Featured Faculty Friday-Josh Fishburn
Feb 22nd, 2013 by Ann Ricca
Week 5 of the semester is over and so far we’ve featured faculty from the Music Department and the Theatre/Dance Department. This week our Featured Faculty is from the Media Arts and Game Development (MAGD) program! So who’s our Featured Faculty member this Friday? Josh Fishburn! Read on to learn more about him.
Q: Where are you from?
A: I am originally from Crystal Lake, Illinois, which is just an hour or so south of Whitewater.
Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?
A: I teach primarily in the Media Arts and Game Development program. The subjects I’m most excited about are game design and creative coding. For my scholarly/creative work, I create and exhibit art videogames.
Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater?
A: The supportive nature of the campus. People are busy, but never so busy that they can’t make time for others. That seems inherent in the UWW culture.
Q: What are some of your hobbies?
A: I play videogames for fun but also enjoy time decompressing through yoga and hiking. I am usually at home, on campus, or at the SweetSpot.
Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
A: Teleportation. There’s so much I want to do and see in this life. It would be nice to be able to go anywhere at any time. Also it’s probably better for the environment than flying.
Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try?
A: Traveling internationally to a country I didn’t know much about at the time. I was scared, but it has allowed me to gain confidence traveling and working through unpredictable situations
Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?
A: Movie: Spirited Away stands above the rest. It’s the perfect combination of wonder and danger. These two books aren’t necessarily my favorite, but out of all the books I’ve read, they have stuck with me the most: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Q: What is your best advice for students?
A: Focus on building an essential, marketable skill while you’re here.
Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you?
A: When I was ten years old, my parents would not buy videogames for my siblings and I, so I went out and got a paper route to earn the money.
In addition to this, Fishburn also designed and programmed a game that was selected as an official selection for the FILE 8-Bit Game People Exhibition all the way down in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! Want to learn more about him? Check out his bio on the Communication Department website at http://academics.uww.edu/cac/communication/faculty/fishburn.html.
Thanks for being our Featured Faculty Friday of the week Josh Fishburn! Check back next week to see who the next faculty member will be!