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12 13 <meta charset="utf-8" /> 14 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> 15 16 <title>About â Ian Bogost â Ian Bogost</title> 17 <meta name="description" content="Bio, photos, contact." /> 18 19 <!-- Canonical --> 20 <link rel="canonical" href="https://bogost.com/about/" /> 21 22 <!-- Open Graph --> 23 <meta property="og:site_name" content="Ian Bogost" /> 24 <meta property="og:title" content="About â Ian Bogost" /> 25 <meta property="og:description" content="Bio, photos, contact." /> 26 <meta property="og:type" content="profile" /> 27 <meta property="og:url" content="https://bogost.com/about/" /> 28 <meta property="og:image" content="https://bogost.com/images/about/ian-bogost-orange-bird.jpg" /> 29 30 <!-- Twitter --> 31 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> 32 <meta name="twitter:title" content="About â Ian Bogost" /> 33 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Bio, photos, contact." /> 34 <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://bogost.com/images/about/ian-bogost-orange-bird.jpg" /> 35 36 <!-- Favicon/manifest --> 37 <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/favicon-32.png"> 38 <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/apple-touch-icon.png"> 39 <link rel="manifest" href="/site.webmanifest"> 40 41 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/styles.css?v=1763957323" /> 42</head> 43<body> 44 <a class="skip-link" href="#main">Skip to content</a> 45 <header class="site-header" role="banner"> 46 <div class="container nav-wrap"> 47 <a class="brand" href="/">Ian Bogost</a> 48 <button class="nav-toggle" aria-label="Menu" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="site-menu"> 49 <span class="bar"></span> 50 <span class="bar"></span> 51 <span class="bar"></span> 52 </button> 53 <nav class="site-nav" id="site-menu" aria-label="Primary"> 54 <ul> 55 <li> 56 <a href="/books/" > 57 Books </a> 58 </li> 59 <li> 60 <a href="/writing/" > 61 Writing </a> 62 </li> 63 <li> 64 <a href="/games/" > 65 Games </a> 66 </li> 67 <li> 68 <a href="/projects/" > 69 Projects </a> 70 </li> 71 <li> 72 <a href="/about/" aria-current="page" class="active"> 73 About </a> 74 </li> 75 </ul> 76 </nav> 77 </div> 78
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114 115 </header> 116 <main id="main" class="container"></file> <div class="site-promo"> 117 <a href="https://smallstuffbook.com" class="site-promo-inner"> 118 <div class="site-promo-label">My new book, <i>The Small Stuff</i></div> 119 <div class="site-promo-text"> 120 Hi! Please read my new book, <i>The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life</i>, out summer 2026. You can click up here to order it. —love, ian 121 </div> 122 </a> 123 </div> 124 125<link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/content.css?v=1763827221"> 126 127<main class="content-page"> 128 <!-- CONTENT LAYOUT: main bubble + right aside CTA --> 129 <section class="rail content-layout"> 130 131 <!-- MAIN CONTENT BUBBLE --> 132 <div class="content-main card"> 133 <!-- HERO / HEAD (inside bubble) --> 134 <header class="content-head"> 135 <h1 class="content-title">About Me</h1> 136 <p class="content-dek">Dr. Ian Bogost is an author and writer; an award-winning game designer and internationally exhibited and collected artist; and an interdisciplinary scholar, professor, and university administrator.</p> 137 <!--p class="content-dek">This is a concise introduction with a link to a fuller biography, selected work, and ways to reach me.</p--> 138 </header> 139 140 <section class="content-body"> 141 142 <P>Ian here: hey, hello. My professional life is complicated and requires a lot of words to explain (sorry). A full, formal bio appears below these varied and humanizing images of my literal head. If you <a href="#short">skip to the bottom</a> a short bio is also available for those looking for a tl;dr. My <a href="#CV">CV</a> is down there too, if you're into that sort of thing.</p> 143 144 <div class="gallery grid grid-square" style="--cols: 3"> 145 <figure><img src="/images/ian-bogost.jpg" alt=""><!--figcaption class="caption muted">Caption</figcaption--></figure> 146 <figure><img src="/images/about/ian-bogost-orange-bird.jpg" alt=""></figure> 147 <figure><img src="/images/about/ian-bogost-washu.jpg" alt=""></figure> 148 </div> 149 <div class="gallery grid grid-square" style="--cols: 3"> 150 <figure><img src="/images/about/ian-bogost-colbert-report.jpg" alt=""></figure> 151 <figure><img src="/images/about/ian-bogost-speaking.jpg" alt=""></figure> 152 <figure><img src="/images/about/ian-bogost-teaching.jpg" alt=""></figure> 153 </div> 154 155 <h4>In Academia</h4> 156 <p>Bogost is the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where he holds faculty positions in the School of Arts & Sciences (Film & Media Studies), the McKelvey School of Engineering (Computer Science & Engineering), and the Sam Fox School of Art & Design (Art, Design, & Architecture).</p> 157 <p>At WashU, Bogost is also an Assistant Vice Provost, in which role he serves as the founder and Co-Executive Director of the <a href="http://publicscholarship.washu.edu">Office of Public Scholarship</a> and a Provostâs Fellow in Interdisciplinary Initiatives, focused on the university's AI + Design effort.