Teaching
Over the last fifteen years, I have taught a wide range of courses including game design, communication design, human-centered design, game studies, art history and aesthetics. Here are few of the courses I’ve taught:
PUDT2100: Core Studio: Games
This course is the first in-major studio course in our recently rebooted BFA Design & Technology program. It serves as an introduction to game design concepts and terminology as well as the iterative design process. Students make a series of non-digital games during the early portion of the semester, then spend the second half on a group game project.
One of the best features of the course is it is accompanied by a lab in which a colleague, Ben Norskov, teaches Unity and production pipeline.
PSAM6700b: Game Studies
This is an introduction to game studies, with an emphasis on reading and discussion. Students produce a paper applying one or more of the theories or approaches studied in a research paper.
One semester, one of these papers once caught the attention of #gamergate. A proud moment for us all.
I’m currently the co-director of PETLab (Prototyping, Education and Technology Lab) with Colleen Macklin. PETLab is dedicated to the design and use of games as a form of public interest and engagement. Here are some of our projects:
Ms. Foundation Design Fellowship
PETLab worked with the Ms. Foundation to support design-focused projects with selected non-profits working in the areas of reproductive rights and women’s health. Each year, we brought on one design fellow per organization to conceptualize, design and produce a project to support the organization’s outreach and needs. Over the course of the first three years, we assisted nine different non-profits.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum Design Intensive
PETLab worked with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to explore the use of games and play-based activities to better connect with high school and college youth. The project consisted of two phases: an intensive design course, and a prototyping and testing phase. The intensive design course brought 15 MFA Design & Technology students to the museum for a immersive weekend learning about the museum, its mission and interactions with the public followed by a five day design intensive during which six unique play-based activities were prototyped and tested. Phase two took two of the more promising prototypes, and further refined them for testing with the target audience during July 2017 events in Washington, D.C.
Art Play, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
Art Play is a two-year project seeking to integrate games, game design and play into middle school and high school arts curricula.
Data Toys, funded by the Knight Foundation and a New School Research Clusters Grant
Data Toys was an experiment in making toys that encourage open-ended, exploratory play (as opposed to leading you towards a single goal.) They are faithful abstractions of complex systems that elicit deep understanding and independent analysis. Co-PI: Heather Chaplin of The New School’s Journalism + Design program.
Games for a New Climate, funded by the American Red Cross and the Red Cross/Red Cresent Climate Centre
Games for a New Climate is a series of non-digital games designed as tools for educating both the Red Cross and the communities it serves in climate change-related disaster preparation.
Iterate, funded by the Parsons Dean of Faculty Office
Iterate is a study in the role of failure and iteration in the creative practice. We are studying the role of iteration and failure in the work of chefs, artists, designers, athletes, musicians and other creative practitioners in order to more fully understand the intentions and processes relating to iterative processes.