Studying across disciplines and challenging conventions is something that has always been encouraged at UC Berkeley. Students’ coursework regularly spans across academia; but today’s world requires the ability to integrate knowledge and theory from multiple disciplines. Thanks to the launch of UC Berkeley’s Certificate in Design Innovation (BCDI), students will earn credit for taking courses focused on integration of methods, technologies, knowledge, and thought from a wide range of different disciplines. BCDI curriculum includes current courses, as well as newly developed classes with an emphasis on design innovation.
A cornerstone of of the coursework for BCDI is Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). Founded by Professor Emeritus Richard Felciano in the late 1980s, CNMAT is known worldwide for audio research and linking the concert hall to the laboratory. Two new courses, Music 158A (Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies) and Music 158B (Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression), were developed with grant support from the Digital Humanities at Berkeley. The new course development grants provided the opportunity for CNMAT to further integrate its 25-year legacy of research and digital tool development into the life of our Department of Music and greater University.
“CNMAT and the Department of Music are excited to have their two new cornerstone courses in Music and Technology included in the BCDI,” said CNMAT Director and Music Professor Edmund Campion. “Music, design, and innovation go hand in hand, and it is very satisfying to find these new courses adopted for the BCDI.”
Departments offering BCDI curriculum include Architecture, Art Practice, Computer Science, Engineering, Environmental Design, Theatre, and Haas Business School. An added benefit of BCDI is students’ opportunity to take courses outside of their major, that they may not otherwise be able to be able to attend.
-Alex Coughlin