Jess Hammer Headshot

Jessica Hammer

Associate Professor, HCI Institute & ETC; Director, Center for Transformational Play

Contact

Biography

Jessica Hammer is the Director of the Center for Transformational Play at Carnegie Mellon University, with a joint appointment as Associate Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center. Her research focuses on transformational games, educational technology for project-based learning and inclusive innovation in design, creating impactful experiences that foster learning, creativity and social change.

Jessica’s work has been supported by many funders, including the National Science Foundation, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Amazon, Honda and Philips Health. She has received numerous honors, including being named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist, being inducted to the Women in Games Hall of Fame and receiving an NSF CAREER award. Her work explores topics such as game-based STEM education, playful approaches to fostering climate action and games that help facilitate difficult conversations between players.

An internationally recognized game designer, she created games such as Frolic, which won the national Shape of Health competition, and Rosenstrasse, co-designed with Moyra Turkington, which explores a woman-led 1943 protest in Berlin and has received critical acclaim. She has also received recognition for her teaching and mentoring, including Carnegie Mellon’s Teaching Innovation award and the Barbara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student and Junior Faculty Mentoring.

In her free time, Jessica is a voracious reader and would love to give you book recommendations! She also enjoys hiking, fostering cats and designing games with her daughter.

Jessica Hammer joined the ETC in 2014.

Education

  • Ph.D., Cognitive Studies in Education May 2014
    Columbia University, New York NY
    Dissertation, "Playing prejudice : The impact of game-play on attributions of gender and racial bias."
  • MPS, Interactive Telecommunication June 2002
    New York University, New York NY
    Master of Professional Studies degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program.
  • BA, Computer Science June 1999
    Harvard University, Cambridge MA
  • Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science with High Honors.

Affiliations

Related Links

Courses & Projects

I typically supervise projects that explore innovation in game design and the player experience, that focus on player transformation or that includes both.

  • Commit to the Bits / Commit 2 the Bits - two linked projects exploring how to use Twitch to facilitate and extend improvisational theater performances.
  • Fortitude - a mobile game to help players understand the experience of poverty.
  • Thin Line - a VR experience about equity in women’s reproductive care.
  • Emotionshop - a rapid prototyping project exploring gameplay techniques for evoking emotions in players.

Industry Collaborations & Achievements

  • Founding Director at the Center for Transformational Play, 2022.
  • Barbara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student and Junior Faculty Mentoring, 2022.
  • NSF CAREER award, 2020.
  • Project Horseshoe participant, 2019.

News Stories & Media