Profiling Videogame Scholars in New Zealand

To Be Updated as Required

General Note: (1) the only papers that I could find teaching anything about Games, were in the Computer science Department of the University of Otago and the Screen and Media Studies Department of Waikato University. However, the ubiquity of special topics and the difficulty or administrators in understanding the relevance of such a subject suggests to me that many deprtments may have games studies lurking within them under this aegis.

(2) I'm (still 2010) waiting to hear back from the University of Auckland about their research interests in the area.

Auckland University of Technology

Leon Tan : The Title of his PCA/ACA Conference paper is: 'Avatars in Analysis: MMOGs, Performance Art, Psychoanalysis, and Enjoyment'

Massey

Graham Slater : School of English and Media Studies: 'And is beginning research on children and computer games.' quote from department site.

Otago

Brett Nicholls : Department of Communication Studies: See Brett and Simon's work for the '03 DAC in Melbourne, and for the First Issue of Scan.

Simon Ryan : Department of Languages and Cultures: see the links above for the work he and Brett have collaborated on.

Mark McGuire : Department of Design Studies: see mark's '03 DAC Melbourne Paper.

Victoria

Roy Shuker : School of English, Film and Thearte: Roy wrote a journal article 'Videogames: Serious Fun: Globalisation and the Media in the Third Millenium' Its in Continuum 9(2) so check it out!

Rob Cover : School of English, Film and Thearte: Reserch interested quoted from university site 'New Media, Electronic Gaming and Identity' (now at University of Adelaide)

Melanie Swalwell : School of English, Film and Thearte: Dr Swalwell's work in online, the listed interest from the University site is 'In relation to games, my current research has three main strands to it. I am interested in gaming as a) an aesthetic and affective engagement with technology; b) in the social aspects of gaming (see the lanning project, below); and c) in the experimentation which gaming entails. I would include here experiments with the games form (by artists, independent game developers, and modders), as well as playing itself, as it often entails important experimental qualities. ' (Now at University of South Australia).

Waikato
The Screen and Media Studies Department has a third year B semester paper 'Game Studies'.

Gareth Schott : Deaprtment of Screen and Media Studies: from site ' Recent and ongoing projects include: girl gamers and their relationships with game cultures, game fan-cultures, textuality in videogames (narrative, interactivity and role-play) and educational applications for game technologies.' Dr Schott's work can be found in Media International Australia 110 and Visual Communication 3(2).

Lisa Galarneau : PhD Candidate (Now has PhD -2010) - Department of Sreen and Media Studies: Check out Lisa's excellent website socialstudygames.com, its full of valuable resources and prototypes of Lisa's own work. Thanks Lisa!