Department of Arts, Culture and Technology
Discover the Creative, Culturally Significant Side of Innovation
Art, culture and technology power society’s collective advancements — including how we tell stories, design websites and video games, analyze data for research and curate museum exhibits. At the same time, understanding culture, politics, art, history, literature and social sciences empowers science, technology and business leaders to make a positive impact on the world.
The Department of Arts, Culture and Technology (ACT) enriches the overall Clarkson University experience and equips students to propel these outcomes. Clarkson undergraduates can select from numerous degree-complementing minors for a cross-disciplinary exploration of the arts, humanities and social sciences that helps them grow into professionals with a nuanced perspective on their work. From sociology and anthropology to digital arts and literature, ACT courses train students to become master problem solvers and communicators and prepare them to adapt to and lead a constantly changing world.
Do you seek to develop sustainable infrastructure, create more user-friendly software interfaces or conduct research that sheds light on the human condition? If so, learn more about the Department’s mission and role at Clarkson and all available programs and experiential opportunities.
About ACT at Clarkson
Clarkson students build tomorrow’s world through their ideas and innovations. To graduate well-rounded professionals ready to tackle challenges from multiple angles, ACT courses emphasize the following:
Creative Thought
In conversations and debates, learn to defend your stance on artistic movements, films, theories, historical events, literature and other topics.
Interdisciplinary Scholarship
Clarkson students and faculty regularly bounce hypotheses off each other and delve into disciplinary overlap. Integral to a Clarkson education, ACT both explores the interconnectedness among the arts, humanities and social sciences and where these areas influence STEM, business and healthcare to power society’s creative endeavors and culture at large.
Small Class Sizes
No one is a number at Clarkson, and ACT classes illustrate this aspect of our campus. As you express your unique viewpoints, you’ll engage and develop connections with equally enthusiastic students and expert faculty-scholars.
Unconventional Classes
These intersections result in a number of courses found nowhere else — for example, in Wargaming, Demons and Witches, and American Political Ideas in Literature and Film — and expose students to both new and emerging media.
While we are not known for political science, I feel like we should be. The professors are outstanding, the coursework is interesting and there are so many opportunities on campus. College is absolutely what you make it.
Celia Darling ‘24
All Arts, Culture and Technology Minors
Featured Class: Wargaming
Gaming isn’t solely for enjoyment: it’s a novel way to learn about history and plays a role in modern military and defense strategies. Professor Alastair Kocho-Williams’ course covers this niche industry from all angles — evolution, principles, styles, formats and purpose — and requires students to design and test their own educational wargame.
Experiential and Real-World Opportunities
See how your diverse interests work together to transform our immediate community and beyond.
Work as a Teaching or Research Assistant
A Clarkson education is all about doing while absorbing new information from established professionals. On campus, ACT students can serve as teaching assistants in discussion-based courses or serve as research assistants on cutting-edge scholarly projects.
New York State Assembly Internship Program
Get a front-row seat to the legislative process. Undergraduates accepted into the prestigious Session Internship directly participate in state government and are awarded a stipend plus a full semester of credit.
Intern at Local Museums
Museum exhibits start with curating artifacts and come to life through storytelling, often incorporating virtual reality and mobile technologies. As interns, ACT students get a behind-the-scenes look at this process and how communication, history, science and digital art can converge.
ACT Faculty Research
- Ancient graffiti
- Applied ethics
- History of neurology
- Literature of varied countries and cultures
- New media installation art
- Pedagogy of active learning
- Russian and Soviet history
- Social injustices in health
- Teaching through gaming
- Translation