The Computational Media (CM) Department engages in boundary-pushing research and education that integrates technical, interpretive, and design work to create human-centered media that address complex problems for societal impact.
These are the core values we hold, which form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves as scholars, researchers, and members of communities:
- Impactful: We create media, experiences and ways of understanding that have an impact in the world we live in.
- Socially responsible: We actively perform research and education that benefit society at large and advance social goals.
- Open: We embrace diverse ideas, disciplines, approaches, concepts, and methods in our work and community.
- Boundary-pushing: We are forward facing while being reflective of the past.
- Collegial: We engage in partnership across our communities in a respectful manner.
- Address “messy” problems: We are unafraid of handling real-world problems that are naturally messy.
#5
best game/simulation development program in the nation (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
9th
undergrad game design program (U.S. News and World Report, 2022)
#10
best school for game & interactive design bachelor's degree (College Factual, 2024)
#19
in the top 25 public augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) schools in the U.S. (Animation Career Review, 2022)
Humanizing artificial intelligence
A new study shows how AI chatbots like ChatGPT perpetuate biases when performing empathy—highlighting gaps between human and AI responses.
CM research news
Symposium shows creativity, conviction are key to communicating climate solutions
From card games to virtual reality, innovative climate researchers are finding new ways to engage the public
Study reveals user preferences for social media in the AR ‘metaverse’
Research explores how privacy and content format impact users’ level of comfort in sharing and consuming social media AR content.
UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association announces 2025 UCSC Alumni Awards recipients
Barry J. Bowman, Terri McCullough, Daniel (Nane) Alejandrez, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, and Aviv Elor are the recipients of the 2025 UC Santa Cruz Alumni Awards.
Ph.D. opportunities
Computational Media faculty are recruiting Ph.D. students for the 2024-25 academic year
Upcoming events
Explore potential Computational Media career paths
- UI/UX Designer
- Interactive Designer
- Game Designer
- Multimedia Developer
- AR/VR Specialist
- Product Manager
- Front End Developer
- Professor/Researcher
Learn More
Linda Hirsch, a computational media postdoctoral fellow, developed an interactive game to increase flood preparedness in the local Santa Cruz community—demoing the game at the UC Santa Cruz Seymour Marine Discovery Center.
Sri Kurniawan, associate professor of computational media, is leading her students to research and develop games and applications to help people with special needs.
Professor of Computational Media Katherine Isbister and her students use games to explore how technology can influence humans’ emotional experiences.