Dr. Ryan Thompson, our resident musicologist, discusses his Twitch stream, “Ludomusicology Thursdays,” his role at MSU, and the nomination for a Game Audio Network Guild Award for Best Game Audio Presentation, Podcast or Broadcast.
msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/03...
@bardicknowledge.bsky.social
Meaningful Play 2026
Meaningful Play, the international conference for designing and studying games that matter, is back for 2026! The conference will take place October 13-15, 2026 at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA.
event.fourwaves.com/meaningfulpl...
#meaningfulplay #gamedesign #seriousgames
Dr. Jean Hardy
Congratulations to Dr. Jean Hardy, who is a recipient of the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award! The awards are given to faculty who have earned the respect of their students & colleagues for their devotion to & skill in teaching, & whose instruction is linked to their research & creative activities.
Angie Nam holding a big check
Ashley Wilson, Angie Nam, and Gary Reid
We are pleased to announce that Ph.D. student Angie Nam was awarded the James H. Quello Scholarship! This well‑deserved recognition reflects Angie’s outstanding research and dedication to advancing knowledge in her field.
Ashley Wilson
Congratulations to Ashley Wilson, who received this year’s ComArtSci Staff Impact Award! This award recognizes support staff who have consistently demonstrated outstanding performance and commitment.
Thank you for all that you do, Ashley!
Dr. Jean Hardy was quoted in The Detroit News about a potential data center project in Detroit.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Play the next generation of games created by MSU student developers and regional game studios! At this interactive playtest event, teams will showcase beta versions of their games.
Thursday, April 9, 5:00-6:30PM, MSU Museum Auditorium. RSVP:
luma.com/dodepqxi
#gamedesign
We're seeking to hire an in-person, full-time Professor of Practice in Games & Interactive Media. We envision an experienced game developer/programmer with a compelling portfolio and vision of the contributions creative work can make!
#gamedevjobs
#programming
careers.msu.edu/jobs/special...
IDEAS Program logo
Dr. Susan Wyche was awarded $35k through the U.S. Department of State’s IDEAS Program, a capacity-building initiative that supports international education partnerships, for a collaborative project between MSU & Kenya’s Egerton University focused on human-centered technology development.
Dr. Susan Wyche will give an invited talk at Georgia Tech's Institute for People and Technology (IPaT). She'll discuss "Accompaniment in Human-Centered Design: From Digital Interventions to Community and Dialogue."
For more information, see: research.gatech.edu/ipat/lunch-l...
Westcoast Experience @ Meaningful XR
Students are invited to apply for the Westcoast Experience @ Meaningful XR, May 28 to June 1, 2026 (applications due Jan 25).
Apply here: bit.ly/wemx26app
More info here: www.spartie.org/service/west...
Our own Keith Hampton was quoted in Futurity for his research and insight into how digital technologies shape social connection and community life.
www.futurity.org/social-media...
Fully painted version of a fantasy dwarf holding keys. He has red hair and a braided beard and mustache.
Flat colors version of a fantasy dwarf holding keys. He has red hair and a braided beard and mustache.
Sketched version of a fantasy dwarf holding keys. He has a braided beard and mustache.
Ricardo Guimaraes put the "practice" in Professor of Practice! Here is his process as he sketches, applies flat colors, and then fully paints a fantasy world dwarf.
Congratulations to Drs. Ryan Thompson, Dana Plank, Julianne Grasso, & Karen Cook, for “Ludomusicology Thursday Episode 296: Shadow of the Colossus (featuring Damian Kastbauer)”, nominated for Best Game Audio Presentation, Podcast, or Broadcast in the Game Audio Network Guild awards!
Rachel Tiv, Dani Cervera, Lil Marsh and Sean Hughes visited the Grand Rapids Comic Con
Student-led Brava Games is working on a game called Guilds of Greybrook, which is set to release in two months. Here, team members (from left) Rachel Tiv, Dani Cervera, Lil Marsh and Sean Hughes visited the Grand Rapids Comic Con as a studio.
