The Game Design Lab (GDL) approaches gaming technology as a modern medium for interactive, immersive, non-linear storytelling. The Lab provides Spelman students with the skills and techniques to develop video games, social simulations, historic reconstructions, artistic works, interactive fictional narratives and other immersive experiences. Students from the Arts, Humanities and those in the Computer Sciences work together to generate art assets, develop storylines and implement culturally relevant products using technology that has historically not promoted the voices of women of color. The Lab also provides resources for faculty ready to adopt and adapt the technology in their research. For more information about this minor, please contact Professor Jerry Volcy, Ph.D., at jvolcy@spelman.edu.
The GDS is supported by a state-of-the-art, 12-seat game development classroom (The Zynga Classroom), a student club (SpelmanXR), a student fellowship program (Unity Fellowship Program), a scholarship program (The Zynga Scholars Program) an R&D program (Microsoft Gaming Research Lab) and a faculty seed grant program (Unity Faculty Seed Grant Program). The GDS also hosts an annual, inter-collegiate HBCU Game Jam.
The Zynga classroom is a 12-seat computer lab equipped with high-end gaming workstations, controllers, VR headsets and other peripherals needed to create 2D, 3D and VR-based video games and immersive experiences. Installed on each workstation is a suite of software tool, utilities and game development platforms that support desktop, mobile and console game development. The Lab is located in room 230 of the Science Center.
The Unity Student Gaming Fellowship Program supports the exceptionally motivated student to complete a long-term, co-curricular gaming project of her choice. The Lab provides technical guidance, and a modest stipend in exchange for weekly project check-ins that help students stay on track. Two gaming fellowships are competitively awarded annually.
Visit the Spelman Innovation Lab
Spelman College Department of Art & Visual Culture
350 Spelman Lane SW, Box 331
Atlanta, GA 30314
404-270-5455
elissagraddy@spelman.edu
Mon. – Fri. | 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
AVC 109Creative Coding
[1] CIS111, CIS113 and CIS121 satisfy this prerequisite.
Students in the Division of the Arts should satisfy their college computer literacy requirement with AVC-109 instead of CIS 105.
Students in the Humanities and Social Sciences should satisfy their college computer literacy requirement with CIS111, CIS113 or CIS121 instead of CIS105.
[2] Art students will select three courses from the list of electives instead.
Edwards was named the Engell Speyer Family Curator and Curator of Performance at the Whitney Museum in 2018. Before that, she served for eight years as curator at Performa, a New York City arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance; she was also the curator-at-large for the Walker Art Center.
For Performa, Edwards realized new boundary-defying commissions, as well as pathfinding conferences and film programs with a wide range of over forty international artists. While at the Walker, she co-led the institution-wide Mellon Foundation Interdisciplinary Initiative, an effort to expand ways of commissioning, studying, collecting, documenting, and conserving cross-disciplinary works. e
View Announcement Press ReleaseIt's time to explore our beautiful campus! Sign-up today, bring your family, and let us show you what will make Spelman College your home away from home!