Sci.
Learning to Learn
Introduction to Media and Communication
Photography I: Still and Moving Images
Literature, Arts, and Storytelling
French I
Semester II
Math II – Linear Algebra, Complex Analysis
Physics – I
Discrete Mathematical Structures
Data Structures
Visual Communication and Graphic Design
Media and Information Literacy
Introduction to Game Design
Professional Ethics
French II
Semester III
Math III – Probability and Stats
Design and Analysis of Algorithms
Optimization Techniques for AI
Object Oriented Programming (C++ and Unreal)
Introduction to Interactive Storytelling
Introduction to VR/AR
Introduction to Media Forensics
Economics (fractal)
French III
Semester IV
Math IV – Numerical Methods
Theory of Computation
Social Media
Modelling and Animation
AI for Games and Media
Python Programming
Design Thinking
French
Financial Accounting (fractal)
Semester V
Operating Systems
DBMS
Digital Image Processing
Media Consumer Behaviour
Interactive Sound and Music
Strand course I
Entrepreneurship Practice and Lean Startup Management
HSS Elective I
French V (optional)
Semester VI
User Centered Design Methods
Computer Graphics
Data Visualization
Computational Creativity
Strand Course II
Elective I
3rd year Project
Professional Development
HSS Elective II
French VI (optional)
Semester VII
Research Methods
Psychology of Human Computer Interaction
Strand Course III
Elective II
Final Year Project I
HSS Elective III
French VII (optional)
Semester VIII
Strand Course IV
Elective III
Final Year Project II
French VIII (optional)

Stepping into the real world. Exposure to social and industrial practices is provided in well-guided ways under close faculty supervision.

Three internships are available—two of them mandatory. A social sector internship or initiative, two mandatory industry internships and one optional internships are included in the programme.

Assessment and grading

Assessment is seen as a dipstick measure of the progressive understanding of individual students. However, our continuous assessment is also evaluative, and counts towards the final grade. Specific, tangible and targeted output defines our assessment. Participation counts for a significant portion of the grade, and the student is expected to attend every class. Examinations are encouraged but de-emphasized, carrying a relatively small fraction of the overall grade. Plagiarism is routinely detected and will attract a zero grade. Repeated plagiarism will result in academic suspension and/or other measures.

A typical grading combination for a course may look like this:

  • Research/Role-play/Debate/Presentations 20%
  • Class quizzes/In-class tests/Take-home assignments 25%
  • Midterm examination 15%
  • Semester-end examination/Final project 30%
  • Class participation 10%

One limitation of our pedagogic model is that it does not account for a student’s absence. Minimum absence is granted without permission; one more absence may be granted in advance at the discretion of the faculty member. A student cannot expect to “cope” or “compensate” after repeated absences—this is neither possible nor advisable in the interest of the successful completion of this demanding programme. Another limitation lies in our continuous assessment pattern, which, typically, will not allow a student to catch up on the grade because of absence or non-submission. Individual instructors may determine, on a per-case basis, whether an alternative is required because of the individual student’s situation.

Stepping into the real world. Exposure to social and industrial practices is provided in well-guided ways under close faculty supervision. We are fully geared up to guide students into specific internship and job opportunities.

Multiple internships are available. A social sector internship or initiative, at least one mandatory industry internship and one optional internship are included in the programme. These exposures to “real-world experiences” solidify the concepts-to-practice relationship.

The main career loci for graduating students are news, film, television, game design, advertising, public relations, and related industries. Some training in entrepreneurship will be made available as a part of an advanced curriculum.