The Curriculum

The Information Technology Minor is available to all students on the UMass Amherst campus, regardless of their major.

The curriculum for the IT Minor provides a wide range of courses to choose from. The 18-credit minor requires a foundation course, a technical core (two courses), one course of broadened inquiry on the uses and implications of technology in society, and two electives applying aspects of technology at a more advanced level in disciplines across the campus. Although these courses may coincide with requirements for your specific field of study, at least 2 of the courses used to complete the IT Minor must be taken outside of your major.

The curriculum provides students with technical and scholarly capabilities in areas of visual applications, programming, data analysis, research methods, media theory, and an array of other fields. This generalist background enhances disciplinary specialization by allowing students to apply skills and knowledge in a variety of academic areas.

Please refer to IT Program's website for the complete list of courses currently available.  https://www.umass.edu/itprogram/

Please note that some of the courses may have pre-requisites. If so, it is suggested you contact the instructor for permission to enroll.

Foundation Requirement
Upon enrolling in the Information Technology Program, students need to complete a foundation course that will provide them with knowledge of the concepts of computer information systems and the rudiments of electronic technology to succeed in the required technical courses. Students may satisfy this foundation requirement by completion of one of the following courses:

CMPSCI 105 Computer Literacy; COMPSCI 190IN Introduction to Informatics; RES-ECON 112 Computing Foundations to Frontiers; OIM 210 Introduction to Business Information Systems; EDUC 592A Tools for Learning & Instruction; PHIL 110 Introduction to Logic. The level of knowledge provided by these courses will be required for success in the two technical courses which follow. Students who believe that they have the requisite level of knowledge may petition the IT Minor Advisor for exemption from the foundation requirement.

Requirements (minimum of 18 credits or 15 if foundation course is waived)
The complete list of courses currently offered for each category is available through the IT Program website.

Technical courses (minimum of six credits): At least two courses, selected from two of the following three categories, are required to provide a durable, technical core on which to build the minor:

Principles of Object-Oriented Programming:
CMPSCI 121 Introduction to Problem Solving with Computers (Java)
CMPSCI 119 Introduction to Programming (Python)

Representing, Storing and Retrieving Information:
CMPSCI 145 Representing, Storing and Retrieving Information
CMPSCI 187 Programming with Data Structures
E&C-ENG 242 Data Structures and Algorithms

Internet Technology and Multimedia Systems:
CMPSCI 120 Problem Solving with the Internet

Broadened Inquiry (minimum of three credits): At least one course exploring social issues of technology, chosen from the following group:
COMM 334 Media History and Communication Policy
COMPLIT 236 Digital Culture
ENGLISH 302 Studies in Textuality and New Media: Race, Gender and New Media.
ENGLISH 382 Professional Writing & Technical Communication III
ENGLISH 391D Writing and Emerging Technologies
ENGLISH 494DI Dystopian Games, Media and Comics?
JOURNAL 494MI Media, Technology and Culture
LEGAL 491S Law and the World Wide Web
MARKETNG 491F Topics in Social Media
MARKETNG 497C Technology-Enabled Marketing and Analytics
RES-ECON 397A Economic Issues of Contemporary Information Technology

Departmental Electives: At least two courses from the following preliminary list. Others will be added upon approval. Students may substitute courses in the Technical or Broadened Inquiry categories for the Elective requirement.
ACCOUNTG 311 Business Applications of Computers
ART 271 Introduction to Computing in Fine Arts
ART 374 Introduction to Computer Animation
ART 384 Computer Animation II
ART 397MM Media/Motion Graphics
BCT 320 Introduction to CAD in Construction/Architecture
BCT 420 Advanced Topics in CAD
BIOLOGY 572 Neurobiology
CMPSCI 105 Computer Literacy
EDUC 593A Integrating Technology with the Curriculum
ENGLISH 391C Advanced Software Professional Writing
FINOPMGT 373 Business Process Simulation
GEOGRAPH 352 Computer Mapping
GEOGRAPH 426 Intro to Remote Sensing
HISTORY 181 Western Science and Technology II
JOUNAL 333 Intro to Visual Storytelling
JOURNAL 391R Travel Writing and Photojournalism
JOURNAL 393N Reporting for Podcasting and Radio
JOURNAL 397DJ Infographics and Journalism
JOURNAL 397G Multimedia Journalism
MARKETNG 450 Direct Marketing
MARKETNG 455 Internet Marketing
MUSIC 586 MIDI Studio Techniques
NRC 497MS Applications in Open Source Science and Innovation
NRC 585 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
OIM 321 Business Process Simulation
NURSING 290B Introduction to Healthcare Informatics
SCH-MGMT 397B Internet Technology for e-Business
SCH-MGMT 597G Internet Business Design and Development

Restrictions: At least two of the courses in the IT Minor must be taken outside the student’s major department. Students must have a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA for courses applied to the minor.  All courses must be taken on a graded basis.