The iEAR Studios Startup: Curriculum and Values in Electronic Arts Education

When the MFA in Integrated Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (iEAR) enrolled its first class in 1991, it was, as far as the author is aware, the first graduate program in the United States to focus on the electronic arts as a unified interdisciplinary field. This article recounts the process used to design an academic curriculum to help students develop the skills and the breadth of artistic vision needed to pursue careers as artists using electronic media. The article also describes the climate and culture of the iEAR Studios in the 1990s and argues that the values embodied in the studio culture played a large part in fostering the creative and experimental use of electronic media and developing artists whose work disregards traditional disciplinary boundaries.