[game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?
Mark Baldwin
mark at baldwinconsulting.org
Wed Mar 19 23:34:56 EDT 2008
I've been thinking about the question of who is qualified to teach game
design. The most obvious answer as one might find in any of the fine arts
is someone who actually is successful and published in the field.
Certainly, in many schools if you want to teach literature, you have to be a
published writer, or if you want to teach painting, you have to have
exhibitioned your work successfully.
In a like way, I think if you want to teach game design, you must also be a
published game designer, preferably multiple times. Certainly, if I was a
student, I would be looking for that in my instructors.
However, there are not many of us out there. So I've been asking myself,
what is the second best solution?
And what I keep coming up with are two fields. The first is TV and Film,
and the second is Literature. Certainly, I cannot imagine how computer
science or graphic art would qualify an individual to teach game design.
What other fields might put someone close to be able to teach game design?
Cheers,
Mark
******************************************
Mark Lewis Baldwin
Associate Professor
Game Design and Development
University of Advancing Technology
303-526-9169
<mailto:mbaldwin at uat.edu> mbaldwin at uat.edu
<http://baldwinconsulting.org/> http://baldwinconsulting.org
mar80401 (YIM, AIM, Skype)
******************************************
From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf
Of Erin Hoffman
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:27 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?
Susan,
I don't believe I said that all game design positions reside or should
reside in computer science departments -- very far from it. My training is
in liberal arts primarily (my bachelor's is half in electronic art,
actually), though I also studied computer science. Mostly, though, I spent
most of my time in college making games outside of class. I don't think this
particularly qualified or disqualified me to become a game designer. I
certainly also think that people of all disciplines can benefit from
*studying* games. But if I were a student taking a game design class or a
professional recommending someone to a program that teaches game design,
yes, I would expect that instructor to have some relevant experience in game
design -- not animation, not computer science, not graphic design. Game
design. They are very, very different disciplines, and I find the latitude
with which some departments assume that because game design is
multidisciplinary that one should be qualified to *teach* it (not learn, not
study -- teach) out of established academic achievement in equally valuable
but utterly tangential fields quite disturbing.
I'm a bit baffled that I should be expected not to be surprised that someone
would be teaching something they have never experienced or engaged in
professionally. I honestly don't know what to say in reply to that, so I'll
change the subject.
I am curious what you all think of departments in sociology that teach
recreation and leisure. Most of them currently don't study games, but I
think they should. I have an article recently with the Escapist on the
recreation and leisure department at the University of Waterloo. (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.55557 )
--Erin
On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 10:13 PM, S. Gold <goldfile at gmail.com> wrote:
Why do you think all game design positions reside in a computer science
department? It is that silo approach to our genre that upsets me most in
this discussion. How can you be surprised that a lot of game design
instructors don't have experience? I just came back from a conference trying
to help computer science professors add games into their curriculum to help
increase low student numbers in CS. There are not that many instructors that
actually have design/industry experience. We all try very hard to come to
games in whatever way we can, they are all valid in my opinion as long as
there is a passion for games and a willing to learn.
Susan
On 3/19/08 7:40 PM, "Erin Hoffman" <erin.n.hoffman at gmail.com> wrote:
I think the confusion was in that from what Sean was saying, the position is
being called game design but is an artist/animator position ("a term
assistant professorship in computer game design. It's an
artist/animator/etc. position."). There is no question that a variety of
training can produce a game designer, but I don't think animation/artist
experience qualifies one to *teach* game design, which is certainly
happening in some places (though I would be surprised to see it at a place
like George Mason). But then I'm very surprised at the number of game design
instructors I've found to have no game design experience at all. Like Mark I
was curious what they're looking for, and it might be helpful to the
committee to clarify either the title of the position (game art if it is
game art, etc) or the expertise they're seeking.
--Erin
On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 8:30 PM, Roberts, Scott <sroberts at cti.depaul.edu>
wrote:
We should be careful in limiting people due to categories. It isn't as if
the skills of artists/designers (creative problem solving) preclude someone
from being a game designer. What's important is that the teacher should
have experience in game design, but game designers can come from any
background, and they do.
The obvious example is Miyamoto.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Miyamoto#Early_life
I spend a good amount of my time convincing game programmers that they can
do visual design, so anything's possible. J
Scott
From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org]
<mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org%5D> On Behalf Of Erin Hoffman
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:47 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?
I had the same question, Mark. I've even seen "game design" taught by
"graphic designers" in some places, which is pretty appalling.
--Erin
On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 7:35 PM, Mark Baldwin <mark at baldwinconsulting.org>
wrote:
Going off on a tangent here, but no one else has asked this, and I'm
curious. You stated you were looking for a professor of game design, but it
was it is an artist/animator position. This seems contradictory to me.
While art skills are valuable to the game designer, they certainly are not
required, and game design really uses other creative skills much more
extensively. Game design is generally not an artistic skill. From my
experience (25 years in industry as a designer), at least 80% of all game
designers do not have any real experience as artist or animators. Does
anyone have a contradictory experience?
Cheers,
Mark
******************************************
Mark Lewis Baldwin
Associate Professor
Game Design and Development
University of Advancing Technology
303-526-9169
mbaldwin at uat.edu
http://baldwinconsulting.org
mar80401 (YIM, AIM, Skype)
******************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org]
<mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org%5D> On Behalf
Of Sean Luke
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 3:20 PM
To: game_edu at igda.org
Subject: [game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?
GMU's college of visual and performing arts is soliciting for a term
assistant professorship in computer game design. It's an artist/
animator/etc. position. I am affiliated with the solicitation
committee, but as a computer science professor rather than an artist,
I personally was wondering where the best venues would be to solicit
an artist in this slot. In the CS world there are standard locations
for placing ads for professorships. Any guidance on the artist side
of things for a budding program?
Sean Luke
Department of Computer Science
George Mason University
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--
Susan Gold
goldfile at gmail.com
"In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom!" - J. G. Ballard
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