Dr Paul Wake and Dr Chloe Germaine
Dr Paul Wake, Reader in the Department of English and Dr Chloe Germaine, Senior Lecturer in the Department of English
Dr Paul Wake is a Reader in the Department of English and a general editor, with Andrew Biswell, of The Irwell Edition of the Works of Anthony Burgess. His research interests include games (analogue and digital), narrative theory and historiography.
Dr Chloe Germaine is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and a member of the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies.
Both Dr Paul Wake and Dr Chloe Germaine are the Co-Directors of the Manchester Game Centre, a university-wide research group that includes both academics and postgraduate students who study and make digital and analogue games. This is a highly interdisciplinary research group that aims to bring together academics and students from across faculties to work on projects that address urgent societal issues.
We aim to bring together academics and students to work on projects addressing urgent societal issues.
What are the themes of your current research projects?
Our research specialisms lie within the Manchester Game Centre, focussing on areas including:
· The study of games and society
- The study of games as cultural texts and products
- Creative game making
- The relationship between games and history
- Games and architecture
- Games and climate change action.
Our current work focuses on analogue (eg tabletop and board) games and climate change, with our latest project ‘Play and the Environment’ using participatory methods to investigate how board games can support young people’s understanding of the climate crisis. We also research the ways in which games mobilise individual or collective action.
Other centre members who teach on the university’s postgraduate degrees in the faculty, include:
- Dr Rob Gallagher(Department of English), whose work explores how digital games reflect and shape popular understandings of identity, embodiment and subjectivity
- DrGabriele Aroni(School of Digital Arts), whose research is situated at the intersection of architecture, game studies, and cultural heritage
- Dr Tom Brock(Department of Sociology), who writes about e-sports, failure, player labour and digital games consumption
- Dr Jennifer Cromwell(Department of History), who researches Ancient Egypt in video games.
Our current work focuses on analogue games and climate change to investigate how board games can support young people’s understanding of the climate crisis.
How do your projects relate to postgraduate study?
The Manchester Game Centrecurrently run two postgraduate taught units related to its research: ‘Games, Play and Culture’ (MA English Studies) and ‘Remaking Games: Creativity, Play and Communication’ (MA Creative Writing).
‘Games, Play and Culture’ provides an overview of the key concepts of game studies, bridging theory and practice and combining critical approaches from design, literary theory, genre theory, sociology and psychology. Students analyse the meaning and form of games and explore the societal and cultural framing of games. The unit explores current research by Dr Paul Wake, Dr Chloe Germaine and Dr Rob Gallagher on environmental games, games and storytelling, and games and subjectivity.
‘Remaking Games: Creativity, Play and Communication’ teaches making games as a methodology that combines creative and critical thinking with public engagement and impact at the point of research. For creative writers, the unit helps students develop new ways to explore narrative and storytelling. It also helps them develop new communication skills as part of the research process, creating games to share with each other and wider audiences as a way of engaging the public with their research and writing.
Can students get involved?
Yes – we welcome students at all Manchester Game Centre public events, talks and workshops. See our events page for more information. Students are encouraged to take part in live research projects, such as working with us to develop the ecogame ludography. Those who take our ‘Remaking Games’ postgraduate taught unit can also showcase and playtest their original game creations at the Manchester Game Centre showcase. Students are also invited to take part in our annual symposium and game jam – Multiplatform.