Free Austin College talk on games and education set for Wednesday, Oct. 21, with a former Microsoft program manager

An Austin College computer scientist who spent time at Microsoft before he started teaching will give a free public talk next week on how games and learning fit together.

Aaron Block, who chairs the college's Mathematics and Computer Science Department and is an associate professor of computer science, will present "Games and Education" on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Sherman campus. The evening starts with a reception at 4:30 p.m., and the talk begins at 5 p.m. in Mabee Hall inside the Wright Campus Center.

Admission is free and the public is welcome. The college's announcement says no registration is needed.

About the speaker

Block earned his bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Haverford College, then his master's and doctorate in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a program manager at Microsoft before joining the Austin College faculty in 2009, according to the announcement.

The announcement does not describe what the lecture will cover beyond its title.

The series behind it

The talk is part of the Bernice S. Melvin Sabbatical Lecture Series, which features Austin College faculty. It is sponsored by the Robert and Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, which puts on events with faculty members and guest speakers through the year.

The series is named for Bernice Melvin, a professor emerita of French who taught at the college from 1980 until she retired in 2015. Over that time she served as a department chair, as dean of Humanities and as director of the Johnson Center, and the college credits her with championing faculty research and independence.

Sources

ntxe-news.com

heralddemocrat.com

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