Lillian A. Black, English PhD student researching queer feminist theory in media, has been awarded the W.K. Thomas Award from the Department of English Language and Literature. This scholarship is awarded annually to a full-time graduate student based on academic excellence.
Jenn Rickert, English PhD researcher and Community Experience Curator for the Games Institute, has been awarded the David Nimmo English Graduate Scholarship from the Department of English Language and Literature. This scholarship is awarded to a full-time graduate student based on academic excellence.
Jonathan Baltrusaitis, English PhD student and Instructor at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, has been awarded the Lea Vogel-Nimmo English Graduate Professionalization Award from the Department of English Language and Literature. This award is given to a graduate student on the basis of academic excellence and merit of professionalization activities.
Toben Racicot, English PhD student and GI Podcast co-host, has been awarded the TA Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Department of English Language and Literature. "Toben's work in English 109 and English 294 was exemplary. Student assessment and feedback was excellent, especially in the areas of TA engagement and communication," notes the Adjudicator.
The HCI Games Group at the GI collaborated with researchers from the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology to provide a visual storytelling experience that explores and explains how nanotechnology is used in our everyday lives, including an explanation of the covid vaccine.
The project combines digital visual storytelling and game technology. Read more about it here.
Dr. Daniel Harley, GI faculty member and Assistant Professor at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, co-authored “Playing by Ear: Designing for the Physical in a Sound-Based Virtual Reality Narrative” with Aneesh P. Tarun, Bonnie J. Stinson, Tudor Tibu, and Ali Mazalek.
Dr. Peyman Azad Khaneghah, Occupational Therapist and postdocrotal fellow at UW, created a health app rating system entitled Alberta Rating Index for Apps (ARIA) to help people sort through the 300,000+ health apps on the market. In an article by Agewell, Canada's technology and aging network, Dr. Khaneghah explains the intention and design driving the rating system project.
GI faculty member Dr. Muhammad Umair Shah from the Department of Management Sciences is a co-author on the recently published paper in IEEE Access, “The Role of Personality Factors Influencing Consumer Video Game Engagement in Young Adults: A Study on Generic Games” with authors Amir Zaib Abbasi, Umair Rehman, Helmut Hlavacs, Ding Hooi Ting, and Saima Nisar.
Updates from the First Person Scholar Editorial Staff:
It’s March, and that means spring is almost here! Though, for us in Ontario, it also means we’ll be experiencing “second winter” before summer mysteriously appears. And with a new season comes a new FPS update! We’re very excited to announce and highlight our newest and our upcoming projects geared towards expanding the Games Studies community into other spaces and/or conversations.