[-empyre-] Week 2: Gordon Calleja and James Hodge

[Patrick Keilty]

Off to a good start! For week two, I am pleased to introduce Gordon Calleja
(MT/ DK) and James Hodge (US):

Gordon Calleja is Associate Professor and the Head of the Institute of
Digital Games at the University of Malta and visiting Associate Professor
at the IT University of Copenhagen's Center for Computer Games Research,
which he headed for four years before moving to Malta. Gordon has a
background in Game Studies, Literary Theory and Media Studies. His current
research focuses on digital games and addresses three broad areas: game
ontology, narrative in game environments and player experience.  The latter
is the focus of his recently released book by MIT Press: "In-Game : From
Immersion to Incorporation" which investigates what makes digital games
engaging to players and a re-examination of the concept of “immersion”.
Supplementing his written work, Gordon also designs boardgames and digital
games.  The first digital game he published is "Will Love Tear Us Apart", a
game adaptation of Joy Division's cult track.  WLTUA has received
international acclaim for its unique game design approach and aesthetics
and has been covered extensively by publications such as Rolling Stone
Magazine, Spin, Fact, Consequence of Sound, PC Gamer, Polygon, Kotaku and
Kill Screen. His recent board game, Posthuman, deals with genetic
modification and speciation and will be out in stores from November 2015.

James J. Hodge is Assistant Professor of digital media studies in the
department of English and the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at
Northwestern University. He studies comparative media aesthetics, digital
media, media theory, and cinema studies. He has published articles and
reviews on Spike Jonze's Her, the critical legacy of phenomenology, and
digital aesthetics. His book project Animate Opacity: Digital Technics and
the Aesthetics of History argues for the significance of animation for the
expression of historical temporality in the era of digital media.

Patrick Keilty
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Information
Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
University of Toronto
http://www.patrickkeilty.com/
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