Master of Arts in Emerging Media Design and Development
With Ball State’s Master of Arts in Emerging Media Design and Development, students learn how to plan, develop, deploy, and test communication designs and storytelling across digital platforms. Graduates are highly-trained professionals in the high-demand fields of journalism, public relations, advertising, healthcare, corporate business, education, and more. This degree also provides excellent preparation for doctoral studies.
The program can be completed by participating in a traditional on-campus experience or through a low-residency approach requiring a five-day visit to the Ball State University campus in Fishers, Indiana at the start of each semester. After the five-day residency experience in Fishers, the remainder of the course is completed online. The low-residency program is appropriate for professionals and part-time students who are currently working and/or managing cross-platform projects. The low-residency program gives working professionals the option to learn, understand, and apply design thinking, cross-platform storytelling and usability/user experience research skills, which are vital to the modern workplace. Students in both programs can pursue an academic track, requiring a thesis, or a professional track emphasizing an applied research project in emerging media design and development.
Both programs allow students to supplement required courses with an elective approved by the program director. Students must earn a minimum grade of C or better in each graduate course.
In addition to the Graduate School admission requirements, applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Department of Journalism’s emerging media design program requirements:
- A cumulative baccalaureate grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- A 1000-word statement of purpose that indicates the specific area of concentration the applicant wants to pursue, the reasons for undertaking graduate study in this department, and the relationship of such study to the applicant’s long-term personal and professional goals and interests.
- Either an academic or professional writing sample(s) that best illustrates the applicant’s ability to write and to think critically and logically, and is no less than 2,500 words and no more than 5,000 in total.
- A creative or design portfolio.
33-36 credits
EMDD Core (27 credits)
| EMDD 600 | Usability and Evaluation Research Methods | 3 |
| EMDD 610 | Theories and Frameworks in Human-Computer Interaction | 3 |
| EMDD 620 | Emerging Media and Design Thinking | 3 |
| EMDD 630 | Nonlinear and Interactive Storytelling | 3 |
| EMDD 640 | Transmedia Storytelling and Publishing | 3 |
| EMDD 650 | Interactive Media Design and Development | 3 |
| EMDD 660 | Applied Research Lab | 3 TO 9 |
| EMDD 670 | Creative Project Lab | 3 TO 9 |
A minimum of six credits are required in EMDD 670.
Research Capstone (3 to 6 credits)
For the research capstone, students may choose a six credit thesis (THES 698), a creative project (CRPR 698) worth three or six credits, or professional capstone in emerging media design and development (EMDD 680) worth three or six credits.
| CRPR 698 | Creative Project | 3 OR 6 |
| THES 698 | Thesis | 1 TO 6 |
| EMDD 680 | Professional Capstone in Emerging Media Design and Development | 3-6 |
Directed Elective (3 credits)
Under the guidance of the program coordinator in emerging media design and development, students choose an elective matching their professional interests.
Accelerated Master's Program (AMP)
Undergraduate students accepted to the Accelerated Master's Program (AMP) most commonly take EMDD 600, EMDD 620, EMDD 630, and/or EMDD 640.