Digital Studies is the combined effort of more than fifteen departments and disciplines at the University of Wisconsin Madison to take advantage of the new possibilities being offered by digital technologies today. Part of Chancellor Biddy Martin's Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, this effort is contributing to the ongoing mandate for the University of Wisconsin-Madison to maintain its historic excellence in higher education.

Digital Studies is situated at the intersection of the arts, humanities, social sciences and information and computer sciences. It complements and extends traditional academic methods with new modes of conducting research, teaching, and sharing one's work, and facilitates the analysis of new media objects. Digital Studies forges new connections across disciplinary boundaries by addressing four distinct, if often overlapping, areas of intellectual activity:

• Digital media — the consideration of how we consume and assess communication that is mediated by digital technologies such as Internet, mobile, and smart devices including digital video and audio content as well as games and simulations produced both in everyday discourse and by media professionals
• Digital practices — the acquisition of skills that allow us to create expressive and strategic communication content using digital tools such as digital video and audio equipment as well as software for video and audio editing, Web-design, database and information architecture design, app design, computer simulation, and digital gaming
• Visuality in digital design— the consideration of how we create and assess both mechanical and aesthetic elements of visual design in digital content
• Digital information structures — the consideration and assessment of how we use and create digital archives, databases, and other digital information architectures

Digital Studies brings together eleven core faculty members, five staff members, and over sixty courses. For the academic year 2012-2013, a Digital Studies Certificate will be offered for qualifying undergraduate students at UW Madison. Through a robust pursuit of excellence in education and research, we encourage disciplinary crossovers from areas of study and practice as diverse as art, communication, journalism, law, literature, folklore, and information studies.

We in Digital Studies at UW-Madison are working hard to improve education and research. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Robert Glenn Howard
Director, Digital Studies Initiative
E-mail: rghoward2@wisc.edu
Phone: 608-262-2605
Fax: 608-262-9953
6144 Vilas Hall
821 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706-1497