[game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

[K.Becker]

Ian Schreiber wrote:

> I'll point out that a terminal degree *in* game design, by and large, 

> doesn't exist. You'll have to accept a terminal degree in a "related 

> field". Given the shortage of qualified people, an institution should 

> use an extremely loose definition of "related" -- Computer Science, 

> Probability/Statistics, or Fine Art would all be fine in my book -- as 

> long as the applicant does have some solid experience actually 

> designing games (for reasons already pointed out).

>  

> Like Mark, I too question the basic assumption of this being a 

> requirement, although I understand that some schools have little 

> choice if their accrediting body is sufficiently strict. Those schools 

> that are able to attract qualified game designers are largely those 

> who are willing and able to find creative ways to work around the 

> process. For example, some schools have offered a position 

> provisionally, with the expectation that the professor receive a 

> terminal degree within N years; this is much easier on someone who is 

> currently a working professional, than requiring them to leave their 

> day job and be a full-time grad student for 3 years before they can 

> even get work.

>  

> I am left to wonder, however: if a school's hands are tied by the 

> accrediting body, who is out there trying to convince accreditors that 

> typical restrictions need to be relaxed in the case of game design?

>  

> - Ian

It might be useful to look some other relatively new field to see if 
there is anything that can be learned by seeing how they developed their 
discipline. Computer Science is an example. I did my first degree in CS 
in the 70's - there were a growing number of academic CS departments 
(most either broke off from Math or Engineering - taking faculty from 
those disciplines along with them). The department I was in originated 
from Math, but there were NO faculty (we had about 24) with CS degrees 
because there was no such thing when they were students. Along with 
Mathematicians, we also had faculty from Engineering, Physics, 
Chemistry, and a few who had no official credentials past a B.A. What 
most (though not all) DID have was experience with the subject matter - 
and each brought their own particular bias. It made for a rich 
environment for us students - one I think is in many ways better than 
what we see in CS departments now where faculty without CS degrees are 
typically excluded entirely.

I would suggest that while experience in games (playing them, making 
them, studying them......) is essential, it is too soon to be looking 
for official (i.e. game) credentials in teaching faculty. I would rather 
see some more work on defining what our discipline is - not for the 
purposes of excluding anything necessarily - but more as a core around 
which we can build and grow. Perhaps it is time to develop an 
association or organization that can serve a similar role to what the 
IEEE or ACM do in CS - and two places to start *might* be DiGRA 
(although they seem to heading in a more social science/humanities 
direction and somewhat away from connections with industry), and the 
IGDA. The IGDA seems the logical choice to me as this work has already 
been started. Given the nature of the discipline, I would say strong 
industry ties are key, but not enough.

Work in games is highly interdisciplinary and the essential element of 
interdisciplinary work is that each member be an expert in *something*.

-- 
Katrin Becker, PhD   
University of Calgary (Alberta,Canada);   
E-mail: becker at minkhollow.ca;   
HomePage: http://www.minkhollow.ca/KB

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