Seminar Series

Seminar Series Interactive Media Games

Interactive media and games increasingly pervade and shape our society. In addition to their dominant roles in entertainment, videogames play growing roles in education, arts, science and health. These talks bring together a diverse set of experts to provide interdisciplinary perspectives on these media regarding their history, technologies, scholarly research, industry, artistic value and potential future. As the speakers and title suggest, the series also provides a topical lens for the diverse aspects of our lives.

See the 9 quarters of talks below.

FALL QUARTER 2017

9/26/2017; Stephen Lim: Product Design. Lead Producer at Riot Games

10/3/2017; Stone Librande: One-Page Designs. Lead Designer, Riot Games. Teacher Game Design, Carnegie Mellon University’s ETC Program

10/10/17; Jonathan Blow: Fireside Chat with Jonathan Blow. Video Game Designer and Programmer.

10/17/17; Lee Petty: Elements of Art Direction. Art Director and Project Lead, Double Fine Productions

10/24/17; Darren Korb: Guerrilla Audio: Do It Yourself By Any Means Necessary! Composer and Audio Director, Supergiant Games

10/31/17; Dan Moran: Zero to Hero Shaders. Senior Graphics Engineer, NCSoft

11/7/17; Sean Vanaman: The Story of Your Game. Studio Director, Campo Santo

11/14/17; Ocean Quigley: Fireside Chat with Ocean Quigley. Creative Director and Art Director, Electronic Arts

11/28/17; Dean Takahashi: A Life in Game Journalism. Lead Writer GamesBeat, VentureBeat

12/5/17; Robin Hunicke: Designing for Feeling. Co-Founder, Funomena

SPRING QUARTER 2017

4/4/2017; Jeffrey Ventrella PhD.: Artificial Life Meets Augmented Reality. Software Artist in Artificial Life

4/11/2017; Randy Lee MBA.: Tencent’s Approach to Games and the Western Market. Head of Business Development, North America, Tencent

4/18/2017; Antero Garcia PhD.: Dungeons & Dragons in an Era of Terror, Nationalism, and Gamergate. Assistant Professor Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

4/25/2017; Sirkka Jarvenpaa PhD.: Growing Your Business By Probing. Professor Information, Risk, and Operations, University Austin Texas

5/2/2017; Stone Librande MS.: One-Page Designs. Lead Designer, Riot Games. Teacher Game Design, Carnegie Mellon University’s ETC Program.

5/9/2017; Dennis Fong PhD.: Capturing and Sharing Video Gaming’s Best Moments. Founder and CEO, Plays.tv

5/16/2017; Ian Samuel Cinnamon BS.: Where’s Waldo? A Brain’s Perspective. Engineer, Entrepreneur and MBA Candidate GSB, Stanford University

5/23/2017; Whalen Rozelle BA.: The Meteoric Rise of eSports. Co-leader, Riot eSports Global Team

5/30/2017; Allan Alcorn BS.: Tales of the Creation of the Video Game Industry. Electrical Engineer and Computer Scientist

6/6/2017; Soraya Murray PhD.: On the Visual Politics of Video Games. Assistant Professor, Film & Digital Media Department, University of California, Santa Cruz

WINTER QUARTER 2017

1/10/2017; Kaisa Still PhD.: Networks for Serious Business: Finnish Game Industry. Senior Scientist, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

1/17/2017; Jukka Huhtamäki D.Sc.: The Global API Ecosystem: A Deep Dive Into Gaming. Postdoctoral Researcher, Business Data Research Group (DARE), Tampere University of Technology

1/24/2017; Tomer Perry, PhD.: Game Design Principles for Teaching Ethics: Insights from Designer Board Games. Research Associate Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University

1/31/2017; Dan Milton Klein, PhD.: Making Games: Designing for Play. Lecturer, Drama Department and GSB, Stanford University

2/7/2017; Yasaman Sheri, PhD.: Perceived Sense: Augmenting Design Interactions. Core Designer Microsoft Hololens; Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design

2/14/2017; Elizabeth Arredondo, MFA.: Giving Robots a Life: Writing Personality and Backstory for AI Assistants. Creative Writer for Television and Interactive Media

2/21/2017; CANCELED! Frederic Descamps, MBA.: Gaming Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneur and Investor, Co-­‐founder of Manticore Games

2/28/2017; Drew Davidson, PhD.: Well Played – Video Games, Value, and Meaning. Professor & Director Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University

3/7/2017; Alan Meades, PhD.: Social History of the British Amusement Arcade through Photographs, Comics, and Tales. Senior Lecturer, Media, Art and Design, CCC University

3/14/2017; Julien Mailland, PhD.: Using the Minitel Experience to Build the Future of Interactive Online Media. Assistant Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University’s Media School

FALL QUARTER 2016

9/27/2016; Shane Denson, PhD.: Digital Seriality: Code & Community in the Super Mario Modding Scene. Assistant Professor Film and Media Studies at Stanford University

