September 7, 2015, Valencia, CA—California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is launching a cluster of online courses titled Game Design: Art and Concepts on Coursera, the world’s largest open online education provider. With the first course launching on September 15th, the Game Design Specialization will be taught by the college’s top faculty and accessible to anyone who registers online.
“When Coursera approached us to develop a new video game design Specialization, we saw it as a great opportunity—not only to grow our relationship with them, but also to bring our unique creative pedagogy to a broader online audience,” said CalArts Provost Jeannene Przyblyski. “Through courses designed by CalArts faculty, this Specialization will help learners create compelling story-driven visual worlds with engaging characters that keep game players coming back for more. At CalArts ‘story’ is a tradition that becomes even more exciting as we explore new possibilities for interactive user experience.”
CalArts is one of the world’s foremost colleges for the study and practice of the art of the moving image. This Specialization offers a unique opportunity to study CalArts’ principles of storytelling and design in an interactive online course with learners from around the world. Upon completing the four courses and Capstone Project, students will be prepared to develop cohesive, creative game concepts and to confidently pitch their ideas for production.
Classes in the Game Design: Art and Concepts Specialization are open to beginners. Through the Specialization, students will be able to recognize and articulate foundational game principles; organize, present, and envision story concepts in outlines and storyboards; and create character designs. They will become equipped to conceptualize, develop, and present proposed game titles through presentation art, written synopses and verbal presentations.
“We are thrilled to offer a Specialization in Game Design from CalArts, an international leader in the field of arts education,” said Daphne Koller, President and Co-Founder of Coursera. “The Specialization is expected to quickly reach hundreds of thousands of the 14 million registered learners from around the world on Coursera, many of whom would never have had access to CalArts’ high quality instruction.”
In 2012, CalArts partnered with Coursera, to develop massive open online courses (MOOCs) for large-scale and open access learning via the web. Through this partnership, students around the world have had the opportunity to experience CalArts’ blend of professional excellence in the arts and develop their creative skills through online classes. Previous and current classes were developed by CalArts’ faculty and include Introduction to Programming for Digital Artists taught by Associate Dean for Research and Development in Digital Arts Ajay Kapur; Site Specific Creation/Production for Performance with instructor Stephan Koplowitz, Dean of the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance; Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers taught by CalArts Provost Jeannene Przyblyski; Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop with Douglas Kearney whose book The Black Automaton was a National Poetry Series selection; and Fundamentals of Graphic Design, with Michael Worthington.
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About Coursera
Coursera partners with over 120 top universities and educational institutions to offer hundreds of online courses and Specializations in topics from computer science to social psychology and beyond. Earn certificates from prestigious learning institutions for courses and projects developed in collaboration with top employers that teach the skills you need to succeed. Whether you want to advance your career or pursue a passion, Coursera provides open online education for everyone. For more information, visit www.coursera.org.