Gameology: Commentary and Resources for the Game Studies Community

I hadn't added a preface for how the job connected to game studies--which I often do--because I thought it would be obvious. That apparently isn't the case, so my explanation is below. Further, I define game studies broadly (virtual environments; play; procedural rhetoric; digital media; usability) and it seems many game studies researcher do as well based on the writings in game studies.

Since my post wasn't obvious in its connections another bit of information I assumed obvious might not be. Florida is having a financial crisis and the state has incredibly low tuition ($3,600 a year for undergraduates) and hope of raising it or having the state help isn't likely. This year has been particularly bad and UF (Gainesville) will be laying people off to meet budget callbacks. I'm not sure what UCF's (Orlando) plans are, but Florida is a state academics are leaving and where new hires even those in faculty, tenure-track lines (like those in younger fields) may be laid off. I posted the position because it connects to game studies, but if that wasn't obvious than the issues in Florida (the state) may not be clear.

Also, I am at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, Florida, which is a couple of hours north of UCF which is in Orlando. I know state schools tend to have confusing names and systems for naming, but it's always smart to check before attacking.

UCF's technical writing program is game studies related through the researchers there and programs like Text and Technology Program, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy and the many other programs at UCF. Most of these are at the UCF main campus, and this position is for Cocoa, Florida. UCF is in Orlando (near Disney) and that's related to game studies as well, and this particular position is at the UCF Cocoa location, on "Florida's Space Coast" about an hour from Orlando's main area. EA has a huge development presence in Orlando, as do many major companies like Lockheed Martin (military simulations), and the whole city is a living example of the city at play with it's constant growth, the huge theme park presence (virtual meets real, theme parks and rides for everything--fantasy, science, religion..) and Cocoa, Florida is by Cape Canaveral which also lends itself to research in virtual realities, simulations, modeling, and so forth. Orlando and much of Florida south of it is a virtualized space--it's Miami's South Beach, the Keys, Alligator Alley, and so forth, so the whole space lends itself to studies of constructed spaces and interactions.

Oh, and my PhD is in English (focus on game studies) like many game studies folks and many who have degrees in art (digital media and games, often designated as MFAs) or in computer science (focus on game studies, simulations, modeling, narrative) or many other fields (sociology, economics), but I wasn't even aware that anywhere was--as of yet--giving PhDs listed in ludology. We have an old list of places to study games and most are in English/humanities programs or in computer science driven programs.

I think Zach's 2004 "turf" article is useful for anyone looking for background on game studies and where it belongs or how it's grown. I think it's interesting that the post situated me as "a librarian who's interested in games" rather than a game studies researcher who's a librarian or a game studies researcher or any of the other ways it could have been written since the phrasing is "something outside interested in games" instead of game studies being a field open for other areas. Game studies has many researchers who are building connections with those who've come from game studies to another field or from another field to game studies--with folks in health, sociology, economics, business, museums, libraries, education, psychology, and so many other fields. These connections build game studies and allow for more interesting types of research, and more areas for game studies to grow.