I was excited to see that my former academic home base, the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University in Bloomington, is searching for a faculty hire in game studies. Here’s the job description:

Assistant Professor in Digital Media Studies

 

The Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in digital media studies to begin Fall 2008. We seek an individual with expertise in critical approaches to digital media to join an innovative, interdisciplinary program that includes media studies, ethnography and performance studies, and rhetoric and public culture. While we invite candidates from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, we encourage applicants involved in research on the cultural, political, and communicative aspects of online games and in the broader field of digital game studies. Research may involve the formal qualities of digital games, their social and political dimensions, as well as questions of genre, narrative, and history. Applicants should be prepared to discuss the role that digital media play in shaping perceptions of history and culture, in forging individual and collective identities, and in mediating social change. Applicants are expected to have a strong research agenda and a commitment to excellence in teaching. Preference will be given to candidates who have their Ph.D. in hand by the date of appointment. Applicants should send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, writing sample, and three letters of recommendation. Review of applications will begin on November 16, 2007. Address applications to: Christopher Anderson, Chair, Digital Media Studies Search, Department of Communication and Culture, 800 East Third St., Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405.

This is great news, not just because Bloomington’s a wonderful town (I lived there for six years), but because CMCL is a fantastic department, full of energetic and friendly scholars at both the graduate and faculty level. In recent years they’ve hired several young and exciting academics, including Phaedra Pezzullo, Ted Striphas, Mary L. Gray, and Josh Malitsky, all of whom do imaginative, politically engaged, boundary-crossing research. Meanwhile, the department has drawn M.A. and Ph.D. students in ever greater numbers who are planted firmly in the fast lane of digital and new media studies. Perhaps the best thing about CMCL, though, is that it also honors the disciplines of traditional film and media studies as well as rhetoric and pedagogy, making for a truly rich and interdisciplinary environment. I recommend the job, the department, the university, and the town to all interested applicants.