[game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

[Mark Baldwin]

I didn't ignore the problem of a terminal degree, but I do question it.
Certainly, a terminal degree is a measure of qualification in education.
But it shouldn't act as a straight jacket to lock out knowledge.   There
have always been ways around that constraint, by the simple fact that
academic knowledge would be completely incestuous if it was not.

 

Perhaps the solution is as simple as academia saying that for new fields of
knowledge, publication (or some other standard of knowledge success) equates
to a terminal degree.  Or perhaps the whole standard of a terminal degree is
obsolete in the quickly changing world of human knowledge.  Should a
terminal degree trump actual evidence of successful and deep knowledge and
experience?

 

On your comment on intense interest, that's how I got started.   My first
published game was a miniatures game I designed back in '67 while still in
High School.   I was designing games long before there were personal
computers because it was a personal interest.   I then took that interest
and knowledge, along with other technical knowledge (I'm an engineer by
education, and use to design Shuttle flights), and turned it into a
successful game career.  But I would suggest that neither my intense
interest nor my degrees qualify me to teach games, they just prepped me.
Instead, what I think qualifies me to teach game design is all the games
I've designed, exemplified by my successful career and credits.

 

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 Roberts, Scott
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 11:52 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

 

Mark, you left out an important element from what is ordinarily required to
attain a tenure-track position in an area: a terminal degree.  This is one
of the problems we're facing as this educational area grows, a shortage of
PhD or MFA programs that focus on game production/design.  While at DePaul
we do have working game designers teaching game design, eventually we'll
need tenure-track faculty in the area. 

 

It appears natural that a terminal degree in game design would be an MFA
rather than a PhD.  Is anyone offering an MFA program in game design?  Would
this degree serve much of a purpose other than qualifying someone for tenure
consideration?

 

 

Regarding your question, I think the second best solution is an experienced
teacher with an intense interest in the subject of games and game design,
which I think is what Susan was saying.  

 

Scott

 

Scott Roberts (MFA)

Associate Professor

DePaul University 

sroberts at cti.depaul.edu

 

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