[game_preservation] Game graduate school?

[Dan Pinchbeck]

Absolutely. A good 'research culture' is important, but it all rests  
on the key supervisor. And ideally, talk to them at some length  
beforehand, as it's not just their specialism that will make a big  
impact, but their ability to support and push you forwards. There's a  
big difference between an expert and an expert with an ability to  
supervise...

It depends on your subject area within games: Jose is right about  
Scandinavian programs. For a more practice-orientated approach, I  
usually recommend USC and Georgia Tech in the States, Abertay in the  
UK, Brunel (UK) are also really good.

Cheers,

Dan


PS - of course, if it's about *preservation*, good luck and let us  
know if you find somewhere. In the US, ol' Henry is a good a place to  
start as any...




On 5 Oct 2010, at 01:57, Jose P. Zagal wrote:


>

>> Top for theory is Utrecht.

>

> ITU Copenhagen is also good... or for that matter, most places with  

> game programs in Scandinavia (including Finland). Just follow the  

> names of people you're interested in find out where they're at. :-)

>

>

>

> Jose

>

>>

>> I dint know too many other places with PhD in game studies but  

>> would be

>> I interested to know.

>>

>> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>>

>> On Oct 4, 2010, at 12:58 PM, Rowan Kaiser <rowankaiser at gmail.com

>> <mailto:rowankaiser at gmail.com>> wrote:

>>

>>> f general things about grad school. My partner already has a Masters

>>> and is applying for Ph.D programs. But she wants to go to a

>>> traditional Literature or Composition, and can easily find websites

>>> that have the Top X Programs for Renaissance Literature or whatever.

>>> I've only been able to find video game-based programs haphazardly.  

>>> For

>>> example, the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT is one that  

>>> I've

>>> had my eye on: http://cms.mit.edu/academics/graduate_program.php On

>>> Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 10:58 AM, Michelle Hinn wrote: > >> Most  

>>> important

>>> thing about grad school is understanding what you want to > >> do.  

>>> You

>>> don't go to grad school on a whim. > >> > >> The second most  

>>> important

>>> thing is finding the right program. This > >> involves two things.

>>> One, what is being taught there and Two, who is > >> doing the

>>> teaching. If you know who you want to work with for the next > >>  

>>> 2-6

>>> years, then this makes it a better decision. Also - make sure that >

>>> >> professor is going to be there while you are working! A lot of

>>> times, > >> they just go on sabbatical! > > > > Definitely go where

>>> the people you want to work with are. I'd recommend > you actualy  

>>> pick

>>> a place with more than one person you'd like to work with. > You  

>>> never

>>> know what will happen... Also, once you've applied and (hopefully) >

>>> been accepted, DEFINITELY visit the places before making a  

>>> decision. >

>>> > I cannot agree more!! I got stuck in this position, had no one  

>>> doing

>>> > anything in gaming by the time I was working on my dissertation

>>> (thus having > to convince a committee of anyone I could find to  

>>> agree

>>> to have their name > on *anything* gaming -- especially something

>>> positive about gaming rather > than *games ruin our brains*  

>>> studies),

>>> and I taught the ONLY course on game > design on a TA salary and an

>>> overcrowded student situation (I had students > just ask to sit in

>>> because there was nothing at all for anyone, especially >

>>> undergraduates). > > I'd suggest (sorry if this has been suggested

>>> already and I didn't read it > thoroughly) coming up with a list of

>>> schools (maybe a top 5) and including > (1) why the program is

>>> appealing (2) faculty you want to work with and then > maybe posting

>>> (if you want to put it out there for debate) here and on the > game

>>> education SIG list) to see what people have to say. Too many  

>>> schools >

>>> are saying that "oh of course we offer game studies" because it's

>>> trendy > only to drop it quickly due to budget cuts, people moving

>>> (getting better > offers elsewhere usually!), etc. > > Good luck --

>>> and DON'T consider University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign if >  

>>> that

>>> was at all on your list...no support here and nothing going on. > >

>>> Michelle > > _______________________________________________ >

>>> game_preservation mailing list > game_preservation at igda.org

>>> <mailto:game_preservation at igda.org> >

>>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation >

>>> --90e6ba539efa8bb3e70491cf2160 Content-Type: text/html;

>>> charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable  

>>> @Jose -

>>> I have a B.A. in History from Antioch College.

>>>

>>> @Michelle - That's a pity, I have something of a connection at

>>> Illinois, but I believe she teaches Women's Studies, so probably

>>> irrelevant anyway.

>>>

>>>

>>> I'm aware of general things about grad school. My partner already  

>>> has

>>> a Masters and is applying for Ph.D programs. But she wants to go  

>>> to a

>>> traditional Literature or Composition, and can easily find websites

>>> that have the Top X Programs for Renaissance Literature or whatever.

>>> I've only been able to find video game-based programs haphazardly.  

>>> For

>>> example, the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT is one that  

>>> I've

>>> had my eye on:

>>> <http://cms.mit.edu/academics/graduate_program.php>http://cms.mit.edu/academics/graduate_program.php

>>>

>>> On Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 10:58 AM, Michelle Hinn <

>>> <mailto:hinn at uiuc.edu>hinn at uiuc.edu <mailto:hinn at uiuc.edu>> w

>>> hat

>>> have the Top X Programs for Renaissance Literature or whatever.  

>>> I've only

>>> been able to find video game-based programs haphazardly. For  

>>> example, the

>>> Comparative Media

>>

>>

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>

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Dr Dan Pinchbeck
Reader in Computer Games
University of Portsmouth, UK

www.thechineseroom.co.uk