KMDI - Knowledge Media Design Institute

Knowledge media are building blocks of a knowledge society

About the KMD Collaborative Program

Nature of the Collaborative Program

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION: 2010/2011 Academic Year
In January you will be able to download the application in PDF format [PDF] or RTF format [RTF].

Click here to download KMD Collaborative Program poster

The Collaborative Program in Knowledge Media Design (KMD) provides a specialization for graduate students from a variety of academic backgrounds to engage in the design, prototyping, evaluation, and use of media intended to support and enhance the ability of individuals and groups to think, communicate, learn, and create knowledge.

Students will engage with KMDI's human-centred approach to design, an approach that puts people at the heart of its practice. Students will be involved in the design and use of new media in the context of real world practices of individuals and communities. Access to our collaborative and cross-disciplinary faculty will encourage students to take a broader view of technological and social change and to be constructively critical of both technological utopians and dystopians. The goal is for students to take into account heritage and history, to understand the realities of today, and to design for tomorrow. Within the Program, students have access to a community of scholars and the network of relationships that the Institute coordinates. They gain first-hand experience of a living network of innovation; an environment in which the resources are people and knowledge and the social capital and value that are generated through collaboration.

The Collaborative Program is available to Masters and Ph.D. students in one of the following 9 graduate units: Architecture, Landscape, and Design (ALD); Art/Visual Studies (VIS); Computer Science (CS); Curriculum, Teaching and Learning OISE/UT (CTL); History and Philosophy of Education OISE/UT (HPE); Information (FI); Institute of Medical Science (IMS); Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE); and Sociology (SOC).

Admission Requirements

To be eligible to join the Collaborative Program students must be enrolled in one of KMDI's collaborating units. Students not currently at U of T may apply to both a home unit and the Collaborative Program at the same time, but admission into the Program cannot be decided until placement in a home unit is confirmed. Admission into the Program will be subject to the approval of the home unit and the Program committee of the Collaborative Program. Students must apply separately to the Collaborative Program.

Program Requirements

The Collaborative Program in Knowledge Media Design offers an interdisciplinary specialization to a regular departmental degree program. Students must satisfy the following requirements:

1. Students must meet all the requirements of their home department. The specialization in KMD cannot be conferred if the home unit degree has not been completed.

2. Master's students must successfully complete KMD 1001H, KMD 1002H, and 0.5 full-course equivalent (FCE) from the KMD 2001-2004 series or a list of recognized affiliate courses. They also must submit a portfolio that includes completed student research in Knowledge Media Design. The Program Committee of the Collaborative Program will review all portfolios for their quality and contribution to the field. Master's students are encouraged, but not obligated, to complete a thesis/research project component in their home department, the topic of which should be relevant to the field of knowledge media design. Students’ KMD portfolio will be a component of their thesis/research project. Collaborative program courses taken beyond KMD 1001H and KMD 1002H may count towards the home department degree requirements or may be in addition to the degree requirements, depending on the participating departments individual program regulations.

3. Doctoral students are required to take KMD 1001H and KMD 1002H if not already taken in the master's program, and 0.5 full-course equivalent (FCE) from the KMD 2001-2004 series or a list of recognized affiliate courses.  They also must submit a portfolio that includes completed student research in Knowledge Media Design. The Program Committee of the Collaborative Program will review all portfolios for their quality and contribution to the field. The dissertation topic must be in the field of knowledge media design. The thesis advisor and at least one other committee member must be from participating units. Students’ KMD portfolio will most often be connected with their dissertation proposal. The home graduate unit and the student's supervising committee will determine further requirements. The collaborating units cooperate in jointly developing a program that is individually tailored to meet the needs of each student.