</p> 158 159 <p>Prior to joining Washington University, Bogost spent almost 20 years on the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was appointed in the colleges of liberal arts, computing, design, and business. He has served as a graduate program director, a center director, and a department chair.</p> 160 161 <p>Bogost holds a bachelors degree in philosophy and comparative literature from the University of Southern California, and a masters and Ph.D. in comparative literature from UCLA.</p> 162 163 <h4>In Journalism</h4> 164 <p>Bogost is also a Staff Writer at <a href="https://theatlantic.com/author/ian-bogost"><em>The Atlantic</em></a>, the American magazine, where he has served in various roles since 2013. He has written, edited, and commissioned hundreds of articles on science, technology, health, design, education, culture, politics, and business. Bogost's bylines have also appeared in other publications, among them <i>The New Yorker</i>, <i>New Scientist</i>, <i>Time</i>, <i>The Guardian</i>, <i>The Baffler</i>, <i>Fast Company</i>, and <i>Edge Magazine</i>.</p> 165 166 <p>
166In addition to his own journalistic work, Bogost has received grants from and provided advisement to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. He has also provided consulting in print, television, and radio, for outlets that include <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>The Washington Post</i>, CBS, CNN, WBUR Boston, National Public Radio, and Public Radio International.</p> 167 168 <h4>In the Technology, Entertainment, and Media Industries</h4> 169 <p>In addition to his academic and writing life, Bogost is also Founding Partner at <a href="https://persuasivegames.com">Persuasive Games LLC</a>, an independent game studio and design consultancy. Before becoming a professor, Bogost worked in the technology industry, in advertising, and in Hollywood.</p> 170 171 <p>Through his own company or former employers (which include Oscar-award-winning film-score composer Hans Zimmer's media group), Bogost has made software, games, and websites; or provided design, legal, and business consulting for companies that include 2K Games, Activision, Charter Communications/Spectrum, Cold Stone Creamery, Disney, Chrylser/Jeep, CNN, Domino's Pizza, Hilton, Humana, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, MTV, Nestlé, New Line Cinema, Nintendo of America, The New York Times Company, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Take-Two Interactive, The Tetris Company, Toyota, and Wynn Resorts.</p> 172 173 <h4>As an Author, Editor, and Publisher</h4> 174 <p>Bogost is the author or co-author of <a href="/books">11 books</a>, including <a href="/books/persuasive-games"><em>Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames</em></a>, <a href="/books/alien-phenomenology/"><em>Alien Phenomenology, or What It's Like to Be a Thing</em></a>, and <a href="/books/play-anything"><em>Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games</em></a>. His latest book, which will be published in summer 2026, is <a href="/books/the-small-stuff/"><em>The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life</em></a>. 175 176 <p>Beyond his own books, Bogost is also the co-editor of the <a href="/projects/platform-studies">Platform Studies</a> book series about how computer hardware and software design influences culture, published by MIT Press, and the <a href="/projects/object-lessons">Object Lessons</a> book series about the secret life of things, published by Bloomsbury.</p> 177 178 <p>In the early 2000s, Bogost co-founded a publishing company, Open Texture, that produced educational books, audiobooks, and course materials. Among other things, Open Texture produced a popular ancient Greek course for children, <a href="/books/elementary-greek/"><em>Elementary Greek</em></a>. The company was successfully sold in the early 2010s to a larger educational publisher. 179 180 <h4>As a Game Designer and Artist</h4> 181 <p>Bogostâs <a href="/games">games</a> about social and political issues cover topics as varied as airport security, consumer debt, disaffected workers, the petroleum industry, suburban errands, pandemic flu, and tort reform. His games have been played by millions of people and exhibited at or held in collections internationally, at venues including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Telfair Museum of Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, the Laboral Centro de Arte, and The Australian Centre for the Moving Image.</p> 182 183 <p>His independent games include <a href="/games/cow_clicker"><i>Cow Clicker</i></a>, a Facebook-game send-up of Facebook games that was the subject of <a href="http://www.wired.com/2011/12/ff_cowclicker/3/">a <i>Wired</i> magazine feature</a>, and <a href="/games/a-slow-year"><i>A Slow Year</i></a>, a collection of videogame poems for Atari VCS (2600), Windows, and Mac, which won the Vanguard and Virtuoso awards at the IndieCade Festival and was an Independent Game Festival finalist.</p> 184 185 <h4>Short Bio</h4><a name="short"></a> 186 <p>Dr. Ian Bogost is a writer, designer, and scholar of media and technology. He is the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor and Assistant Vice Provost at Washington University in St. Louis. At WashU, he is appointed in three colleges and the co-executive director of the <a href="https://publicscholarship.washu.edu">Office of Public Scholarship</a>.</p> 187 <p>
