Michael YOUNG

Michael Young is Professor and Chair of the Division of Games, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Computing and an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT, where he also directs the Liquid Narrative research group. His work at in the Division of Games seeks to advance Utah Games' top-rated educational efforts in games and build on Utah Games' strengths to establish the program as a leader in games scholarship. Together with his students and research staff, his work in the Liquid Narrative group focuses on the development of computational models of interactive narrative with applications to computer games, educational and training systems and virtual environments. His work is grounded in computational approaches, but seeks to cross disciplinary boundaries, involving collaborators and concepts from cognitive psychology, linguistics, narrative theory, cinematography and other fields where human cognition and interaction are central. He is also involved in a number of inter-disciplinary activities and committees at the Division, College and University level. He is actively engaged in leadership activities with academic and scientific organizations worldwide and with games industry professional and trade organizations at the national, state and local levels.