Game Design and Development Minor

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Overview of the Program

Why Choose Game Design at Spelman?

The Game Design Lab

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.

HBCU Game Jam

 

Zynga Classroom

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.

Unity Gaming Fellowship

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

 

Contact Info

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.

Courses (16-18 Credits)

Perquisite (1)

AVC 109Creative Coding

Minor Core Courses
  • AVC 150 Game Design & Narrative 3 credits
  • AVC 122 Digital 2D Foundations [2] 3 credits
  • AVC 322 Game Development I 4 credits
Two Electives (at least one must be 300 level)
  • AVC 135 Digital 3D Foundations
  • AVC 340 Game Development II
  • CIS 123Computer Programming II
  • ENG 316 Speculative Fiction
  • ENG 225 Afrofuturist Narratives
  • ENG 396 Fiction Writing I
  • MUS 209 Music and Sound for Film and Games

[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.

Common Career Paths

  • Biology + Art History = Physician
  • Chemistry + Art History= Art Conservator
  • Computer Science + Art History = Entrepreneur
  • Economics + Art History = Wealth Management Specialist
  • Business + Art History = Gallery Director
  • Psychology + Art History = Art Therapist

View What You Can Do With This Major

Alumna Spotlight

Adrienne Edwards, C'96

Adrienne Edwards, C'96 - Spelman CollegeEdwards 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

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