Rensselaer

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Rensselaers Game and Simulation Arts and
Sciences B.S.

• Katherine Isbister, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor, LLC
• Director, Games Research Lab

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A tale of a grass roots degree

• The Game and Simulation Arts and Sciences B.S.
  was an effort that bubbled up from student
  interest and hard work by faculty.
• This is brief overview of how we got where we
  did, and what weve learned so far.

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But first, a bit about Rensselaer

• Founded in 1824 in what was the 19th centurys
  Silicon Valley (where the Mohawk River and the
  Hudson met--site of the Erie Canal).
• A small, primarily engineering-focused school
  (5000 undergrad, 2000 grad students) with
  increasing emphasis placed on humanities, social
  science, and interdisciplinary skills now
  essential to engineering success.
• A place known for its intelligent, practical,
  positive-minded graduates.

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A tale of a grass roots degree

• Rensselaer already had a history of producing
  great game developers (Vicarious Visions, Cryptic
  Studios, and other smaller local game companies
  such as 1st Playable, plus many alumni in the
  industry).
• Lots of students doing co-ops, internships, and
  volunteering (at least one C.A. here this year)
• Faculty passionate about game design who had
  begun to create courses (e.g. Game Design,
  Experimental Game Design, Game Mechanics) to meet
  student interest in the topic.

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A tale of a grass roots degree

• Many students would double-major in EMAC
  (Electronic Media, Art, and Communication) and
  Computer Science toward a career in game design
  and development.
• A core group of faculty created a Game Studies
  minor in 2004 which consisted of game specific
  courses plus relevant electives. Interestingly,
  this course set emerged in the School of
  Humanities and Social Science out of Arts and
  Cognitive Science.

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From minor to major

• Student and faculty interest in a game design
  program steadily increased.
• Rensselaer hired two new games-related faculty
  members who taught games-focused courses.
• Others already at Rensselaer began working on
  games-related issues and research.
• The newly enlarged faculty group decided to begin
  planning a full major in 2004.

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From minor to major

• A year-long process began, which included
• many committee meetings
• student focus groups
• feedback from outside reviewers
• Iteration and more iteration!

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From minor to major

• Important feedback we got from students and from
  industry about what graduates need
• Solid grounding in first job skills--programming
  or art-making or the like.
• Interdisciplinary team experience.
• A work ethic and flexibility that comes from
  practice.
• A strong portfolio of work and ideally some
  industry experience under their belt.
• A sense of vision for the future that can help
  drive ongoing achievement and innovation.
• Some broad liberal-arts knowledge and thinking
  that help to make great designers what they are

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The Game and Simulation Arts and Sciences B.S.

• Based on all this, the program was designed as a
  128-credit major based in HSS that
• Provides an intensive series of game design and
  development courses so students build a portfolio
  and hands-on experience in teams.
• Includes a research component to help students
  develop a longer-term vision of their
  contribution.
• Includes concentrations to provide core skill-set
  for first jobs.
• Allows for easy double-majoring for even more
  solid core skills grounding.
• Encourages internships and co-ops so students
  graduate with some real-world experience.
• Provides a liberal arts education for a broad
  perspective.

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The Game and Simulation Arts and Sciences B.S.

• Core courses
• History and Culture of Games (first year studies)
• Intro. to Game Design
• Game Mechanics
• Designing Interactive Characters
• Interactive Narrative
• Experimental Game Design
• Research Project
• Year-long Game Development Project

• Concentrations/dual majors
• Art
• Computer Science
• HCI
• Management/Entrepreneurship
• Cognitive Science

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What We Learned

• Build from existing strengths. (For us,
  engineering emphasis, small nimble
  interdisciplinary faculty, terrific internal
  student interest, growing local alumni-based game
  industry presence).
• Listen to students and to industry folks as you
  shape your program.
• Let faculty who know the area help set a vision
  that prepares students for the future, not just
  for the present.

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A special thanks

• To the GSAS working committeeBarb Cutler
  (CSCE), Marc Destefano (CogSci), Judith Frangos
  (Media Librarian), Kathy High (Arts), Shawn
  Lawson (Arts), Mike Lynch (LLC), Don Moore
  (HSS), Ralph Noble (CogSci), Kathleen Ruiz
  (Arts), James Watt (LLC)
• To our external reviewersJohn Buchanan, Ken
  Perlin, and Jesse Schell
• To all the Rensselaer students who contributed
  their perspective and hard work!

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For more information

• http//www.gsas.rpi.edu/
• isbisk_at_rpi.edu