Hunter College professor Mary Flanagan will serve as the first-ever endowed chair of the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professorship in Digital Humanities, the College's dean-of-the-faculty office announced this month. Flanagan will officially arrive on campus Oct. 1 to open her game design laboratory, Tiltfactor Laboratories, and will teach classes at the College on game design, environmental art and media starting Winter term.
The new position was created as part of a $10 million gift from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to fund new professorships in emerging fields, according to Megan Steven, assistant dean for administration in the dean-of-faculty office. Flanagan was a professor of contemporary digital arts, culture and technology at Hunter College in New York City and has published numerous books and articles on digital culture, according to a press release published by the College on Sept. 2. Flanagan, who received a Ph.D from the University of the Arts in London, is also a renowned artist whose digitally based artwork has been exhibited worldwide.
The interdisciplinary nature of the new professorship allows Flanagan to offer half of her courses through the film and media studies department and arrange the other courses through other departments, she said.
"Digital humanities is the intersection of study where computational issues are considered along with other disciplinary issues -- for example, how a computer system relates to a historical system," she said.
In her courses, Flanagan plans to have students respond to assignments using any form of media that they wish, including music, film or writing, she said.
Tiltfactor Laboratories seeks to use "the power of video games in the service of humanistic principles," according to its web site. Tiltfactor has created three educational games that are available for free online, including the Adventures of Josie True, a problem-solving game aimed at teaching middle school girls math and science concepts, and Profit Seed, a game that explores the ecological issue of genetic engineering.
Flanagan said she was inspired by the passion and curiosity of students and professors when she visited the College, adding that several students have already contacted her about her research and courses.
"Everyone here is pretty impressive," she said. "They really love what they're doing."
Zachary Mason '10, peer academic link advisor for the film and media studies major, expressed interest in research with Flanagan and in taking courses on "digital morality."
"The big debate now is, what is the message that we are sending with media and is it the right one," he said. "There are tons of studies on the effect of video games, but not a lot go into what the programmers were thinking. I definitely think it's just as valid a subject to study as any other."
Tiltfactor Laboratories' non-violent games challenge what Flanagan calls the "narrow" idea that video games have a violent impact on society.
"Even the most criticized games have fascinating things going on," she said. "It does annoy me, though, when kids don't want to play a game because it's not a game where you're killing someone."
Flanagan cited the lack of rewards for innovation in today's gaming world as one of the reasons the market is flooded with many variations on the classic "first-person shooter" game, especially as only 10 percent of game designers are women, and 2 percent are minorities.
"Innovation is a risk, not an ultimate goal -- the goal is to make more money," she said.
While Flanagan "does not believe video games are the world's demise," she added that "technology is a double-edged sword."
"We feel so much more connected to family and friends, but at the same time, we are further from dealing with social and ecological problems," she said. "I lived through the dot-com era, where everyone thought technology saves the world. It doesn't."
The film and media studies department changed its name this academic year from film and television studies to reflect the growing trend towards studying electronic media alongside film, according to professor Mary Desjardins.
"This professorship allows the department and the College to develop courses in such areas as the history, theory and production of video games and media design," she said.
