Troy, N.Y. — To celebrate a new game studies minor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will host "GameFest," a two-day symposium and exhibition on April 12-13.

The festivities will include a showcase of computer games designed by more than 70 art students, lectures by prominent game design practitioners, and a daylong workshop on game design.

The symposium begins on Monday at 4 p.m. at the Center for Industrial Innovation, room 4050. Four of the country's leading theoreticians and practitioners in game design will talk about game design philosophy and development, successful interdisciplinary collaborative practices, the role of the independent designer, and strategies for success in times of uncertainty.

The speakers are: Ernest Adams, veteran American game design consultant currently based in England; Katie Salen, director of graduate studies in digital design at Parson School of Design in New York City; Karthik Bala, Rensselaer alum and founder and CEO of Vicarious Visions, a successful gaming company located in the Rensselaer's Technology Park; and Tim Stellmach, design group manager at Vicarious Visions.

At 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Darrin Communications Center, GameFest will feature an exhibition of juried student design games.

Saturday Workshop
On Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Adams will conduct an intensive hands-on workshop to develop new concepts for designing computer and video games. Adams, a game designer with 14 years experience in the industry, has written a number of books, including Break Into the Game Industry, The Designers Notebook, and On Game Design.

"The symposium will bring together philosophers, computer scientists, artists, and cognitive scientists who are conducting research in game design, development and production," says Kathleen Ruiz, assistant professor of arts and co-director of the game studies program.

About the Game Studies Program
The Games Studies Minor is an interdisciplinary program shared by the arts and cognitive science departments. The program is expected to expand to include other schools and departments, Ruiz says.

The program consists of four courses that include a choice of game design classes and a range of other disciplinary-specific courses in arts, such as digital imaging, animation, computer music, or performance art. Students also have a choice of cognitive science courses, such as the study of motivation and performance and the study of perception and action.

"For undergraduate students considering careers in a range of scientific and nonscientific information technology areas, game studies offer the potential for new interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts and cultural studies, social sciences, computer sciences, engineering and emerging technical research in information technology," said Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences John Harrington.

Contact: Jodi Ackerman
Phone: (518) 276-6531
E-mail: N/A