Jan Eliasson, Former Swedish Foreign Minister

Bush and Eliasson Note: this is a re-post of our original announcement, as we had to postpone Eliasson’s scheduled visit due to illness.

Jan Eliasson is a seasoned diplomat and a former Swedish Foreign Minister. He has been the President of the UN General Assembly, and served as UN:s first Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. During his tenure, he was involved in UN operations in Somalia, Sudan, Mocambique, and the Balkans; undertaking initiatives concerning landmines, conflict prevention and UN reform.

He will make an exposé over the human rights area and the creation of the UN Commission for Human Rights during his tenure as President of the UN General Assembly. The world community’s responsibility to protect civilians in war and other crisis will be highlighted. Eliasson will also tell us about his various missions as UN negotiator, the challenges for the UN to prevent war and conflict and to avoid human catastrophes.

New time: Monday, Oktober 12, 16:00
Location: HGO, lecture hall E31

Börje Ljunggren, former Swedish ambassador to China & Vietnam

Börje Ljunggren (foto: talarforum.se)
Börje Ljunggren (foto: talarforum.se)

The eight lecture in our series for Human Rights and Diversity in Serious Game is held by former Swedish ambassador Börje Ljunggren.

Börje‘s been our ambassador to both China (02-06) and Vietnam (94-97). He is currently the chair person of the China Forum and the SEB Asia Council and also on the board of the Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. He holds a Ph.D. in political science and is an associate of Harvard University Asia Center as well as the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. His latest book “China; the drama of time” was published in 2008.

China’s lack of respect for human rights is a challenge to the world. Will China’s integration into the world economy and the world community ultimately result in China becoming a democracy or will China remain an authoritarian state going it’s own way. How resiliant is Chinese authoritarianism?

Time: Friday, October 9 10:00-12:00
Location: HGO, lecture hall E31

CGA Workshop with Steven M. Ilous

Steven M. Ilous with 1st year of Computer Graphics & Animation 2009
Steven M. Ilous with 1st year of Computer Graphics & Animation 2009

The entire GAME-floor has been teeming with frantic, creative energy as producer and animator extraordinaire Steven M. Ilous led our first year Computer Graphics & Animation-students through a week long workshop.

The group of 30 or so students were divided into smaller teams of 6 and asked to produce – during five days – a short commercial or film either 15 or 30 seconds long. Steven led them through a gradual and iterative process, from the single line concept, to story board, to shooting new material, composing, mixing animation with existing footage and lastly rendering the entire effort.

It’s been an awesome journey – from zeros to heroes, in five days flat!

Update: some teams have posted their videos on youtube, checkit;

They’d Be Everywhere If We Didn’t Eat Them
The Safest
If – Is Your Home Insured?
Swine Flu The Movie

Ernest Adams: “Bad Game Designer, No Twinkie!”

Ernest Adams from the "Fundamental Game Dev." workshop earlier this year
Ernest Adams from the "Fundamental Game Dev." workshop earlier this year

For those of you who are new to the show: Ernest Adams is one of our many live-from-the-industry lecturers. He’s been in the game industry since 1989 and currently works as a free lance game designer, writer and teacher. You all ought to know the name; his Fundamentals of Game Design has been a staple in our game design courses for years. He’s written four books in total and he has developed online, computer, and console games for everything from the IBM 360 mainframe to the Nintendo Wii. Ernest is also the founder and first chairman of the International Game Developers’ Association and a popular speaker at conferences and arts festivals around the world.

And now; our man Ernest is back again for more lectures! 😀

On Monday he’s doing an exercise with the first-years, which will include a week worth of homework (due Friday that week). On Wednesday he’s giving a lecture based on the massively popularBad Game Designer, No Twinkie!“-columns. This is a lighthearted look at some common design errors in both current and older games, divided into bad conceptual design, bad game mechanics, bad user interface design, bad programming, bad level design, and bad content. This lecture will have a particular emphasis on physics and action games.

First year students
Time: Monday, October 5 09:00-12:00
Location: HGO, lecture hall B25/B27

Second year students
Time: Wednesday, October 7 09:00-12:00
Location: HGO, lecture hall E22

First year students
Time: Friday, October 9 09:00-12:00
Location: HGO, lecture hall B25/B27