Stephen Jacobs Headshot

Stephen Jacobs

Professor

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
sj@magic.rit.edu

Stephen Jacobs

Professor

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Education

BA, MA, New School for Social Research

sj@magic.rit.edu
Areas of Expertise
Consumer electronics
Hardware
Software
DVDs
Digital television
Open Source Software development
Game Design and Development

Select Scholarship

Full Patent
Sugarman, Laurence I., Brian L. Garrison, and Stephen Jacobs. "System and Method for Feedback of Dynamically Weighted Values." U.S. Patent 10,085,690. 2 Oct. 2018.
Invited Paper
Jacobs, Stephen. "The Shivah: Kosher Edition. A Review." Gamevironments 7. (2017). Web.
Published Game, Application or Software
Jacobs, Stephen. Mordechai Marches to Manchuria. Software. RIT MAGIC Center. 2017.
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Jacobs, Stephen and Walter Bender. "Education Program Roundtable." PyCon 2013. PyCon. Santa Clara, CA. 14 Mar. 2013. Conference Presentation.
Rice, Robert, Stephen Jacobs, and Laurence Sugarman. "Creating Mindgamers." Games for Health Europe. Games for Health Europe. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, NL. 5 Nov. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Jacobs, Stephen, Christopher Casscioli, and MIchael Soupios. "Gaming the Campus." Meaningful Play. Meaningful Play. East Lansing, MI. 20 Oct. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Phelps, Andrew and Stephen Jacobs. "Just Press Play: A Unified Game Layer for Education." New Media Consortium Summer Conference. New Media Consortium. Boston, MA. 14 Jun. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Salcito, Anthony, Stephen Jacobs, and Lisa Perez. "Interactive Gaming and Student Achievement." SXSW EDU. SXSW. Austin, TX. 12 Mar. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Schull, Jon, Stephen Jacobs, and Carl Lundgren. "Bootstrapping Innovation Partnerships Between the Ivory Tower and Industry." ASEE Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration 2012. ASEE. Orlando, FL. 1 Feb. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Schull, Jon, et al. "The Sustainable University." Open 2012. NCIIA. San Francisco, CA. 22 Mar. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Vullo, Ron, Stephen Jacobs, and Kristine Vullo. "Quit for Life: The Video Game." American Medical Informatics Association 2012 Annual Symposium. American Medical Informatics Association. Chicago, Il. 3 Nov. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Jacobs, Stephen, Carl Lawrence, and Gabe Zichermann. "Gamification for Community Engagement and Volunteer Recruitmen." Grassroots Game Conference. Philadelphia Game Lab. Philadelphia, PA. 24 Apr. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Jacobs, Stephen. "Video Games as Texts and Technologies." Texts and Technologies Lecture Series. University of Central Florida. Orlando, FL. 23 Jan. 2012. Guest Lecture.
Jacobs, Stephen. "Games Education in the USA and @ RIT." Gameslab Opening Ceremonies. University of Paderborn. University of Paderborn, Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. 4 Jul. 2011. Keynote Speech.
Jacobs, Stephen. "Panel Presentation." Game Narrative Panel Session. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. 18 Nov. 2011. Guest Lecture.
Published Conference Proceedings
Jacobs, Stephen, Robert Rice, and Laurence Sugarman. "Creating MindGamersTM: Building Communication, Design and Development Process with Clinicians, Game Faculty and Students." Proceedings of the Meaningful Play, October 18-20, 2012, East Lansing MIchigan. Ed. Brian Winn. East Lansing, MI: DiGRA, 2012. Web.
Jacobs, Stephen, C. Kussmaul, and M. Sabin. "Free and Open Source Software in Computing Education." Proceedings of the ACM SIGITE 2011. Ed. Bryan Goda, Edward Sobiesk, and Randy Connolly. West Point, NY: ACM, 2011. Web.
Jacobs, Stephen. "Work in Progress - Games For Life Workshop: Outreach To Middle and High School Age Girl Scouts." Proceedings of the IEEE Frontiers in Education. Ed. Jennifer Karlin et al. Rapid CIty, SD: IEEE, 2011. Web.
Jacobs, Stephen, et al. "Student Experiences in a Summer Fellows Program in RIT's Center for Student Innovation." Proceedings of the NCIIA Open 2011. Ed. Tim Binkert. Washington DC: NCIIA, 2011. Web.
Jacobs, Stephen, Jon Schull, and Carl Lundgren. "Employing Experiential Learning Through Industrial Collaboration." Proceedings of the ASEE Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration. Ed. Linda Krute, et al. San Antonio, TX: ASEE CIEC, 2011. Web.
Jacobs, Stephen and Jorg Muller-Lietzkow. "Serious Games - Theory and Reality." Proceedings of the GameDays //2011 2te Internationale Konferenz zu Serious Gaming und 7ter Science meets Business Kongress. Ed. Stefan Gobel and Josef Wiemeyer. GAMEDAYS, 2011. Web.
Jacobs, Stephen, et al. "Hey we invented this. What do we do now?" Proceedings of the 11th Annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching. Ed. Todd Zakrajsek. Bethesda, MD: ITLC, 2011. Web.
Book Chapter
Barnes, Susan and Stephen Jacobs. "Chapter 4: Structure of Networking Communities." Socializing the Classroom: Social Networks and Online Learning. Pittsburgh, PA: Lexington Books, 2012. 35-53. Print.
Jacobs, Stephen. "The Neverhood." Well Played 3.0. Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press, 2012. 41-50. Print.
Jacobs, Stephen. "The Neverhood." Well Played 3.0. Ed. Drew Davidson. Pittsburg, PA: ETC Press, 2011. 42-50. Print.
Journal Editor
Jacobs, Stephen, ed. Journal of Game Design and Development Education. Rochester, NY: RIT Scholarly Press, 2011. Print.

