What is ITP, IMA Low Res, and IMA?
ITP is the Interactive Telecommunications Program, a two-year graduate program located in the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU whose mission is to explore the imaginative use of communications technologies — how they might augment, improve, and bring delight and art into people’s lives. Founded in 1979, it was the first graduate program of its kind and remains among the most prestigious in the world. Perhaps the best way to describe ITP is as a Center for the Recently Possible.
The new IMA Low Residency (or Low Res) Master’s program founded in 2020 provides an environment for makers of all stripes to explore the application of new technologies in art, science, engineering, design and the humanities. However, the department recognized that the existing ITP graduate program needed to re-examine its accessibility and affordability, and looked to experiment with formats beyond the existing two-year residential masters program. The Low Res program attracts people who need a more affordable and flexible format for graduate study in a series of intensive, immersive residencies across three locations combined with two semesters of online classes and resources.
The intensive in-person, global sessions will involve full-time commitment and expect students to be wholly dedicated to the program during this time. The online sessions, while maintaining a high-level of academic rigor and work-load, aim to allow students to continue professional pursuits in parallel with their studies and course work.
IMA is the Interactive Media Arts Program, which was inaugurated at NYU Shanghai in 2013, initially as an undergraduate major. Developed out of ITP, IMA has distinguished itself within NYU Shanghai’s Liberal Arts curriculum and grown into one of the most popular programs on campus. Since then, IMA sister programs have taken root at NYU New York and at NYU Abu Dhabi.