Learn about projects from Game Lab faculty and students, recent and upcoming events, the DC gaming community and more on our blog.
Contact Us
Graduate Admissions
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States
Get to Know Us
Program Director Andrew Phelps is an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) expert with a wide-ranging background in game design, education, art and interactive experiences. He is co-founder and currently serves as president of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA) and he is also a professor at the Human Interface Technologies Laboratory NZ (HITLabNZ)within the College of Engineering at the University of Canterbury. With a team of impressive faculty, Phelps is leading AU's Game Lab to a superlative position in persuasive play and deep games.
Game Lab students are makers, working side-by-side with faculty on Game Studio projects and participate in the world's leading games events. Our graduate students have presented their work at GDC (Narrative Competition and Community Engagement Summit), SXSW (2017) and more. Studying in DC means that one day you swing by the White House for an e-sports event, the next you're helping to organize an 11,000 attendee event at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Faculty
Andrew Phelps Professor SOC - Game Lab
Phelps is a Professor in the Film & Media Arts division of the School of Communication at American University, and the Director of the AU Game Lab, a multidisciplinary effort that engages faculty, sta…
Krzysztof Pietroszek Assistant Professor SOC - School of Communication
Dr. Pietroszek is a tenure-track professor in the Film and Media Arts Division of the School of Communication. He is the Founding Director of the Institute for Immersive Designs, Experiences, Applica…
Benjamin Stokes Assistant Professor SOC - School of Communication
Benjamin Stokes is a civic media scholar, game designer, and director of The Playful City Lab. He is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication, and at the AU Game Lab. Previously, he …
Michael Treanor Associate Professor CAS - Computer Science
Associate Professor Mike Treanor is a game developer and theorist whose research is aimed at finding new approaches for interpretation and expression of meaning within videogames and computational med…
Profiled Students
Zaki Agraraharja
Zaki Agraraharja (Zak), is currently a M.A. in Game Design student at Game Lab, American University. He has worked as a game audio designer since 2011 and became a game producer in 2013 at Agate (agat…
Anthony Alcaro
Anthony is a Forensic Artist specializing in Photo-Based Composites and Image Alterations using Adobe Photoshop. He has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Fordham University and is current…
Hazel Arroyo Part Time Staff
Hazel is a graduate student studying Game Design. She graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, with a concentration in Physical Anthropology and Bioarchaeology, from The University a…
Mitchell Loewen Part Time Staff
Mitchell graduated from the MA in Game Design program in May 2020. He completed his Bachelor's of Knowledge Integration and Psychology, Joint Honours with a Collaborative Design Specialization in 2017…
Carrie Moskal Creative Services Manager KSB - Kogod School of Business
Carrie is a graphic designer with over 10 years of experience in both in-house and agency settings. Her skills include print design and production, illustration, and web design/development.
Nadya Primak
Nadya is a software engineer with experience in data visualization, user experience design, and front end development. She has made several games on her own before pursuing a certification, including …
Chuanguang Song
Chuanguang Song is an MA student in Game Design. She has also been working as a game designer and product designer specializing in storytelling. As a gamer, she has a strong interest in inter-discipli…
Jocelyn Wagner
Jocelyn Wagner is an MFA candidate in the Games and Interactive Media program. After studying English at U.C. Berkeley, they decided to pursue their interest in narrative writing for games. Jocelyn'…
Wentao Zhuo
Wentao is a graduate student studying Game Design. He graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting. To be an art student in the game design major, he possesses more skills about how to m…