MAC 230 Narrative Design and Worldbuilding for Media

This course explores the emerging fields of narrative design and worldbuilding. These fields apply storytelling techniques to design problems that span traditional and cutting-edge media forms — from filmmaking, theater, and architecture, to mobile apps, video games, and virtual reality. As a result, narrative designers and worldbuilders are becoming increasingly valued by a diverse set of industries. Using both analog and digital tools, students will create short projects that investigate interactivity, non-linear storytelling, user interface and experience design, transmedia, the poetics of space, and other relevant topics. Students will have the freedom to create projects that relate to their specific skills, goals, and experiences, while readings and short screenings will contextualize their hands-on work within larger political and cultural contexts.