Areas of Emphasis within CIT

Areas of emphases are focuses within majors in the Department of Integrated Science and Technology. An area of emphasis provides a core set of courses that allow a CIT student to focus or specialize, in a particular area by taking 15-21 hours that are specific to that area while still receiving a well-rounded IT education. The CIT major currently has four areas of emphasis available: computer application development, computer forensics, web application development, and game development.

Computer Application Development Area of Emphasis

Focus is on applications for business, industry, and education that run on the personal computer or integrating various hardware pieces into the computer system as a whole. Students will learn the software engineering process and project management and learn to program in languages such as C++, VB.NET and C#. Students also learn to specify, design, and build large-scale software systems for existing hardware. Courses for this area of emphasis include the core IST/CIT requirements, plus IST236, IST238, IST303, IST332, IST333, IST334, and IST337.

Computer Forensics Area of Emphasis

This area is a collaboration among Marshall University's Department of Criminal Justice, Department of Integrated Science and Technology, and Forensic Science Degree Program. The study of Computer Forensics prepares students for careers in the collection, preservation, examination and analysis of evidence from computers and other electronic devices. Courses for this area of emphasis include the core IST/CIT requirements, plus the four course sequence in IST Computer Forensics (IST 446-449), as well as IST 463, IST464, and either CJ312 or CJ323.

Web Application Development Area of Emphasis

The Web application development area of emphasis allows students to specialize in developing Web applications and content using web-based development languages and the effective design and organization of databases. Courses for this area of emphasis include the core IST/CIT requirements, plus IST332, IST333, IST334, IST363, IST430, and IST466. Through a unique opportunity and collaboration with the Graphics Design department in the College of Fine Arts, students within the Web Application Development area of emphasis may also obtain a minor in graphics design by taking 18 approved hours of ART courses.

Game Development Area of Emphasis

This area of emphasis combines the sound principles of computer application development with computer game development. Game development is a very popular venue in higher education — an entire computer lab is dedicated to gaming (Marshall's Advanced Gaming and Interactive Computing Lab — MAGIC). Students can play different types of computer games to research latest trends and graphics and discuss gaming, as well as design and develop their own games for courses taught in the area of emphasis and work on their senior project, which will consist of the development of an advanced computer game. This connection between development and game development better serves students who are coming to Marshall University with aspirations of developing computer and console games. Courses for this area of emphasis include the core IST/CIT requirements, plus IST360 (Game Development I: 2D), IST438 (Computer Graphics for Gaming), IST439 (Game Development II: 3D), and IST460 (Game Development III: AI).

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