[game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

[Erin Hoffman]

Agreed re the thread -- I had my doubts at first, but I am enjoying this
discussion. :) I am on deadline so please pardon the terseness here...

Casey, I see I will have to bring up the sociology element separately. ;)
But particularly after my interactions with Dr. Avedon it has become a
priority to me to look into this further and altered my academic plan -- I
am interested in finding a compatible sociology program and undertaking a
master's degree in sociology to formalize game mechanic structures in
testable sociological terms. I've been doing some asking around about this,
and would appreciate any comments off-list from anyone who might have any
leads. There are a number of possible programs, but I may be restricted
location-wise to the Los Angeles area in the near future.

Two thoughts to kick in front of you all...

I would question the thought that in order for this to be formalized there
will need to be tenure-track game design professors. I'm interested in
Brenda's thoughts that academia has made her a better designer -- certainly
my interest in eventually returning to academia come from this exact
suspicion, and from the growing merit of student projects coming out of
places like CMU, Full Sail, and the Guildhall (pardon, those IGF finalists
I'm missing). But my one hesitation in entering academia at any kind of full
time level is that I would have to stop being a professional designer, and I
am leery of that both for my own mercenary interests and for the sake of the
testing of my design skills. I think academia would indeed be very positive
for a designer on a short term, but I would worry for myself about
eventually stagnating if my games were not being played by a wide audience
(a gaming audience that, as every designer experiences, is implacably,
uniquely, and intensely critical).

I think that game education in general does need tenure track professors,
but for the structure of the program, not necessarily specifically for game
design classes, which may actually be better served by adjuncts who keep one
foot in the professional world. Those like Brenda and Ian with the giving
spirit to dedicate themselves full time to teaching are going to be pretty
rare, and I'm not sure that means academia should separate itself from the
skills of those who do want to stay active making games in the public arena.
I think this system is symbiotic and a balance of full-time tenure academics
and part timers would make for the most healthy program.

I would also like to retract any previous statement that game design is
itself multidisciplinary. I don't think it is any more than writing is
multidisciplinary; it benefits from a variety of disciplines, but it is
itself its own discipline, and it's a mistake to think otherwise. I think
this assumption also has led to the hedging in of instruction of game design
courses by non game designers. That being said, I think the challenges
presented by game design instruction are also the same as those faced by
writing instruction -- a creative writing degree is not held with much merit
and does not necessarily indicate that one is a strong creative writer. And,
if possible, game design programs should attempt to avoid some of the
pitfalls of creative writing degrees in that vein. How, I have no idea. :)
But again, just thoughts, and now I have to get back to work...

--Erin


On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 9:16 PM, Brenda Brathwaite <bbrathwa at scad.edu>
wrote:


> This is such a wonderful thread. I've been reading it while on the road,

> and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

>

> There's a point I've yet to see made, and that's about the value of

> academia to practicing game designers. While I was full-time in the

> industry, I was in a lead role for nearly 15 years. During that time, I had

> precious little time to stop and study and think beyond the bounds of

> whatever commercial project I was working on. Academia has allowed me

> tremendous freedom to study games on a deep level, and it has made me a

> better designer, I think.

>

> If any of you caught my OneHundredDogs presentation at the Game Design

> Challenge this year, I would credit a lot of its funkiness and innovative

> components to being an academic/industry person, and I don't know that I

> would have come up with something like that otherwise.

>

> Brenda Brathwaite

> ---------------------------------------------------

> Game Designer

> Chair, Interactive Design and Game Development

> Savannah College of Art and Design

> www.scad.edu

> blog: bbrathwaite.wordpress.com

>

>

>

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>

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