« 3 New miniDV cameras available for checkout | Main | New Light Kit in The Studio »

March 02, 2006

Games in Higher Education

ITC and SunSITE will present the third in its series of talks on games and
game design in higher education this Friday, March 3, at 12:30pm. Chris
Swain from the Interactive Media Division at the University of Southern
California School of Cinema-Television will speak live via
videoconference on Play-centric Games Education. The event is free and
open to the public. PLEASE NOTE: THE TALK THIS WEEK WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE
UC AUDITORIUM.

The Electronic Arts Interactive Entertainment Program at the USC School of
Cinema-Television is a program that combines a broad liberal arts
background with specialization in the history, theory and practice of
creating games and interactive entertainment. The purpose of the program
is to develop critical thinkers and designers who can produce the next
generation of interactive entertainment. The program embodies the concept
of "play-centric design" which puts player experience at the heart of the
design process and teaches a system of prototyping, playtesting and
iterative design that has been proven in almost a decade of student work.

Chris Swain s a visiting professor and co-director of the EA Game
Innovation Lab at the USC School of Cinema. At USC he is interested in how
games - which are mathematical systems - work as dramatic systems.
Previously Chris was a founding member of game developer Spiderdance, Inc.
- a company focused on games for mass audiences. Prior to Spiderdance,
Chris was a founding member of R/GA Interactive, a premiere New York
design firm. At R/GA, he designed and produced over 150 interactive
products for clients that include: Disney, Activision, America Online,
Warner Brothers, the BBC, Children's Television Workshop, Discovery
Channel, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and PBS among many others. Chris has
served on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences (Emmys). He led the team that established the first Emmy for
"Excellence in Interactive Television" and he chairs the Academy's
Editorial Committee. In addition he serves on the Board of Advisors for
the American Film Institute's Enhanced Television Workshop. Chris is
co-author of the book "Game Design Workshop" which was published in 2004
by CMP Books

Posted by Michelle at March 2, 2006 02:26 PM