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ICHEG names RIT's Stephen Jacobs visiting scholar

Playthings Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 6/3/2010 3:54:47 PM

NEW YORK-Stephen Jacobs, associate professor of Interactive Games and Media at the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), has joined the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) as a visiting scholar for a period of two years.

As visiting scholar, Jacobs will advise and assist in the development of eGameRevolution, a major, original exhibit that will invite guests to experience electronic games, old and new, as they learn about their history and influence on the way we play, learn, and live. The highly interactive, 5,000-square-foot exhibit is scheduled to open at Strong National Museum of Play on Nov. 20, 2010 and will feature two dozen operating video-arcade games, as well as a variety of historic and contemporary home console and PC games that guests will be able to play.

Jacobs will also advise and assist ICHEG in the interpretation of e-game-related collections; contribute to the CHEGheads blog; edit a themed issue on electronic play for the museum's scholarly quarterly American Journal of Play; and offer his expertise in developing grant applications to support ICHEG activities.

"We are delighted to have Steve Jacobs bring his knowledge, creativity, and passion for video games to the development of eGameRevolution and other ICHEG efforts," said G. Rollie Adams, president and CEO of Strong.

"I've been a fan of the museum since I moved to Rochester in 1989 and their evolution over that time has been nothing short of amazing," said Jacobs. "Strong National Museum of Play and ICHEG are vibrant, exciting places to visit, and I'm really excited to have this opportunity to work with them as they grow their efforts in the field of electronic games. What's more, our relationship has already begun to open doors for RIT students and faculty to work with them as well. I'm looking forward to a productive and enriching two years."

Jacobs teaches courses at RIT in computer game history and design, interactive narrative, and humanitarian free and open software. He directs RIT's Lab for Technological Literacy and its FOSS@RIT initiative, which supports Open Source in general and the One Laptop Per Child and Sugar Labs efforts in particular, working with RIT students to create educational games and software for those programs.

In 1995, as a new faculty member, Jacobs partnered with Professor Gordon Goodman at RIT to engage students in Web development and build Web sites for numerous Rochester cultural institutions including Strong National Museum of Play, the George Eastman House International Center for Photography and Film, Writers and Books, and Genesee Country Village & Museum, among others. He has been a freelance technology journalist for 20 years, and was editor-in-chief for WXXI's What the Tech; founder of the pioneering blog The Gadget Boy Gazette; and contributing editor to CNET.com and Television 2.0. He has also written articles for Wired, The Washington Post, and other publications.

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