Michael W. Merriam

University of Central Florida

Instructor • 2023 - Present

Created material, designed and/or updated modules, and taught courses Introduction to Digital Media and Game Design Portfolio Development

Comets and Cockpits

Guest Writer • 2022

Created material for a TTRPG module, centered around an original creature with unique behavior, backstory, and lore

Full Sail University

Course Director (Writing for Games, Script Analysis and Criticism) • Dec, 2018 — Jun, 2022

Designed and delivered course materials for undergraduate and graduate students that aligned with curriculum requirements. Leveraged multimedia tools to simulate collaborative writers' room experiences in online environments, enhancing student engagement. Re-focused all creative writing assignments and assessments toward industry skills acquisition. Prepared curriculum maps, and organized trainings on the preparation of curriculum maps for all faculty of the Creative Writing MFA program. Gained extensive knowledge of ACCSC accreditation standards through direct involvement in the accreditation process. Applied best practices in curriculum development and assessment to meet and exceed academic benchmarks. Adapted teaching methods and course materials in response to evolving accreditation requirements, demonstrating flexibility and a commitment to educational excellence.

• Created a modular, synchronous online Writing for Games course that taught game design skills through collaborative writing (for the Creative Writing MFA program)
• Re-designed and taught the MFA Creative Writing course in Script Analysis & Criticism
• Taught MFA courses in Visual Storytelling and Character Creation & Development
• Taught BFA courses in Science Fiction and Children's Entertainment

Radio Theater Project

Writer • 2018

Adapted works of literature into radio scripts for national syndication, including Timon of Athens and The Diary of Lady Murasaki.

Columbia University in the City of New York

Master of Arts, Medieval/Renaissance Studies • 2015

Worked with the original manuscripts of juvenalia belonging to the Brontë siblings

Bachelor of Arts, Archaeology, English and Comparative Literature • 2010 — 2014

• Summa cum Laude

Directed adaptations of literature for the university radio station

Game Balance and Classroom Fairness (Poster Session)

Author / Designer • October 2023

SIGDOC (Special Interest Group on Design of Communication) interactive poster session diagramming the potential of game balance (in the field of design) to provide new conceptual models of 'fairness' in the classroom

Metattendance - Social Deduction Games as Models for Asymmetrical Policies in a Post-Attendance World

Author / Presenter • January 2024

CFA Games Conference, University of Kentucky. The paper focused on using the asymmetrical rules for player roles in social deduction games as models for asymmetrical attendance policies, and for methods of including antagonistic students without needing to change their behavior or attitude.

Checkmate or Chat-Bot? Leveraging AI to Gamify Classroom Learning

Author • March 2024

NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association) conference paper on ludic curriculum design using AI to create egregoric NPCs of student groups, and incorporating narrative for enhanced student engagement.

Risk and Re-word - Board Game Themes as Encrypted Cognitive Tools

Author / Presenter • March 2024

NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association) seminar developing the concept of 'ludoception' to describe a cognitive faculty honed by games, linking thematic elements with game mechanics to enhance understanding of real-world systems and social rules.

The Scales of Gamification

Author / Presenter • June 2024

Virtual-Based Games in Education Conference, synchronous online presentation about incorporating real-world inequalities into the design of gamified modules.

Educational Technology Integration

Integrating cutting-edge educational technology reshapes the classroom experience, leveraging tools that resonate with a digital-native audience, while meeting or exceeding the needs of non-student stakeholders.

Immersive Space Design

Escape rooms, theatrical experiences, and experience working in film and television art departments

Game Writing

Narrative Design and Narrative Direction, including methods for influencing technical departments through plain language documentation

Profile in the New Yorker magazine (Talk of the Town)

The New Yorker • 2008

My work as editor of 'the first magazine for the iPhone' and with digital fashion photography written up in a September issue of the New Yorker magazine. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/09/29/dial-a-mag

• VIRTUAL CONFERENCE PRESENTATION - Branch vs. Root, a talk on the best use of skill trees (rather than merit badges) in gamified curricula
• PUBLICATION - Interview with Fairy Tale expert Jack Zipes in World Literature Today
• PUBLICATION - Interview with Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours and The Snow Queen, LA Review of Books
• PUBLICATION - Article on Haitian Literature as a model for World Literature, and an interview with Haitian author Franketienné
• My Escape Room blog (written with Paul S. Nowak), Partly Wicked
• PUBLICATION - This is Not a Brothel, article in n+1 about escorts in Washington DC
• Guest spot on the literary podcast Drunken Odyssey, discussing the video game Doom and its mod entitled 'Myhouse.wad' as works of literature
• As above, discussing the film and graphic novel 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'
• Peer Gynt (for which I was the script writer) as broadcast on national radio in 2018
• King John (short film) screened at the Shakespeare Birthplace 2013