Members

 

Prof.dr. Joost Raessens (Utrecht University – Project Leader)

Holds the chair of Media Theory in the Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. He chaired the opening conference ‘Level Up’ of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA, 2003) and is a member of the editorial board of Games and Culture. A Journal of Interactive Media (SAGE). He was one of the project leaders of the research programs Playful identities (NWO: 2005-2010), Design rules for learning through simulated worlds (GATE: 2006-2012) and Mobile learning-Citizen science (GATE: 2010-2012). His publications are in the field of media theory, new media and digital culture, and game studies. He is the founding member of GAP: the Centre for the Study of Digital Games and Play, Utrecht University (www.gamesandplay.nl). Website: www.raessens.nl

 

Prof. dr. Jeroen Jansz (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Holds the chair of Communication and Media in the Department of Media and Communication and ERMeCC (Erasmus Research Center for Media, Communication and Culture), Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research is about the reception of new media. The appeal of video games on players is a long standing research interest as well as investigating games as tool for civic engagement. His research has been published in international academic journals. He was co-founder of the Game Studies group in the International Communication Association, and of DiGRA’s Dutch chapter. He is a member of the editorial board of Games and Culture. A Journal of Interactive Media (SAGE). He often participates in public discussions about new media use, for example as board member of PEGI, the Pan European Game Information system. He is President of NeFCA, the Netherlands Flanders Communication Association. Website: jeroenjansz.nl

 

Prof. dr. Ben Schouten (Eindhoven University of Technology)

Graduated from the Rietveld Art Academy in 1983 as a media designer. In 2001 he received his PhD in new media retrieval. This thesis was acknowledged with a Bronze World Medal for Design in New Media (New York). In the following years he worked at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science as well as at the Utrecht School of Art & Technology (HKU) in Interaction Design and Gaming. In 2008 he was appointed lector Serious Game Design at Fontys Hogescholen and in 2010 Full Professor Design of Playful Interactions (TU/e). His group focuses on Games & Play for social innovations, industry and culture. He is an advisor for the European Commission as well as for the Dutch Cultural Media Fund. He is also a board member of the Dutch Games Association.

 

Dr. Teresa de la Hera (Utrecht University – Postdoc)

Teresa de la Hera is postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Utrecht University where she is member of the Center for the Study of Digital Games and Play (www.gamesandplay.nl). She started her academic career at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain in 2006 where she conducted research in the fields of new media and persuasive games. In 2010 she was a visiting PhD Candidate at the University of Amsterdam, where she spent four months under the supervision of Professor Jan Simons. Later on, in 2011, she moved to the Netherlands where she obtained an International PhD Fellowship to finish her PhD “Persuasive Structures in Advergames” at Utrecht University. Website: www.teresadelahera.nl.

 

Drs. Ruud Jacobs (Erasmus University Rotterdam – PhD student)

Ruud Jacobs (1987) is a PhD student at the Department of Media & Communication. Ruud holds a Master’s degree in Psychology (2012, cum laude) from the University of Twente. His Master track was focused on human factors and cognition and especially on the psychology of media. Ruud’s first publication (2012) explained individual differences in how often consumers download movies from the internet (without a payment or subscription model) using Social Cognitive Theory. His master’s thesis was an exploratory study on the effects of movie reviews on the subsequent evaluation of a film’s quality. Website: www.eshcc.eur.nl/english/personal/jacobs/

 

Drs. Martijn Kors (Eindhoven University of Technology – PhD student)

Martijn Kors is a PhD candidate at the Industrial Design Department of the Eindhoven University of Technology and researcher within the Create-IT Games & Play research group at the University of Applied Sciences of Amsterdam. His work is supervised by prof.dr. Ben Schouten BA, dr.ir Tilde Bekker and dr. Erik van der Spek. After receiving his Master of Arts in Game Design and Development at the University of the Arts Utrecht, Martijn continued his study as Master in Industrial Design at the University of Technology in Eindhoven with an interest in the use of play for change. During his graduation project Martijn designed a toy for children to support them in exploring their new environment in the the aftermath of a natural disaster, in specific within the context of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake in Japan.