10/4/2016; Sean Follmer, PhD.: Digital Spirits in the Material World: Dynamic Physical Media for Interaction and Display. Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University

10/11/2016; Douglas Wilson, PhD.: A Tale of Two Jousts: Multimedia, Game Feel, and Imagination. Assistant Professor Game Design at RMIT University and Co-Owner Die Gute Fabrik

10/18/2016; Peter Krapp, PhD.: Virtual Espionage: GCHQ and NSA take on MMOs. Professor Film & Media at UCI

10/24/2016; mediaX Event: Sensing and Tracking for 3D Narratives: Put ME in the Story! 1pm-5pm
10/25/2016; No Seminar

11/1/2016; Deborah Gordan, PhD.: Collective Work and Play in Ant Colonies. Professor Biology at Stanford University

11/8/2016; Catherine Herdlick, MFA.: Come Out & Play Festival SF: Creating Human Connection Through Play. Creative Producer & Entrepreneur at the California College of Arts

11/15/2016; Tracy Fullerton, MA.: Slow Play: Playing Deliberately in Walden and The Night Journey. Professor & Chair Interactive Media & Games, School of Cinematic Arts at USC

11/29/2016; Ashly and Anthony Burch: Crumpets and Badonkadonks: Creating Tiny Tina. Siblings, Writers, Actors, Producers

12/6/2016; Nathan Altice, PhD.: No Generation. Teaching Professor, Computational Media at UCSC

SPRING QUARTER 2016

3/29/2016; Steve Sims, MS.: Human Motivation, Gamification and Secrets to Creating Successful Behavioral Programs. Chief Design Officer & Founder Behavior Lab at Badgeville.com

4/5/2016; Luisa Beck, BS. & Steve Rubin, PhD.: Place-based Audio Storytelling with Detour. Multimedia Producers & Web Developers at Detour.com

4/12/2016; Michael John, BS.: Pedagogy of Game Design. Program Director Games and Playable Media MS Program at UCSC

4/19/2016; Daniel Bump, PhD.: Computer Go. Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University

4/26/2016; Holly Pope, MEd.: Wuzzit? Digital Math Games in Elementary Classrooms. Stanford GSE Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education, Mathematics

5/3/2016; Sourabh Kothari, BS.: I Learn Therefore I Buy: Intersection of Learning and Business with Rich Media. Senior Manager Rich Media Marketing at Cisco Systems

5/10/2016; Sebastian Deterding, PhD.: Office Playgrounds: Can Freedom Be Programmed?. Assistant Professor Game Design at Northeastern University

5/17/2016; Eric Kaltman, MA.: The Troubles with Game History : Objects and Game Play . Game Designer and Researcher at UCSC

5/24/2016; Erin Swink, BSc.: How to Use Video Games to Send a Message. Creative Director Games Playable Media Program, UCSC’s Silicon Valley Center

5/31/2016; Katherine Isbister, PhD.: How Games Move Us – Emotion by Design. Professor Center for Games and Playable Media at UCSC

WINTER QUARTER 2016

1/5/2016; Bonnie Ruberg, PhD.: Queerness and Video Games: Identity, Community, & Design. Provost Postdoc Interactive Media and Games Division, University of Southern California

1/12/2016; Stephanie Boluk, PhD. & Patrick LeMieux, PhD.: Breaking the Metagame: Seventeen Seconds of Dota 2. Assistant Professors Cinema and Digital Media Program, UC Davis

1/19/2016; Jari Multisilta, PhD.: Learning through Collaborative Video Storytelling: Inspiring Creativity, Co-Creation and Global Collaboration. Professor of Multimedia, Tampere University of Technology

1/26/2016; Lining Yao, M.S.: Transforming Materiality: Orchestrating between the Born and the Made. PhD Candidate Tangible Media Group, MIT Media Lab

2/2/2016; Marilyn Walker, PhD.: Automatically Generating Different Re-Tellings of Stories. Professor Computer Science, UCSC

2/9/2016; Kellee Santiago, M.S.: The Artification of Games. Partner Manager for Indie Developers, Google Play Games

2/16/2016; John Aycock, PhD.: Retrogame Archeology. Associate Professor Computer Science, University of Calgary

2/23/2016; Jon Peterson: The Long Now of Gaming. Author Researching the History of Wargames and Role-playing games

3/1/2016; Andrew McStay: Empathic Media: The Case of Gaming. Reader in Advertising and Digital Media, Bangor University

3/8/2016; Colin Campbell: The Politicization of Video Games and the Games Media. Senior Reporter at Polygon

FALL QUARTER 2015

9/22/2015; Todd Smithline, J.D.: Copyright Law for Video Games. Principal of Smithline PC (Internet and Software Lawyers).

