A unique Pitt major was highlighted by the National Humanities Alliance

An innovative University of Pittsburgh program is featured in the latest National Humanities Alliance report, “Expanding Access to Undergraduate Humanities Education: Models and Strategies.”

The Department of English in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Computing and Information partnered to create the Digital Narrative and Interactive Design (DNID) major in 2019. This program integrates English and computer science to teach students how to build interactive narrative systems through games, literature, virtual reality environments and other media experiences in a variety of fields.

The National Humanities Alliance commends the program for its success attracting students, with the DNID major attracting 24 students within a year of its launch. By spring 2023, 160 students were DNID majors.

“By appealing to a broader range of students, DNID courses are helping to attract students from backgrounds that have historically been underrepresented in traditional English programs,” the report said. “More than a quarter of students surveyed were of Asian descent, compared to 17% of the general Pitt student population.”

— Nick France