Googling a bit, I came across this little surprise on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Story-play-steam-Thermoludic-narratology/dp/1249083001

Not sure quite what to think, but pretty fun!

Today, Dr. David M. Rieder agreed to not only be a member of my dissertation committee, but to take on the responsibilities and labors of committee chair and adviser. I’m very excited to have the opportunity to work more closely with Dr. Rieder in the coming years as I develop my committee, plan of work, reading list, exams, and finally dissertation.

Neatness – submitted everything, but a few sample cards from the RhetWars card game that I created (well, modified from the game Bone Wars) as a proof of concept for using such a game to teach rhetorical theory. Not a total success, but far from a failure, and a whole lot of fun.

Check out some samples if you like!

I am pleased to report that I have successfully defended my thesis, and have been “passed” by the unanimous vote of my committee. Good questions were asked, good suggestions were given, and reading lists have been passed along to me. I’m very grateful to the entire committee for their great help and support. Now, a few revisions before I can submit it to the grad school, and it will be over. The option to write a thesis instead of taking the comprehensive examination was only voted into policy at the end of the Spring 2011 semester, and I am the only one who has been through the process so far. And so, in the spirit of the internet, let me just say . . .

“First!”

As of Thursday, my Master’s Thesis has officially been submitted! On Wednesday, July 6th, I will be defending it to my committee of three professors in the Department of English at Northern Illinois University:

Dr. David Gorman (Committee Chair)
Professor of Critical Theory and Comparative Literature

Dr. Michael Day
Professor of Rhetoric and Technical Writing, and Director of First Year Composition

Dr. Scott Balcerzak
Professor of Film and Media Studies, Department of English, Northern Illinois University.

I’m very excited for the opportunity to discuss my work with these outstanding faculty members; stay tuned!

Well, my proposal has been accepted. In order to earn credit for an Educational Technology seminar day I attended, I have to do . . . well, they want a lesson to be taught or a presentation at their symposium at the end of summer, but I’m not teaching over the summer and will be in Raleigh by the time the symposium rolls around. So instead, I proposed a card game to teach about rhetoric.

The game will be based on Bone Wars, but instead of archaeologists, players will take the role of rhetorical scholars, and instead of assembling skeletons from bones, they will assemble arguments from . . . well, aspects of arguments. Hoping to work a few of the rhetorical models in as well. Still in the formative stages, and has to wait for the thesis to be done, really, but I’m very much looking forward to working on it. I’ll make it a point to throw some images and such up here as they get done. Promise!

Dr. Gorman has accepted my prospectus, although he cautioned me “against trying to do too much”. Still, good to go on the premise!

And what is the premise, I hear you cry? Well, it’s an attempt to synthesize Narratology and Ludology in game studies via the principles of Thermodynamics, with implications for the study of traditional literary texts.

Yeah – this is going to be fun. Ridiculous, but fun.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. David Gorman has agreed to chair my thesis committee. I have taken three other classes with Dr. Gorman, and he has always been accommodating of my admittedly off-kilter interests (off kilter, at least, as far as English departments go). I’m very excited to have this opportunity to work more closely with him on my project. Teaser below the jump!

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