Dr. Rolf F. Nohr is Professor for Media Aesthetics / Media Culture, University of Arts, Braunschweig and External Affiliate / College of Humanities, University of Arizona
Education
1999, M.A, Ruhr University Bochum. Film, Television and Theater Studies, Sociology and Philosophy. M. A. thesis: „Space – Modell – Map“
2001, Ph.D Ruhr University Bochum. Media Studies. Dissertation: “Maps in Television. The Production of Positioning”
Work Experience
1998-2002, Lecturer at the Institute of Film and Television Studies (Ruhr-University Bochum)
2000-2002 Lecturer for literature and film history at the Academy for Advertising and Media (Dortmund)
2001-2002 Research Assistant at the SFB 427: “Media and cultural communication” (University of Cologne)
2002-2008 Assistant Professor for Media Culture, University of Arts, Braunschweig
2009-present Professor for Media Aesthetics / Media Culture, University of Arts, Braunschweig
2015-present Regional Director of Learning Games Initiative Research Archive (LGIRA)
2018-present External Affiliate (Designated Campus Colleague ), College of Humanities / University of Arizona
English Publications
(2024): How to be acted upon by video games while (or without) losing the fun: The gaming world according to Davey Wreden. In: European Journal of American Culture 43 (2), S. 127–140.
(2023) (together with Irina Kaldrack): Preferable Futures. Lüneburg: meson press.
(2022): Instructional Devices. Teaching Machines, Serious Games and Subject Technologies. In: Digital Culture & Society 7 (1), S. 29–52.
(2021): The Labyrinth. Digital Games as Media of Decision-Making. In: Marc Bonner (Hrsg.): Game | World | Architectonics.
Transdisciplinary Approaches on Structures and Mechanics, Levels and Spaces, Aesthetics and Perception. Heidelberg. University Publishing, S. 133-149.
(2019): The Development of Decision Support Systems in the 1960s as Antecedent of “AI-Rationality”. In:
Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture. 10 (1), S. 67-90
(2019): Tetris – Rules. In: Matthew Thomas Payne / Nina B- Huntemann (ed.): How to play Video Games. New York: NUY Press, pp. 21-29
(2016): (together with Ken S. McAllister, Judd Ethan Ruggill, Tobias Conradi, Steven Conway, Jennifer deWinter, Chris Hanson, Carly A. Kocurek, Kevin A. Moberly, Randy Nichols, Marc A. Ouellette ): Apportioned Commodity. Fetishism and the Transformative Power of Game Studies. In: Keri Duncan Valentine / Lucas John Jensen (ed.): Examining the Evolution of Gaming and Its Impact on Social, Cultural, and Political Perspectives (Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology). ICI, pp. 95-122
(2015): »Now let’s continue testing«. Portal and the Rat in a Maze. In: Thomas Hensel / Britta Neitzel / Rolf F. Nohr (Hg.): »The cake is a lie!« Polyperspektivische Betrachtungen des Computerspiels am Beispiel von ›Portal‹. Münster: LIT, pp. 199-224
(2014) The game is a medium. The game is a message, in: Tobias Winnerling / Florian Kerschbaumer (ed.): Early Modernity and Video Games, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp.5-26
(2013) Restart after death. Self optimizing, normalism and re-entry in computer games, in: The Game Culture Reader, ed. by Marc Ouellette & Jason Thompson. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 56–83
(2012): The Booth as an ‘Other Space’. Medial Positionings. In: Julia Eckel, Bernd Leiendecker, Daniela Olek, Christine Piepiorka (eds.): (Dis)Orienting Media and Narrative Mazes. Bielefeld: transcript, pp. 35-53
(2012) War; Rules, in: Mark J. E. Wolf (Hg.) Encyclopedia of Video Games. The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming, Greenwood.
(2012) Free Market Economy and Dino Crisis: The Production and Circulation of Knowledge in Strategy Games, in: Johannes Fromme und Alexander Unger (Hg.): Computer Games and New Media Cultures. A Handbook of Digital Games Studies. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 125–142.
