The Masters of Digital Media Program is building a strong relationship with the Animation School of the Communications University of China (CUC) through collaborative projects, shared research and exchange programs.

A team of CUC students will collaborate remotely from Beijing, China providing animation, character design and virtual effects in support of an existing MDM industry project. In the spring of 2010, CUC students will travel to Vancouver’s Centre for Digital Media for a one month internship where they will participate in daily MDM life through classes, workshops and group projects. In addition, the MDM Program will host CUC faculty members, Prof. Bai, and Prof Wang. The CUC faculty will assist with the development of a remote collaborative online training system, conduct research on Chinese and Canadian teaching concepts and delivery methods and facilitate workshops on traditional Chinese culture, design and art. Research conducted during this time will be collected for publication in a book about digital media.

The idea for cross cultural collaboration first started when several CUC undergraduate students joined the MDM Program in 2008. This led to a number of discussions between the two schools culminating, earlier this year, in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), that was signed by the MDM’s Dr. Sinclair and Dean Liao from CUC. The MOU cemented the budding relationship between the two prestigious academic institutions.