Gerald Farca
Professor for Game Design (Game Studies & Narrative Design)
Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. Phil), Video Game Studies, English Literary Studies;
Game and Narrative Designer / Artist
Macromedia University Leipzig
University of Augsburg, Germany
Hi everyone, I am a professor for game design with a focus on game studies, narrative and world design at the Macromedia University in Leipzig. My focus thereby lies on a mixture of theoretical foundations and their creative application in practical game design.
I obtained my Doctor of Philosophy in English literature and game studies at Augsburg University (Germany) in 2018, where I was as a lecturer and member of a research seminar on contemporary literary theory and drama. In addition, I worked abroad as a visiting researcher and lecturer at game studies institutions, including the Center for Computer Games Research of the IT University in Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2016 and the CESAG of the Comillas Pontifical University in Palma (Spain) in 2018.
My current research revolves around the issue of regenerative play and the genre of ecological science fiction, in which I scrutinise the affective and aesthetic effects of ecogames as well as practical applications of sustainable concepts. This research is conducted on an international level and in a transdisciplinary environment. In this context, I am a member of the Augsburg Cultural Ecology Research Group (Environmental Humanities, Augsburg University) and work together with the Utrecht Center for Game Research (Utrecht University, Netherlands).
Besides this university work, I am enrolled in game projects as a game and narrative designer/writer and am working on other projects such as the game tourist episodes (as art galleries and game analysis) on this website and fictional writing (short stories and game writing).
For my past and current projects, please visit the publications site on this homepage.
Links:
Research Interests:
- Video Game Studies / Game Design
- Video Game Narrative
- Literary Theory (especially narratology, reader-response theories, fiction theory, psychoanalysis)
- Utopia, Anti-Utopia, and Dystopia
- Science Fiction
- Cyberpunk and the Posthuman
- Ecocriticsm / Cultural Ecology
- Post-Apocalypse
Dissertation 2017: Playing Dystopia: Nightmarish Worlds in Video Games and the Player’s Aesthetic Response