9/29/2015; Dylan Arena, Ph.D.: Learning English by Speaking English in an Immersive Online Roleplaying Game. Co-founder & Chief Learning Scientist, Kidaptive

10/6/2015; Michael Genesereth, Ph.D.: Artificial Intelligence for General Game Playing. Associate Professor Computer Science, Stanford University.

10/13/2015; Tain Lee Barzso, M.A., M.S.: Literature and Gaming: Exploring the Role of Story in Interactive Media. Lecturer, Department of English, Stanford University.

10/20/2015; David Sarno, MFA: The Power of Interactive World-Building to Illuminate Reality. Lighthaus Inc. Founder & President.

10/27/2015; Miguel Sicart, Ph.D.: Play Ethics: Values, Virtues, and Videogames. Associate Professor, Computer Games & Research, IT University of Copenhagen.

11/3/2015; Bireswar Laha, Ph.D: Immersive Virtual Reality and 3D Interaction for Task Performance and Embodiment. Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University.

11/10/2015; Paul Wallace, Exploration: Interfacing Complexity via Worlds and Identities. Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University.

11/17/2015; Chris Bennett: Analog Minds: Learning Through Designing Tabletop Games. Game Designer in Residence, Stanford Peace Innovation Lab

12/1/2015; Vander Caballero: VR- The Ultimate Storytelling Tool. Creative Director & CEO Minority Media Inc.

SPRING QUARTER 2015

4/3/2015; Nick Yee, Ph.D. & Nicolas Ducheneaut, Ph.D.: Bridging Analytics and Game Design: Lessons from the Trenches. Co-Founders of Essention’s Behavior Analytics Practice.

4/10/2015; Parvati Dev, Ph.D.: Interactive Media for Healthcare Professionals. President and CEO of Innovation in Learning Inc.

4/17/2015; Maria Cipollone: The Problem with Video Games and Learning [Environments]. User Experience Design Researcher at Zynga.

4/24/2015; Anh-Hoa Truong: Using Virtual Reality as a Compelling Media for Science Communication. Science, Tech and Ecology Journalist, John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University.

5/1/2015; Martha Russell, Ph.D.: Networking the Future of Games. Executive Director, mediaX & Sr. Researcher, H-STAR.

5/8/2015; Byron Reeves, Ph.D.: Using Games to Change Behavior at Work. Paul C. Edwards Professor of Communication, Stanford University.

5/15/2015; Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Ph.D.: Computational Media: Research Toward the Future of Games. Associate Professor UC Santa Cruz, Computational Media.

5/22/2015 Kristian Kiili, Ph.D.: Mapping Learning to Game Mechanics and Beyond. Sr. Research Fellow, Tampere University of Technology, Finland.

5/29/2015; Raiford Guins: Behind The Bezel: Coin-Op Arcade Video Game Cabinets as Design History. Associate Professor, Culture and Technology, Stony Brook University.

6/5/2015; Rhiju Das, Ph.D.: EteRNA: A Videogame and a Massive Open Lab. Assistant Professor; Biochemistry & Physics Departments, Stanford University.

WINTER QUARTER 2015

1/9/2015;Keith Devlin, Ph.D.: Learning Math Through Play. Department of Math, Stanford and Co-founder of H-STAR; mediaX; Brain Quake; NPR’s Math Guy.

1/16/2015; Henry Lowood*, Ph.D.: The History of (Video) Games. History of Science and Technology Collections, Stanford.

1/23/2015; Ingmar Riedel-Kruse*, Ph.D.: Biotic Games- Playing with Living Cells. Department of Bioengineering, Stanford.

1/30/2015; Sebastian Alvarado, Ph.D.: Aligning Game Design with Science. Department of Biology, Stanford and Co-founder of Thwacke Consulting.

2/6/2015; James Newman, Ph.D.: Playing with Videogames. Superplayers, Glitch-Hunters and Codeminers. Digital Media and Director of Media Futures Research Centre, Bath Spa University.

2/13/2015; Robin Hunicke: Expanding Games. CEO and Co-Founder of Funomena, Former-Executive producer on Journey.

2/20/2015; Katherine Isbister, Ph.D.: Games Move Us – An Exploration of Design Innovations that Lead to Player Emotions. Prof. NYU Engineering School & Game Lab; Director, Social Game Lab.

2/27/2015 Sherol Chen: Intelligent Narratives: the Stories We Tell Ourselves through Digital Media. Independent Game Developer, Researcher, PhD candidate at UCSC and Educator.

3/6/2015; CANCELED! Raiford Guins: Behind The Bezel: Coin-Op Arcade Video Game Cabinets as Design History. Associate Professor, Culture and Technology, Stony Brook University.

3/13/2015; Chaim Gingold: Play Design: SimCity, Simulation, and Geology. Researcher, PhD candidate at UCSC, Independent Game Developer, Consultant, Former- Creature Creator on Spore.

Also Supported By:
Bio-X and BioX Games