Currently Teaching

IGME-110
Introduction to Interactive Media
3 Credits
This course provides an overview of media in historical, current and future contexts. Incorporating lectures and discussion with hands on work involving written and interactive media assets, students examine the role of written and visual media from theoretical as well as practical perspectives. The course also provides an introduction to interactive media development techniques, including digital media components and delivery environments. Students will be required to write formal analysis and critique papers along with digital modes of writing including collaborative editing and effective presentation design.
IGME-799
Independent Study
1 - 6 Credits
The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty adviser on a topic not covered in other courses.
IGME-582
Humanitarian Free & Open Source Software Development
3 Credits
This course provides students with exposure to the design, creation and production of Open Source Software projects. Students will be introduced to the historic intersections of technology and intellectual property rights and will become familiar with Open Source development processes, tools and practices. They will become contributing members of humanitarian software, game and interactive media development communities. Students will actively document their efforts on Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software community hubs.
IGME-220
Game Design & Development I
3 Credits
This course examines the core process of game design, from ideation and structured brainstorming in an entertainment technology context through the examination of industry standard processes and techniques for documenting and managing the design process. This course specifically examines techniques for assessing and quantifying the validity of a given design, for managing innovation and creativity in a game development-specific context, and for world and character design. Specific emphasis is placed on both the examination and deconstruction of historical successes and failures, along with presentation of ethical and cultural issues related to the design and development of interactive software and the role of individuals in a team-oriented design methodology. Students in this class are expected to actively participate and engage in the culture of design and critique as it relates to the field.
ISTE-799
Independent Study
3 Credits
The student will work independently, under the supervision of one or more faculty advisers, on a topic of mutual interest that is beyond the depth of or not covered in other courses.

In the News

  • February 26, 2021

    deaf children in the Philippines using laptop computers.

    RIT/NTID’s ‘World Around You’ platform chosen for Inclusive Education award

    World Around You, a multilingual platform created by a team at NTID, was selected as the winner of the Inclusive Education award by the mEducation Alliance. The goal of World Around You, or WAY, is to increase global literacy for deaf children by providing greater access to sign languages, early-grade reading materials, vocabulary, reading instruction, and digital games.  

  • November 13, 2020

    logo for Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

    Open@RIT receives Sloan Foundation grant to support open work across the university

    RIT’s open programs office has received a nearly $500,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to measure and strengthen support of the faculty and staff who do work in the open community, including open source software, open data, open hardware, open educational resources, Creative Commons licensed work, open research, and other open work.

  • October 27, 2020

    several patriotic "I Voted" stickers.

    Election Day Hackathon encourages people to use open technology for civic engagement

    As the 2020 election results come in Nov. 3, civic hackers at RIT want to remind people about the power of technology and how it can be used for good. At RIT’s Election Day Hackathon, students, faculty, staff, and community members will analyze civic problems in the local community, state, and country and propose projects to address them.

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