Information Arts & Technologies

D.S., Information and Interaction Design

Program Description:

The Doctor of Science in Information and Interaction Design (DS in IID) is a research degree that is multidisciplinary in structure. The program requires students to develop a number of skills and perspectives and provides four possible areas of focus: interaction design for new media, user research, public sector applications, and teaching applications of new media.

Drawing on a flexible array of disciplines and perspectives, this program prepares you to become a leader in developing and applying advanced communication techniques to commerce, culture, and society. It is one of very few doctoral degree programs in the country focused on new media that approaches communications design from both humanist and human-computer interaction perspectives.

What you will learn:

The D.S. in Information and Interaction Design requires a minimum of 48 hours of course work beyond an appropriate master's degree. Students are required to take courses covering various aspects of design, business or public sector management, history, economics, and cultural theory. As students move through the program they will specialize in one of the following areas:

  • user research
  • interaction design for new media
  • government and public-sector applications
  • educational applications

DCD students are also required to develop a high degree of competence in at least one productive technology involving digital information systems. As a prerequisite for this part of their studies, students must either pass a Proficiency Examination in basic Web publishing skills or satisfactorily complete an introductory course whose credits do not count toward the 48 required for the degree.

In addition to course work, students must submit a major project to be evaluated by a committee of faculty and experts in the relevant field.

Every student in the program, at various stages of progress, must fulfill competency and qualification requirements, including the Qualifying Examination.

Admission Information:

The doctoral program in Information and Interaction Design is open to students from all disciplines, but it is especially appropriate for people with degrees in the humanities and social sciences who want to apply their liberal arts backgrounds to an emerging technology field.

Candidates for admissions to the D.C.D must have received a master's degree from a regionally accredited institution with a GPA of 3.2 or better.

You may:

Request more information.

Apply online.

Contact the UB Office of Admissions at gradadmissions@ubalt.edu or 410.837.4777 or 1.877.ApplyUB (1.877.277.5982) for more information, or visit http://www.ubalt.edu/admissions.

Support

A small number of fellowships for full time students are available on a competitive basis. In order to compete for a fellowship for full time study, you must complete your application by March 1. Students may also apply for loans through the University of Baltimore's Office of Financial Aid at http://www.ubalt.edu/financialaid or 410.837.4763.

How to Apply

The Admissions Committee reviews applications once a year, beginning March 1. Applications are accepted until April 1 for the fall entering class. (To apply for entry in September 2010 you need to complete your application and all required materials must be received by April 1, 2010.) As part of the admissions process, the program director or faculty may also request an interview either by telephone or in person.

To apply you must supply the following:

Material to be sent directly to the School of Information Arts and Technologies:

  • submit an annotated reading list of five books indicating your intellectual and professional interests to help the admissions committee understand the direction you want to go in and also your way of thinking about and engaging the ideas that are important to you
  • and a five-page essay related to your area of study which is to be a piece of scholarship, and the committee is happy to accept something you have already written
Please send all material required by the School of Information Arts and Technologies to:
  • The Doctor of Science in Information and Interaction Design
  • School of Information Arts and Technologies
  • The University of Baltimore
  • 1420 N. Charles St.
  • Baltimore, MD 21201-5779

  • Phone: 410.837.5023
  • Fax: 410.837.6252
  • E-mail: dcd@ubalt.edu

Material to be sent directly to the University's Office of Graduate Admissions:

  • the University's application for graduate admission or apply online at http://www.ubalt.edu/apply
  • application fee
  • Maryland in-state residency status form if you are applying as a Maryland resident
  • a letter of intent explaining your educational and professional goals. If you have a sense of what you would like to do as a student in the program, you may include this information, additional admissions forms.
  • current resume or curriculum vitae
  • three letters of recommendation using the University's recommendation forms
  • official copies of transcripts from all universities and colleges attended
  • official GRE or Miller Analogies Test scores.
Please send all material required by the University to:
  • Office of Graduate Admissions
  • University of Baltimore
  • 1420 N. Charles St.
  • Baltimore, MD 21201-5779

  • Phone: 410.837.6565 or 1.877-ApplyUB (1.877.277.5982)
  • Fax: 410.837.4774
  • E-mail: gradadmissions@ubalt.edu

Principal Faculty

Encounter nationally prominent faculty with active projects in interface design, application development, information services, new-media rhetoric, electronic publishing and the digital arts.

Some of these descriptions belong to the faculty--though not necessarily the ones you'd expect. Some, perhaps the most interesting, define our students. And if you call certain names--experimenter, innovator, gadfly--almost any of us will answer.

  • Kathleen Austin
  • Nancy Kaplan
  • Mohammed Ketel
  • Jeffrey Livermore
  • Aaron Oldenburg
  • Anastasia Salter
  • Kathryn Summers
  • Cecelia Wright Brown

See faculty bios for more info.

Affiliated Faculty

  • Stephanie Gibson
  • Lucy Holman
  • Deborah Kohl
  • Amy Pointer
  • And faculty in Instructional Technology from Towson University

Contact Information: Program Director or Program Coordinator

  • School of Information Arts and Technologies
  • University of Baltimore
  • 1420 N. Charles St.
  • Baltimore, MD 21201-5779
  • Fax: 410.837.6252
  •  
  • Professor Kathryn Summers, Program Director
  • Phone: 410.837.6202
  • E-mail: ksummers@ubalt.edu
  • Website: http://iat.ubalt.edu/summers