About the Bachelor of Media and Creative Technologies (BMCT)

In 2010, Waikato University will offer the Bachelor of Media and Creative Technologies (BMCT) degree, which provides exciting multidisciplinary opportunities. You will develop the knowledge, and also the flexibility, to adapt to job opportunities that we cannot even conceive of yet, given the pace of change.

The Bachelor of Media and Creative Technologies is an entirely new degree designed for the world of user-centric media. The technological transformations of culture and creativity are key feature of today's changing world. The BMCT brings several disciplines together in a degree that celebrates these changes, exposes them to critical inquiry and also participates in them. Graduates will not only be skilled in a variety of contemporary technologically-informed creative practices but will also possess a thorough conceptual and critical understanding of their cultural impact.

The BMCT is a three year degree, which offers the following subject options as majors:

Creative Practices

The Creative Practices major, with a focus on active arts, will be attractive to students interested in the creative and performing arts such as music, Māori creative practices, dance and theatre, including their development, expression and interaction with technology, which is an increasingly important dimension of these cultural practices. You will develop practical understanding and in-depth experience in the creative processes of performance, composition and production within both contemporary and traditional contexts. You will also develop critical and reflective analyses of your own practices.

Creative Technologies

The Creative Technologies major focuses on the convergence of music, computing and digital media. It will be especially attractive to students interested in how these increasingly interact in today's world of online communication, mobile devices and networking. Students will develop a conceptual and practical grasp of multimedia methods and approaches, including elements of animation, graphic design, studio production and digital music.

Design Media

The Design Media major has a practice-based approach with a strong focus on media associated with graphic design and is taught in a range of ways that include studio classes. Students will develop  creative, critical and analytical skills across varied media. Design is now a key driver of the creative economy, and this major will interface with the other elements of the BMCT in order to provide students with the right competencies and knowledge to work in various creative roles alongside graphic designers, for graphic designers and in larger multi-skilled creative teams.

Māori Media and Communication

Māori Media and Communication is about gaining an understanding of the historical, political, cultural and social contexts in which indigenous media and communication practices develop and operate. It provides the opportunity for students to gain particular in-depth understandings of traditional and contemporary forms of Māori communication including the study of kapa haka, Māori art, Māori film-making, the Treaty of Waitangi and oral traditions. This major is a key component of the BMCT's bi-cultural approach.

Screen and Media Studies

The Screen and Media Studies major re-invents 'media studies' for a world of post-mass media. You will learn how established media, such as cinema and broadcasting, have shaped our ways of seeing the world. You will discover how they are being 'remediated' by the new technologies of representation and communication. From video to games, from news to New Zealand films, your media environment is changing in exciting and challenging ways. Who controls these changes? What impacts are they having? How will these changes affect your life and your opportunities?

For the full regulations governing the BMCT, see The University of Waikato Calendar.