Hanli Geyser has been newly appointed as the first Game Design Lecturer in Wits Digital Arts. Her primary area of responsibility is the development of the new Game Design degree which will be launched in the 2012 academic year in collaboration with the Wits School of Electrical and Information Engineering. The course courses in the degree will be taken by both creative arts and engineering students – an entirely new arrangement at Wits, and, indeed, in any other South African university. Hanli is also teaching on the Honours Theory programme and supervising the postgraduate students who are already undertaking research into games related topics. For more information contact her directly: hanli.geyserATwits.ac.za.
So, uh… How many games has this game lecturer made?
None at all.
Much like developing, lecturing is a specialist skill, one for which I have a passion. This is not to say that ‘those who cannot do, teach’ – teaching itself is what I do.
My area of expertise is narrative, specifically interactive and visual narrative. However, this doesn't mean that students in the new courses will do only game studies from a narrative perspective! The courses will be taught in the Electrical and Information Engineering degree, the B.Eng.Sci, as well as into the Wits School of Arts degree, the BA PVA. Both the artistic and technological areas of game development will be addressed in these two separate degrees built around the joint spine of the game design courses. This is exactly what makes this so exciting!
My focus as a lecturer in this course will be on the theoretical elements of game studies and game design. The history and analysis of games, narrative, gameplay, writing, and character, world and level design. It is also important to realise that I will not be teaching this alone. The courses will draw on the expertise already available: in the Digital Arts division from Tegan Bristow’s extensive experience in interactive work and Mileta Postic’s excellent 3D animation courses, the technical expertise found in the Electrical and Information Engineering department, including Ken Nixon and Steve Levitt’s diverse industry experience, as well as external practising professionals, all with the aim to produce well rounded graduates.
I hope that this begins to answer your question. I would also be happy to have a discussion and to answer any other questions you, or anyone else, may have. Please feel free to email me directly.
Your response was far too reasonable and level-headed, Hanli. You should've said something like, "And how many games have YOU ever made, lolcakes? If that IS your REAL NAME!!!"
;)