URBANA – A new University of Illinois institute called eDREAM aims not only to produce digitally savvy American workers and thinkers, but also to help the economy and society.

The Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media Institute will do that, and other things, by offering an online master's degree professional program and a doctorate program that will be the first of its kind in the United States.

"Digital media are truly changing how we do our business in lots and lots of ways," said UI Professor Donna Cox, director of eDREAM and the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. "We believe jobs are already being created by changes in technology. Part of the educational process is being ready for these transformative opportunities."

In that regard, the online master's program is targeted at changing demographics – prospective students might include people who have been laid off from industries hit hard by the ailing economy or who are looking to change careers. That program, designed to lead to managerial jobs and entrepreneurship, is expected to start within two years.

"Historically, digital media artists were thought of as good prospects for the creative industry," said Kelly Searsmith, assistant director for planning and development for eDREAM. "This kind of work is being cited as part of the portfolio for the new American worker, the knowledge worker. It's increasingly expected, like critical thinking and communication skills."

The doctoral program will educate students who want to remain in academia to study theoretical questions, chief among them how digital technology and arts are changing society, said Cox, the first UI faculty member to be appointed to the new Michael Aiken Chair.

The doctoral program, expected to start this fall with students from the Cyprus Institute who are working on digital cultural heritage, is modeled after the University of Plymouth's doctoral program in media arts.

Cox is now finishing her doctoral thesis from that university in England. She believes it was important for her to go through the same process that eDREAM doctoral candidates will experience.

Overall, the research and educational goals of eDREAM are to bring together interdisciplinary groups on campus to facilitate funding and explore research in the areas of art, technology, humanities, digital media and science, Cox said, noting that there already is a lot of innovative work being done on the UI campus.

To avoid redundancy, eDREAM, acting as an umbrella, will coordinate faculty and grants and broker information among the various units.

Cox said eDREAM also hopes to connect with area businesses and to work with Parkland College; for example, Parkland students and UI students can take digital courses at either institution.

The new institute, already approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, is an outgrowth of the Advanced Visualization Laboratory. It recently presented to members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science its work on Ultra Hi Res Stereo Theater.

In that, the laboratory collaborates with scientists to produce digital visualizations or depictions of scientific data. Visualizations have been created in the areas of cloud formation and air flow, the nonlinear evolution of the universe, and an F3 tornado.

The laboratory also works with the Museum of Science and Industry, Adler Planetarium, the American Museum of Natural History and other museums where artists and scientists collaborate to produce data-driven digital visualizations.

The new eDREAM will seek new opportunities in that area, said Cox, who is a leader in providing data-driven visualizations not only for scientists but for public-science education including in film and television.

The new eDREAM follows the Seedbed Initiative for Transdomain Creativity that was spearheaded by Mike Ross, director of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. He and others looked at ways of bringing together on campus the arts, science and technology.

So in addition to its academic programs, eDREAM will foster creative productions and performances and eventually sponsor a biennial festival in digital media, arts, technology and science.

The new eDREAM has been given basic funding for at least five years by the UI Provost's Office and will seek grants to sustain itself.

It will officially launch with a reception at Krannert Center on April 20, during the third annual conference on campus of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, a consortium of humanists, artists, scientists, social scientists and engineers from universities nationwide.

Searsmith said eDREAM is already working with like-minded agencies worldwide, among them the Cyprus Institute, and hopes to become an international hub in promoting arts that are conceived, created, and conveyed through digital technologies.