Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Mei Si is primarily interested in is artificial intelligence and its application in virtual and mixed realities. In particular, her research concentrates on computer-aided interactive narratives, embodied conversational agents and pervasive user interface, elements that make virtual environments more engaging and effective. Si has been using her research to develop virtual environments and intelligent conversational agents for serious games.

Maurice Suckling has worked in the games industry for nearly 30 years, with over 50 published video game titles to his name. He’s worked as a producer, designer, voice director, motion capture director, animation director, and, most often, as a writer. In addition to Suckling’s work in games, he has also worked in TV and movies, and has published a collection of short stories. His research interests include storytelling in games, board and card games as narrative systems, and historical simulations. Suckling’s first game was Driver in 1999.

Matthew Goodheart is a composer, improviser, and sound artist. Following an early career as a free-jazz pianist in the fertile San Francisco Bay Area, he has developed a wide body of work that explores the relationships between performer, instrument, and listener. His diverse creations range from large-scale microtonal compositions to open improvisations to immersive sound installations – all unified by the analytic techniques and performative methodologies he has developed to bring forth the unique and subtle acoustic properties of individual musical instruments.

Mary Anne Staniszewski investigates culture, art, and media in relation to political and social perspectives. "I investigate the way we 'invent' things in our cultures, how concepts and institutions emerge, such as art, exhibitions, and race.  Framing such entities historically can reveal how we create not only our cultures, but also our sense of ourselves. This perspective has political implications.

Marjorie McShane develops cognitive models of intelligent agents that can collaborate with people in task-oriented, dialog applications.

Pacific Northwest native Kenneth Ragsdale is an Albany, NY based artist.

Kenneth L. Simons researches the dynamics of industrial organization and technological change. His work has probed the causes of industry shakeouts, testing between alternative theories and exploring issues including sources of advantage to surviving firms and the role of technological innovation.

Kathy High, Professor of Video and New Media, is an interdisciplinary artist working in the area of technology, science and art. She produces videos, photographs, writings, performances and installations about gender and technology, empathy, and animal sentience. In the last ten years she has become interested in working with living systems, animals and art, considering the social, political and ethical dilemmas of biotechnology and surrounding industries.

Kathleen Ruiz is a media artist who creates simulations, games, installations, sculpture and photography. Her work explores issues about perception, behavior, interaction and the confluence of the imaginary and the real, inviting inquiry into how conceptual constructs are built and how they serve to shape ethics and power.

Kate Galloway is Assistant Professor in Ethnomusicology, Sound Studies, and Games at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She was previously on faculty at Wesleyan University and held the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Memorial University of Newfoundland's Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place (MMaP) and School of Music, funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2014-2016) and Adjunct Assistant Professor.