CV (abridged): Dr. Karen Collins

(I can be reached at: Dr. Karen Collins / Canadian Centre of Arts and Technology / University of Waterloo / 200 University Ave W. / Waterloo, ON / N2L 3G1 / (519) 888-4567 ex. 38326 / collinsk (at) uwaterloo [dot] ca

CURRENT POSITION

Canada Research Chair in Technology and Communication, Canadian Centre of Arts and Technology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.

EDUCATION

2002. Ph.D. Music. University of Liverpool. Liverpool, U.K. “The Future Is Happening Already”: Industrial Music, Dystopia, and the Aesthetic of the Machine”. Institute of Popular Music, School of Music, University of Liverpool.

1997. Bachelor of Arts (Honours Fine Arts). University of Waterloo. Waterloo, ON, Canada.

PROFESSIONAL HONOURS, FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS:

2008 “The Psychic Psychologist”: Developing Games for Distributed Classification of Audio Content” SSHRC Image, Text, Sound and Technology Grant. Principle Investigator. $30 000.

2007 "Real-Time Automatic Composition for Interactive Media: The Next Generation of Audio Software" Canadian Foundation for Innovation Research Infrastructure Grant, $109,548. Principle Investigator.

2007 "Real-Time Automatic Composition for Interactive Media: The Next Generation of Audio Software" Ontario Research Fund--Infrastructure Fund $109,548. Principle Investigator. Matching funds for CFI grant, above.

2007 Canada Research Chair (Tier II) $100,000 x 5 years.

2005-2007 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Post-Doctoral Fellowship held at the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Arts and Culture, Carleton University, Ottawa. Academic Supervisor: Paul Théberge. Total about $80,000.

1999-2002 Canada Special Opportunities Research Grant for PhD research, from Human Resources Development Canada: Canada Student Loans Program. $9,000.

2001 Postgraduate Travel Grant—Conference fees and travel to Canada, granted by the Faculty of Music, University of Liverpool. £450

PUBLICATIONS

Books:

2008. Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory and Practice of Video Game Music and Audio (Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press).

2008. (Ed.) From Pac Man to Pop Music: Interactive Audio in Games and New Media (Aldershot, UK Ashgate).

Journal Articles:

2008. “Grand Theft Audio?: Video Games and Licensed IP”. Music and the Moving Image, Vol 1/1, (University of Illinois Press). http://mmi.press.uiuc.edu/1.1/collins.html

2007. “Video Games Killed the Cinema Star” Music, Sound and the Moving Image (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press). Vol 1/1.

2007. “In the Loop: Confinements and Creativity in 8-Bit Video Games Music”. Twentieth Century Music 4/2, 209-227.

2006. “Flat Twos and the Musical Aesthetic of the Atari VCS.” Popular Musicology Online, Issue 1: Musicological Critiques. http://www.popular-musicology-online.com/

2006. “Loops and Bloops: Music on the Commodore 64.” Soundscapes: Journal of Media Culture. Volume 8: February 2006. http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/

2005. “Dead Channel Surfing: Commonalities between Industrial Music and Cyberpunk Literature” Popular Music. Cambridge University Press (UK). Vol. 24, #2. pp. 165-178

2004. “From Bits to Hits: Video Games Music Changes its Tune”. Film International, #12. pp. 4-19.

2003. (with Philip Tagg) ‘Industrialna estetyka dźwiękowa (rekonstrukcja pejzaży dźwiękowych przeszłości z perspektywy współczesnej alienacji i przyszłej dystopii)’. Gościniec Sztuki. Vol 1/8 Issue VII, pp. 34-47. Translation into Polish of 2001 article—translation by Andrzej Dorobek.

2003. ‘I’ll be back: Recurrent Sonic Motifs in the Terminator Films’. Off the Planet: Music, Sound and Sci-Fi Cinema. (Ed. Philip Hayward. London: John Libbey Press), pp.165-175.

2001. (with Philip Tagg) ‘The Sonic Aesthetics of the Industrial: Re-Constructing Yesterday’s Soundscape for Today’s Alienation and Tomorrow’s Dystopia’ Sound Practice UK: UK/Ireland Soundscape Community, editor John Drever. pp. 101-108.

Book Chapters:

2008. “Like Razors through Flesh: The Sonic Aesthetic of Hell in the Hellraiser Films.” Terror Tracks (Eds. Philip Hayward and Rebecca Leydon, USA: Equinox Press). (Accepted: September 2008).

2008. “Introduction” From Pac Man to Pop Music: Interactive Audio in Games and New Media, (ed. Karen Collins) Ashgate Publishing, pp. 1-12.

2007. “An Introduction to the Participatory and Non-Linear Aspects of Video Games Audio.” Eds. Stan Hawkins and John Richardson. Essays on Sound and Vision. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. pp. 263-298

2003. ‘I’ll be back: Recurrent Sonic Motifs in the Terminator Films’. Off the Planet: Music, Sound and Sci-Fi Cinema. (Ed. Philip Hayward. London: John Libbey Press), pp.165-175.

Encyclopedia Entries, Book Reviews and Other

2008. Entry on video games audio, Encyclopaedia of Popular Music of the World, Part III: Genres. Ongoing project funded by Cassell, The British Academy, and the P.H. Holt Trust, published through Continuum (London), ed. Shephard, J. New York

2008. Audio Artificial Intelligence report, with Charles Robinson (Dolby), Jocelyn Daoust (Ubisoft), Nicholas Duveau (Ubisoft), Guy Whitmore (Microsoft), Tracy Bush (NC Soft), Simon Ashby (Audio Kinetic), Jennifer Lewis (Relic) and Tom White (MIDI Manufacturer’s Association), report on state of adaptive audio in video games, and a proposal for an adaptive audio artificial intelligence engine.

