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History of the Center

  • Raitt Sound Lab
    Raitt Hall Sound Lab
  • Sanctum (Photo Credit: RJ Sánchez | Solstream Studios)
    Sanctum (Photo Credit: RJ Sánchez | Solstream Studios)
  • Spring 2014 Music of Today Performance
    Spring 2014 Music of Today Performance
  • Richard Karpen
    Richard Karpen
Brief history of DXARTS and its PhD program
  • 1993:  With the approval of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Music Professor Richard Karpen is named director of the The Humanities and Arts Computer Center (HACC). Karpen changes the name of the center to Center for Advanced Research Technology in the Arts and Humanities (CARTAH) subsequently obtaining substantial funding to radically change the mission of the center, which supported advanced project-based digital research across the arts and humanities including, video, audio, text and design.

  • 1999:  Karpen and faculty from three other departments applied to a university funded grant called Tools for Transformation. Their proposal “Advanced Arts Technology Initiative” received $550,000 in funding for two years. With this grant, CARTAH expanded its research scope, funding graduate students from the arts that worked as research assistants at the center and creating two postgraduate positions.

  • 2001: Professor Karpen and a team of faculty from three colleges applied to another internal grant called University Initiatives Fund (UIF). This grant was created by taxing academic units 1% of their budgets to create a large pool of money for new academic initiatives. Professor Karpen and his team were awarded $700,000 of annual permanent funding to create DXARTS.

  • 2002-2003: DXARTS PhD program proposal is submitted and approved by the UW Board of Regents and the State of Washington’s Higher Education Coordinating Board.

  • 2004: DXARTS moves into its new on-campus facilities in Raitt Hall. The first group of PhD students begin the program.

  • 2005: Fremont Fab Lab off-campus facilities are created, including a 5000 square foot warehouse incorporating state of the art CNC fabrication tools, electronics laboratories, exhibition space, as well as more traditional wood and metal workshops.

  • 2008: DXARTS goes through its first program review. The review committee included UW faculty form Biology, Law and Mathematics as well as two external experts.

  • 2009: James Coupe becomes the first PhD student to graduate from the program.

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