[game_preservation] Game graduate school?

[Rachel "Sheepy" Donahue]

Ah, you know -- it's all the Mid-Atlantic to me ;)

To be honest, with few exceptions, Maryland has no formal (i.e.  
coursework) support for game-related anything, be it studies or  
development. But as Matt says, MITH's had some good luck with PVW, and the  
iSchool is doing work with Alternate Reality Games. Making a game focus  
work means molding existing coursework to fit your needs. Luckily, there  
are some great faculty spread about campus and we're fairly ideally  
located with the Library of Congress, National Archives, and Smithsonian  
right on our doorstep to collaborate with.

On Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:38:09 -0400, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com>  
wrote:


> Ah yes, Maryland. (I tend to forget things after work)

>

> -Devin

>

> On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 5:30 PM, Matthew Kirschenbaum <

> mkirschenbaum at gmail.com> wrote:

>

>> You (may) mean Maryland, or at least that's where Rachel is (I'm sure

>> she'll chime in when she reads this herself).

>>

>> There's no degree in game preservation here as such, but we've had

>> good success getting projects funded, most recently Preserving Virtual

>> Worlds 2 on which we're a participating partner:

>>

>> http://mith.umd.edu/preserving-virtual-worlds-2-funded/

>>

>> Matt

>>

>>

>> On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 6:36 PM, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com>  

>> wrote:

>> > For preservation, Delaware is where it's at. Talk to Rachel Donahue.

>> There

>> > really aren't too many other places offering game preservation-related

>> > degrees.

>> >

>> > On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 12:33 AM, Dan Pinchbeck  

>> <dan.pinchbeck at port.ac.uk

>> >

>> > wrote:

>> >>

>> >> 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

>> >>>>

>> >>>>

>> >>>> _______________________________________________

>> >>>> game_preservation mailing list

>> >>>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

>> >>>

>> >>> _______________________________________________

>> >>> game_preservation mailing list

>> >>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

>> >>

>> >> Dr Dan Pinchbeck

>> >> Reader in Computer Games

>> >> University of Portsmouth, UK

>> >>

>> >> www.thechineseroom.co.uk

>> >>

>> >>

>> >>

>> >>

>> >> _______________________________________________

>> >> game_preservation mailing list

>> >> game_preservation at igda.org

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

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > --

>> > Devin Monnens

>> > www.deserthat.com

>> >

>> > The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>> >

>> > _______________________________________________

>> > game_preservation mailing list

>> > game_preservation at igda.org

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

>> >

>> >

>>

>>

>>

>> --

>> Matthew Kirschenbaum

>> Associate Professor of English

>> Associate Director, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities

>> (MITH)

>> Director, Digital Cultures and Creativity (DCC, a Living/Learning

>> Program in the Honors College)

>> University of Maryland

>> 301-405-8505 or 301-314-7111 (fax)

>> http://mkirschenbaum.net and @mkirschenbaum on Twitter

>> _______________________________________________

>> game_preservation mailing list

>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

>>

>

>

>



-- 
----------------------------------------------------------
Rachel Donahue, MLS
http://rdonahue.net
Doctoral student, iSchool
Research Assistant, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
University of Maryland, College Park

Communications and Research Assistant
Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies
National Archives and Records Administration

CFP: A Webcomic for the Archives
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