From PAX East to Curry College: What's Next for Video Gaming?

Curry College will host a panel discussion on the future of video gaming just days before Boston's major PAX East video game conference. Topics will include video games and violence, women in the video gaming industry, the trends for future game development, and the historical and cultural impact of gaming on society.

The event will be held Wednesday night, March 20 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the Parents' Lounge on the Milton campus located at 1071 Blue Hill Avenue.

Panelists include:

	Mr. Hal Halpin, President of the Entertainment Consumers Association, the industry trade group for video gaming, and Curry College alumnus from the Class of 1992.
	Ms. Jen MacLean, former Chief Executive Officer of 38 Studios and an industry veteran of more than twenty years.
	Dr. Rob MacDougall, Professor of Communication at Curry College and the coordinator of the Video Games Studies concentration in the Communication major.
	Ms. Amy Kaufman, Artist at the Tap Lab in Cambridge, MA.
	The moderator of the discussion will be Jerry Gibbs, professor and chair of the Communication department.

"We are excited to have this top notch panel together at one event," said Professor Gibbs. "It is also great that we can preview PAX East, which will begin just two days later."

PAX East, one of the major gaming conferences, will bring more than 70,000 participants to Boston the weekend after the panel discussion.  It is one of the two largest conferences for video gaming in North America, according to the PAX East website.

Massachusetts is now home to more than 2000 industry jobs with a statewide payroll of more than $234 million, according to a survey published by MASSDigi.

Curry College launched two concentrations in the video gaming field this academic year:  a Video Games Studies concentration in the Communication major and a Video Games Programming concentration in the Information Technology major.

Those unable to come to the panel discussion will be able to watch a live video stream at www.curry.edu/stream and tweet questions to the panel with #currylive.   Door prizes at the panel discussion will include tickets to PAX East.

Ahead of the event, you can read what Amy Kaufman and Jen MacLean had to say about the role of women in the gaming industry in a January Boston Globe article.