MediaInfo's Keith Hampton led a study which explores how social media strengthens or weakens echo chambers. The study focused on social media use & attitudes of young people who leave rural areas to attend university & the attitudes of their parents who stay behind.
msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/12...
MSU GameDev Showcase, Thursday, Dec. 11, 4-6PM, Rooms 147 & 154 ComArtSci.
Join us Thursday, December 11, 4-6PM in rooms 147 & 154 ComArtSci for the fall MSU GameDev Showcase!
PhD student Yiming Skylar Lei
PhD Student Highlight: Yiming Skylar Lei studies how cooperation and competition unfold in online environments and how communication technologies create new interdependence structures that shape social interaction, decision-making, and collective behavior.
#phdstudent
Nov. 12-14, MSU will serve as a host site for the 2025 Esports Research Network Conference, a 3-day, non-stop digital event where #esports research meets the frontier of digital society. Catch all the talks FOR FREE live on Twitch. Full conference details: esportsresearch.net/category/ern...
Cover for Why the Birds Fly Back novel
Congratulations to 2017 Media & Information alumna Zina Fattah, who illustrated the cover and designed the interior layout for Why the Birds Fly Back, a children's book by Akosua Harvey!
Students in MI 445: Game Design and Development spent seven weeks developing original Halloween-themed games. Among 8 unique creations, one standout, Trickstir, impressed faculty with its fun, casual puzzle design and broad appeal.
Play it now:
langstonian.itch.io/trickstir
#gamedev
Dr. Ryan Thompson
This year, Dr. Ryan Thompson will present at the MSU Esports Research Network Conference hosted by Seth Jenny, Amanda Cote, and Jonathan Eaton -- his talk is entitled, "How to Get Somebody Jumpin': Music, Community, and Canon in Modern Esports Titles."
Braille Bistro card with "sandwich" in text, image, and braille
MediaInfo MA student Jesse Sanderson won a Silver Medal in the Serious Games by Students category from the Serious Play Conference! The award-winning game, Braille Bistro, is a matching game designed to build empathy among sighted people for persons with disabilities.
Read more:
bit.ly/3Wa5CKB
Our own Dr. Amanda Cote was quoted in the AP News article, "How Electronic Arts’ $55 billion go-private deal could impact the video game industry": apnews.com/article/elec...
We're seeking a postdoctoral fellow! The Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Initiative welcomes dynamic and innovative scholar-educators who, upon successful completion of their postdoctoral fellowship, will matriculate to a tenure-track assistant professor position. bit.ly/MIpostdoc
#postdoc #academia
Congratulations to doctoral candidate Gabriel Hales, who gave an informative interview about his research. This project examines screen time vs. academic achievement. Gabriel worked alongside Dr. Keith Hampton.
www.clickondetroit.com/video/news/2...
Professor Brian Winn cutting a cake that says Congratulation 25 years of Gamedev at MSU
Panelists for the Game Industry Adjacent Panel
Panelists for the Game Industry Panel
Players playing Plunder Panic at the tailgate
The 25th Gamedev Anniversary Celebration was a hit! The event kicked off on Friday with two alumni panels (Gamedev and Gamedev-adjacent), tours, student games, and more. Saturday, we enjoyed a tailgate with faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as we ate treats and played Plunder Panic!
25 years of GameDev at MSU
The 25th Anniversary Celebration of our Game Design programs takes place this week, on September 12 and 13! Visit gamedev.msu.edu/25yearannive... for the Friday afternoon tours and Saturday tailgate schedule.
New research from doctoral candidate Gabriel E. Hales and Dr. Keith N. Hampton challenges the assumption that unstructured time spent on digital media is inherently harmful or unproductive.
msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/09...
Image of job text
We're seeking to hire an in-person, full-time Professor of Practice in Games & Interactive Media. We envision an experienced game developer/programmer with a compelling portfolio and vision of the contributions creative work can make. bit.ly/MediaInfoJob...
#GameDevJobs