Visiting Professors Eric Zimmerman and Charles Pratt Join as full-time faculty; Clara Fernández-Vara and Bennett Foddy Round Out Department’s Game Studies and Design Capability.
The Game Center at NYU Tisch School of the Arts today announced the addition of four new members to its permanent faculty, serving to further enhance the size and scope of the department’s academic strength in the emerging field of game design education.
Eric Zimmerman, currently a visiting professor and one of the most widely recognized and respected names in game design and game scholarship, will accept a permanent position as an Arts Professor. Charles Pratt, also currently at the Game Center in an adjunct capacity and who has spearheaded several key Game Center initiatives – including the No Quarter annual game exhibit and the Spring Fighter tournament series – will become an Assistant Arts Professor.
Newcomers to the faculty include Clara Fernández-Vara, formerly visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Bennet Foddy, of Oxford University. Fernández-Vara, whose focus has been in using theory and research in the service of design, with a special interest in procedural and interactive narrative, will become an Associate Arts Professor. Foddy, in addition to being an influential game designer (creator of the cult classic QWOP), has also taught and conducted research in the fields of philosophy and neuroscience. He will serve as Assistant Arts Professor.
“With these new hires, I really believe we’ve assembled a “dream team” of faculty here at the Game Center. Each one of them enjoys tremendous respect in the gaming world and also brings his or her unique strength and specialty, which meld extremely well with the capabilities of our current faculty,” said Frank Lantz, Chair of the Game Center. “Moreover, in addition to their impressive accomplishments in game design and academic research, each one is an experienced and committed teacher, which will allow us to add greater depth to the stable of courses we offer at the Game Center.”
Established in 2008, the NYU Game Center is housed at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and offers both 2-year Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) and an undergraduate minor that explore the design and development of games as a creative practice. The department offers courses and public programs on the design, production, and study of games as an aesthetic and cultural form. Working in conjunction with other departments within NYU, as well as the gaming community, part of the center’s mission is to establish New York City as a center of innovation in the growing field of game design.