When it comes to videogames, I consider myself a maker first and foremost. That being said, I see theory and practice as deeply interconnected, and have always loved engaging others on topics related to interactive media and videogames (as the old articles and critiques on this site attest).
Over this last Year of Covid, I have missed giving talks and guest lectures on these topics, which I used to do with some regularity. So I’ve decided to make more of an effort to connect with people over Zoom.
If you are an educator, and would be interested in having me give a talk, guest lecture, or lead a workshop over Zoom, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I am also available for curriculum consultation, and advisory committee work. I love connecting with faculty and students, discussing art and design, and challenging peoples’ assumptions about videogames.
I have experience giving presentations and talks at universities, high schools, and places like IndieCade and Google; I have also created, taught, and served as advisor for a variety of classes at the university and high school levels.
As you might guess from my body of work, I have a particular interest in how the most basic elements of interaction and representation can be used to craft meaning and impact in games, and in using games to tackle difficult subjects and complex emotions. But more broadly, I am happy to engage almost any topic related to game design, interactive media, computational media, nonlinear media, hypertext, serious games, art games, or the poetics of games.
A small sampling of talks that I have given and can readily adapt include:
- Videogames Are Not Games—And Why That Matters
- Towards a Poetics of the Lyric for Videogames
- The Poetics of Games or: Another Lens For Thinking About the Expressive Potential of Digital/Computational/Interactive media.
- Beyond Ludology and Narratology: Other Lenses for Videogames
- Towards a Broad Conception of Computational Poetry
- Designing Richly Metaphoric Games
- Designing for Complex Emotions
- Holistic Prototyping
If any of this interests you, please be in touch! You can reach me by email at , or shoot me a message on Twitter.
