M.S. students are required to take 10 credits of CM topics courses. This category includes all 5-credit CMPM graduate classes, as long as they are not already counted in another category (e.g., it cannot include core courses), in addition to courses available in other departments. Current topics courses are listed below.

Current Topics Courses

There are three additional program requirements, though students may have completed the necessary work for one or more before admission.

First, all M.S. students must demonstrate an understanding of media creation in a CM context, and must do so by the end of their second year in the program. This can be completed by any of:

• The Computer Science: Computer Game Design B.S. game studio sequence (CMPM 170, CMPM 171, CMPM 172) before graduate enrollment.
• The Art and Design: Games and Playable Media B.A. game studio sequence (ARTG 170, ARTG 171, ARTG 172) before graduate enrollment.
• A Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) project group sequence (three DANM 250 courses in same area, in sequence) during or before computational media M.S./Ph.D. graduate enrollment.
• The Games and Playable Media M.S. project sequence (GAME 270, GAME 271, GAME 272) before computational media M.S./Ph.D. graduate enrollment (due to Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (PDST) and cohort model, these cannot be taken by students in other programs).
• At least three graduate or upper-division undergraduate courses from a list of offerings at UCSC that require programming knowledge and are focused on defining and developing CM-related projects (e.g., CMPM 148) during or before CM graduate enrollment. See the media creation courses list below.
• Petition to CM graduate director, presenting evidence of equivalent coursework at another institution and/or equivalent CM project experience in another context.

Second, all M.S. students must demonstrate an understanding of computer programming sufficient to carry out CM research, and must do so by the end of their second year in the program. This can be completed by:

• Taking a series of courses that integrate media and programming knowledge (e.g., GAME 235, GAME 236, and CMPM 120).
• Taking core programming (e.g., CSE 30 and CSE 101) and advanced programming (e.g., CSE 111) at UCSC or another institution.
• Petition to CM graduate director, presenting evidence of programming knowledge developed in another context.

Third, all M.S. students are expected to have an understanding of interpretive and critical methods sufficient to carry out CM research. Students who lack such a background are strongly encouraged to take a series of courses in this area, consulting with their adviser regarding which courses would be most appropriate. A recommended sequence is:

• HISC 1: Introduction to the History of Consciousness. If this is not possible, take an 80-level course that integrates introductory interpretive content (e.g., FILM 80V: Video Games as Visual Culture).
• Take two more graduate or upper-division undergraduate courses that focus on interpretive practices. The CM department offers courses that integrate this with CM knowledge, such as some offerings of CMPM 290A (e.g., Media Constellations) and CMPM 176: Game Systems. Other programs also offer courses that make this integration, such as DANM 201: Recent Methods and Approaches to Digital Arts and Culture and DANM 202: Dialogues and Questions in Digital Arts and Culture. Courses that do not make this integration, but that are connected to the student's research area, are also acceptable.

Note: In extraordinary circumstances the graduate director can reduce the number of required courses based on a petition presenting past accomplishments, for example, reducing the number of required topics courses by one for each substantial past research publication or system accepted from the petition.

Current Media Creation Courses

The M.S. requires a research thesis. It is a substantial undertaking within the CM field, which may emphasize technical, media-creation, or interpretive aspects—or may emphasize more than one area equally. Regardless of which of the above areas the M.S. research emphasizes, a written thesis is required. This written thesis is reviewed by a committee of at least two faculty that must include at least one member of the CM department and draw half or more of its members from the UCSC academic senate. M.S. students are required to take CMPM 204 (Computational Media Project Definition), in which their thesis topic is developed, as well as CMPM 299, an independent study with the faculty adviser for their thesis.

Students who are considering enrolling in lower-division courses in order to fulfill additional degree requirements (e.g., CSE 30, HISC 1) may wish to consult with the course instructor and their adviser about instead taking an independent study or directed study (with the course instructor, their adviser, or a third faculty member) that subsumes the work of the course and adds additional content to bring it up to a graduate level. Graduate students must be enrolled in some combination of at least 10 credits of courses or independent studies that are either graduate or upper-division undergraduate courses in order to be considered full-time enrolled.