(2012) World Music, in: Jörg Brüggemann: Metalheads. The Global Brotherhood. Berlin: Gestalten, pp. 5-6
(2011) Business Games, Rationality and Control Logistics. Proceedings of DiGRA 2011 Conference: Think Design Play (online)
(2010) Strategy Computer Games and Discourses of Geopolitical Order, in: Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture, Jg. 4, H. 2, pp. 1–3. (Online: http://www.eludamos.org.)
(2010) The Naturalization of Knowledge. Games Between Common Sense and Specialized Knowledge, in: Stephan Günzel/ Michael Liebe/ Dieter Mersch (Hg.): Logic and Structure of the Computer Game. Potsdam: University Press, pp. 130–145. (online)
(2007) Wargames; Tron; The Truman Show, In: Friedrich v. Borries / Steffen P. Walz / Matthias Böttger (Hg.): Space Time Play. Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The next Level. Basel / Boston / Berlin: Birkhäuser, pp. 140f; 414f; 470f
Talks and lectures
23.2. 2023: „I am Valorant“ – Valorant as an entelechy. Jahrestagung der SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
20.2.2020 „The Labyrinth. Games as media of decision“, SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
8.3.2019 „TheLabyrinth“. Workshop Architectonics of Game Worlds – On Aesthetics and Mechanics Spaces and Places, Köln
17.2.2019 „From teaching machines to gamification“, SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
21.9.2018 „‚At best we live in a world of uncertain future. The aim of science has always been towards lessening this uncertainty‘. Business Simulations in the 1960th and the war against uncertainness“. Digital Cultures: Knowledge|Culture|Technology, Lüneburg
17.2.2018 „From teaching machines to gamification“, SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
18.2.2017 „From Playing Field to Gameplay – Globall Coach, Player Passport and the Regimes of Measurement“, SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
13.2.2016 „The Birth of Business Simulations in Albuquerque (1956)“, SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
23.2.2015 Push the button! Or: “…a series of interesting choices”. SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM
7.7.2014 Keynote Lecture: The Braunschweiger Kriegsspiel, International Simualtion & Gaming Society Conference, Dornbirn (Aus) (online)
15.3.2014 Playing business: strategic computer games in management education (with Jan-Otmar Hesse), Annual Meeting of the Business History Society, Frankfurt/ Main
24.2.2014 Games and the Quantification of the Self. International Symposium on the Play of Information, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
22.2.2014 »Now let’s continue testing«. Portal and the Rat in a Maze. Panel „Controller. Case Studies of Gaming as Cultural Technique between Protocol, Steering, and Policy“, SWPACA, Albuquerqe, NM.
21.6.2013: Business Games, Rationality and Control Logistics. The History of Games International Conference| How They Got Game, UQAM Montréal
16.2.2013 Modells of the World. The Logic of Rationality in Early Business Games and Economic Theory. Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, 34th Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM
26.5.2012: Rationality and Control Logistics. Business Games between Economy, Computer Sciences and Mediality. »Clash of Realities«. 4th International Computer Game Conference, Köln
14.9.2011: Business Games, Rationality and Control Logistics. DIGRA, Utrecht
3.5.2011: Business Game for Total Life Cycle Management. The 18th CIRP International Conference on life Cycle Engineering (LCE 2011), Braunschweig
20.4.2011: Business Games, Rationality and Control Logistics. SWTX PCA/ACA, San Antonio, TX
12.2.2010: Strategy Computer Games and Discourses of Geopolitical Order. SWTX PCA/ACA, Albuquerqe
6.11.2009: Invisible structures of fluid knowledge. Games as cultural techniques between common sense and specialized knowledge. »Logik und Struktur des Computerspiels«. DIGAREC, Universität Potsdam
28. 2. 2009: From Zoo Tycoon to Age of Empires: Video Games as Interdiscourse. SWTX PCA/ACA, Albuquerqe
8. 9.2003: ›One Dime – one minute – one picture. Reflections on Photoboothes as media technologiers‹. »Visual Knowledge«, University of Edinburgh (online)
19.8.2003: The Future of Games. »German Developer Conference« / Games Connvention, Leipzig
12.4.2003 : (with Ralf Adelmann) Video, televised revolution, Red Army Fraction and media (hi)stories. »RAF’s Germany: Terrorism, Politics, Protest«. Harvard University