Stephen Jacobs
Professor
School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
Stephen Jacobs
Professor
School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
Education
BA, MA, New School for Social Research
Areas of Expertise
Consumer electronics
Hardware
Software
DVDs
Digital television
Video game design and development
Open Source Software development
Game Design and Development
Currently Teaching
IGME-590
Undergraduate Seminar in IGM
3 Credits
This is intended to allow for special one-time offerings of undergraduate topics or to allow faculty to pilot new undergraduate offerings. Specific course details (such as the course topics, format, resource needs, and credit hours) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a given special-topics offering.
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-599
Independent Study
1 - 6 Credits
The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty advisor on a topic not covered in other courses.
DDDD-599
3D Digital Design Independent Study
1 - 6 Credits
3D Digital Design Independent Study will provide students with the ability to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. Students, with the assistance of a faculty advisor will propose a course of study. 3D Digital Design independent study students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll.
In the News
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April 8, 2020
![professor using sign language in front of projected presentation.]()
RIT/NTID wins coveted prize to create accessible books as part of global reading initiative
NTID is one of four international innovators selected to create cost-effective packages of high-quality accessible children’s books in languages children use and understand to serve regions of the world where children have few or no books for preschool or kindergarten.
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January 15, 2020
![student playing cardboard prototype of a pinball machine.]()
RIT students create pinball machines for History and Design of Pinball course
As part of an interactive games and media course, 12 RIT students made cardboard and digital pinball machines designed around themes of their own choosing. For the final exam, students brought their creations to The Strong National Museum of Play and had visitors give their physical and virtual pinball machines a test drive.
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July 31, 2019
![Four students play Nintendo.]()
Summer abroad trip allows students to explore German video game industry
The two-week trip through the German cities of Paderborn and Frankfurt was the culmination of a spring semester course that introduced students to game design and development in Germany. For the study abroad program, students participated in an extended game jam with German students, sat in on a class about artificial intelligence in the games industry and toured three game studios.
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.