For the first time in nearly 30 years, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will launch a new academic department focused on Computation, Technology and Culture (CTC). It will offer two undergraduate majors: Art and Computation, and Sound.
“RISD established the CTC department now because computation has become an essential part of contemporary creative practice, and the institution needed a dedicated space to explore it critically, ethically, and experimentally”, Professor Clement Valla, RISD’s Dean of Experimental and Foundation Studies, told The Overview via email. “While computation has existed at RISD through individual courses and interdisciplinary efforts, there was no structured program that fully integrated technology with RISD’s material-based, experimental, and critique-driven approach.”
In their first year, Art and Computation and Sound majors will take studio classes together where they engage in themes like interaction, networks, and simulation. The second year focuses on the history and methods of computer art while Sound majors will explore programming and 3D spatial audio.
“Fields are no longer siloed—computation, culture, and design intersect in complex ways. The ability to think across disciplines, combine technical and creative expertise, and approach technology with an experimental mindset will be essential for the next generation of artists and designers,” explains Valla, who is also one of the faculty members strongly advocating for the launch of the new department.
Valla highlights that computation is often perceived either as a technical skill, like in computer science, or as a design tool, as in digital fabrication and interaction design. The department Computation, Technology and Culture (CTC) instead approaches it as a creative medium—deeply integrated with artistic and cultural inquiry. “This approach is not just about bringing technology into art but about bringing RISD’s ethos—materiality, poetics, critique—to technology,” says Valla.
RISD further aims to expand its impact beyond traditional art and design fields. Students and faculty will engage with topics such as digital fabrication, cyberfeminism, and human-centered computing. “CTC prepares students not just for galleries or studios, but for roles where they can critically engage with the future of technology. This is a pivotal moment—computation is evolving rapidly, and RISD has the opportunity to lead by integrating its strengths into this space.”
Another focus area of the CTC department is the ethics surrounding emerging technologies particularly generative AI, and how to frame the relationship between humans, computational systems, and their impact on the planet. “The tech industry is dominated by efficiency-driven models that often ignore ethics, sustainability, and human experience. CTC graduates won’t just use technology; they’ll shape it—bringing RISD’s critical, human-centered approach into AI, digital culture, and beyond.
The CTC department moves away from narratives of competition—where machines replace human creativity—and instead focuses on the collaborative potential between artists, designers, computation, and the natural world. By grounding computation in RISD’s culture of making and critique, CTC students learn to shape technology itself—questioning its biases, exploring its limits, and proposing alternative, human-centered, and ecologically conscious approaches.”
