Judith Pintar is Teaching Professor at the iSchool and Director of Game Studies & Design & Faculty Affiliate at the EU Center. 

What is the focus of your current work and/or subject of your current research?
I study propaganda, persuasion, and suggestibility, and have a regional interest in south-eastern and central Europe. I have ongoing research and design interests in gameful pedagogy, including role-play, and game design as a classroom activity.

What classes do you teach? What are some of the topics of those classes?
I currently teach Introduction to Information Sciences, the Design and Programming of Interactive Narrative, and a Graduate Seminar in Game Studies.

Do you have any recent awards, honors, or publications that you would like to highlight?
My most recent publication is Pintar, J. & L. Bievenue. 2024. Playful by Design: A third space community of practice for game studies & design. International Journal of Games and Social Impact. 2(1), 8-27. Recently received notice that Game Studies proposal was selected to receive the Illinois Global Institute New Approaches to International Area and Global Studies grant. The project, "Extending Capacities of Area and Global Studies to Shape the Future of Emerging Technologies," seeks to build the capacity of global and area studies units on campus to engage critically and creatively with interactive, immersive, and AI-generative technologies.

What is a book (academic or non-academic, in or outside your field) that you think should be more widely read?
C.J. Cherryh's Cyteen trilogy, science fiction novels that were ahead of their time in exploring the potentials and limits of AI.

Is there any additional information or advice you'd like to share?
Never played a narrative game? Check out Escape. Also, to check out my current work on a new project to prepare global and area studies units for emerging technologies, see here.