Jessica Hammer

Biography

Jessica Hammer is a PhD candidate in cognitive studies at Columbia University. She is a member of the Teachers College EGGPLANT Game Research Laboratory, and of the Creativity, Cognition and Learning research group. Her larger research interests include creativity, learning, collaboration, stories, games, and communities. She has presented her work at many professional meetings such as AERA, SGS, GLS, NRC and other venues both in the US and internationally.

Jessica created the game design course sequence at Teachers College through CCTE, the program in Communications, Computing and Technology in Education. Her students have gone on to design a wide variety of games, including award-winners in the Robert Johnson Wood Foundation Health Games Research program, the Global Game Jam and the Hidden Agenda serious games contest.

Before joining the department, Jessica worked as a consultant and game designer, with an emphasis on serious games and social software. She received a masters degree in interactive telecommunications from NYU and her BA in computer science from Harvard University. In her free time, she runs an experimental storytelling group in New York City.