2008. Reviews of “Complete Guide to Film Scoring: The Art and Business of Writing Music for Movies and TV” by Richard Davis and “Music for New Media: Composing for Videogames, Web Sites, Presentations and other Interactive Media” by Paul Hoffert, for Music, Sound and Moving Image

2006. (With Jayson Greene) interview about game audio for Symphony magazine, the official publication of the American Symphony Orchestra League. July 2006 issue.

2006-8. Interactive Audio Special Interest Group: Education Working Group member, writing a Wiki web site on game audio for developers, composers and sound designers, as well as creating a page for academics and working professionals to connect.

2005. Review of “Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip Hop” by Joseph G. Schloss. Wesleyan University Press. RPM: Review of Popular Music (Newsletter of IASPM: The International Association for the Study of Popular Music).

INVITED LECTURES

2008. Invited lecture on game audio to Silicon Knights (ON).

2008. Invited two-hour lecture on game audio to Game Design program at Algonquin College (Ottawa).

2008. Invited two-hour lecture on post-production game audio at Fanshawe College, (London, ON) to Audio Post-Production program.

2007. Cognos Innovation Lecture, Sponsored public lecture, Ottawa, ON.

2007. Invited three-hour lecture on Games Audio, Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal.

2007. Invited two-hour workshop with PhD students on dissertation writing, Carleton University, Ottawa.

2006. Invited three-hour lecture on Games Audio, Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal.

2004. Invited three-hour lecture on Games Audio, Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal.

2003. Invited three-hour lecture on Games Audio, Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal.

2002. Invited two-hour lecture on music semiotics to postgraduate class, City University, London, UK.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

2008. “Cover Songs in 8-Bit Game Audio” Conference paper for the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Canadian Branch, St. Catherines, Ontario.

2007. “Grand Theft Audio? Licensed IP and Video Games” Conference paper for International Association for the Study of Popular Music Conference, Mexico City.

2004. “A Tale of Two Cities: The Sonic Aesthetic of the Utopian and Dystopian Future” Conference paper for the Society for Utopian Studies, Toronto.

2004. “One Bit Wonders: Interactive Audio in the 8-bit Era” Conference paper for the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Canada conference, Ottawa.

2003. “Dante for the Nuclear Age: The Machine in the Music of the Terminator Films” Conference paper for the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, McGill University, Montreal.

2002. ‘A Tale of Two Cities: Musical representations of the Utopian and Dystopian Future City’ paper delivered to International Association for the Study of Popular Music Canada Conference, Montreal.

2002. ‘Hiss Boom Clank: Semiotics and the Search for Meaning in Industrial Music’ invited lecture delivered at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.

2002. ‘The Appropriation of Dystopia by Industrial Music’ paper delivered at University of Liverpool postgraduate conference.

2001. (Co-authored with Dr. Philip Tagg) ‘The Sonic Aesthetics of the Industrial: Re-Constructing Yesterday’s Soundscape for Today’s Alienation and Tomorrow’s Dystopia’ presented at Sound Practice, UK/Ireland Soundscape Studies Community conference, Dartington, UK.

2000. ‘The Future’s Not What it Used to Be: The Aesthetic of the Machine in 20th Century Futuristic Fantasies’ paper delivered at ‘Back to the Future’ conference, University of Liverpool Department of English, Liverpool, UK.

ACADEMIC TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

2008. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. Assistant Professor, Digital Arts Communication

  • Casual Game Design. Third year elective. Approx 20 students working in teams to build casual games. Taught as DAC 300, Special Topics in Digital Design.
  • Sound for Digital Media. Developed new online course on sound for internet, radio, film and games.

2006. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Lecturer (Adjunct), School of Music.

  • Post World War II Popular Music History (MUSI 2007). Second-year large-enrolment elective. Two terms taught, with approximately 250 students total.

2003-5. University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada. Lecturer (Adjunct), School of Music.

  • Musical Explorations (32-107). Designed and taught first-year large enrolment course of 20th century avant-garde and electronic popular music history. Approximately 130 students.

  • The Musical Experience (32-106). Designed and taught first-year large-enrolment elective open to only non-music students. Four courses taught, each with approximately 150-200 students.

2005 Brock University, St. Catherines, ON, Canada. Lecturer (Adjunct), Department of Communications, Popular Culture and Film.

  • Popular Cinema (FILM 2P94). Second-year level course on popular cinema as it relates to issues of identity, genre, and ideology. Course cross references as a communications studies and popular culture studies course. Approximately 100 students.

2002-3. University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. Lecturer (Limited duties appointment) Faculty of Music, Department of Music History

  • Post World War II Popular Music History (Music 156/256). First year large-enrolment elective general music survey course, open to all students. Approximately 250 students.

  • Genre Studies (Music 406). Fourth-year course in studying genres open to only music majors. 11 students.

1999–2002. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Lecturer (part-time), Institute of Popular Music

  • Music on the Internet: (Part of Key Skills MUSI152). Half-term course teaching about music on the internet, possibilities of using the internet for music, and building a website. Approx. 30 students.

  • Acoustics & Soundscapes (MUSI 153). Half-term course teaching basic physics of acoustics for musicians, and integrating soundscape studies. Approx. 30 students

  • Introduction to Popular Music Studies (MUSI 151). General first-year level course introducing basic terminology, critical theory to music students. Approx. 50 students.

  • Critical Reading (MUSI 153). Half-term course introducing critical reading in popular music studies. Approx 30 students.

  • Research Techniques (part of Key Skills MUSI 152). Two lectures on various research techniques, including musicological, ethnographic, using the internet, etc. Approx. 40 students.

  • Created and managed a research fund portfolio, instituted and ran student dissertation discussion group.