187Bogost is also a <a href="https://theatlantic.com/author/ian-bogost">staff writer at <i>The Atlantic</i></a> and the founding partner of <a href="https://persuasivegames.com">Persuasive Games LLC</a>, a game and design studio. He is the author of <a href="/books/">11 books</a>, most recently <a href="/books/the-small-stuff"><em>The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life</em></a>. Bogost's award-winning games and artworks, which include <a href="/games/cow-clicker"><i>Cow Clicker</i></a> and <a href="/games/aslowyear"><i>A Slow Year</i></a> have been played by millions of people and held in permanent collections around the world, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.</p> 188 189 <h4>Curriculum Vitae</h4><a name="CV"></a> 190 <p>You can find Bogost's recent CV <a href="/downloads/Ian%20Bogost%20CV.pdf">here</a> (updated approximately once per quarter, but sometimes less frequently).</p> 191 <!--p> 192 <strong>Longer background.</strong> Use this section for a few additional detailsâprior appointments, areas of research/creative practice, awards, or other context that helps situate the work. 193 </p> 194 <p> 195 <strong>Now.</strong> A brief note on what youâre doing latelyâactive projects, current teaching, or a theme youâre exploring. 196 </p--> 197 198 <!-- Optional: inline image --> 199 <!-- 200 <figure class="content-figure"> 201 <img class="content-img" src="/images/about/headshot.jpg" alt="Ian Bogost portrait"> 202 <figcaption class="caption muted">Photo by â¦</figcaption> 203 </figure> 204 --> 205 206 <!-- Optional: grid gallery (use grid-square for cropped thumbs) --> 207 <!-- 208 <section> 209 <h3 class="content-h3">Selected moments</h3> 210 <div class="gallery grid grid-square"> 211 <figure><img src="/images/about/01.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="caption muted">Caption 1</figcaption></figure> 212 <figure><img src="/images/about/02.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="caption muted">Caption 2</figcaption></figure> 213 <figure><img src="/images/about/03.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="caption muted">Caption 3</figcaption></figure> 214 <figure><img src="/images/about/04.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="caption muted">Caption 4</figcaption></figure> 215 </div> 216 </section> 217 --> 218 219 <!-- Optional: carousel gallery (enable /assets/gallery.js) --> 220 <!-- 221 <section> 222 <h3 class="content-h3">Gallery</h3> 223 <div class="carousel" data-carousel data-lock-height> 224 <button class="carousel-btn prev" aria-label="Previous">â¹</button> 225 <div class="carousel-viewport"> 226 <div class="carousel-track"> 227 <figure class="carousel-slide"> 228 <img src="/images/about/01.jpg" alt=""> 229 <figcaption class="caption muted">Caption 1</figcaption> 230 </figure> 231 <figure class="carousel-slide"> 232 <img src="/images/about/02.jpg" alt=""> 233 <figcaption class="caption muted">Caption 2</figcaption> 234 </figure> 235 </div> 236 </div> 237 <button class="carousel-btn next" aria-label="Next">âº</button> 238 </div> 239 </section> 240 --> 241 </section> 242 </div> 243 244 <!-- RIGHT ASIDE CTA (sticky) --> 245 <aside class="content-aside about-aside"> 246 <div class="cta-box card"> 247 <!-- Optional: portrait (auto-scales in card) --> 248 <!-- <figure class="content-figure" style="margin-top:0"><img src="/images/about/headshot.jpg" alt="Ian Bogost" class="content-img"></figure> --> 249 <h3 class="cta-title">Get in touch</h3><a name="contact"></a> 250 <p class="cta-text muted">For speaking, media, or other inquiries.</p> 251 <p>At Washington University:<br> 252 <a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=Contact from Bogost.com">[email protected]</a></p> 253 <p>At Persuasive Games:<br> 254 <a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=Contact from Bogost.com">[email protected]</a></p> 255 <p>At The Atlantic:<br> 256 <a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=Contact from Bogost.com">[email protected]</a></p> 257 <p class="cta-text ">To contact me securely (for journalism tips, or for other reasons), my Signal is @ibogost.47.</p> 258 <!--div class="cta-actions"> 259 <a class="btn primary" href="#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Email</a> 260 <!-- <a class="btn" href="#">Media kit</a> --> 261 </div--> 262 </div> 263 <img src="/assets/creatures/15.png" alt="" class="mascot" /> 264 <a class="mascot in-card" href="#" aria-label="mascot" data-mascot="random" data-mascot-bubble="true"></a> 265 </aside> 266 267 </section> 268</main> 269 270 </main> 271 272 <footer class="site-footer" role="contentinfo"> 273 <div class="container footer-wrap"> 274 <p class="copyright">©2003 – 2026 Ian Bogost, Persuasive Games LLC. All rights reserved.</p> 275 <nav class="footer-nav" aria-label="Footer"> 276 <ul> 277 <li><a href="/about/#contact">Contact</a></li> 278 <li><a href="https://ibogost.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsletter</a></li> 279 </ul> 280 </nav> 281 <div class="social"> 282 <a href="https://x.com/ibogost" aria-label="Twitter">Twitter/X</a> 283 <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ibogost.com" aria-label="Bluesky">Bluesky</a> 284 <a href="https://instagram.com/ibogost" aria-label="Instagram">Instagram</a> 285 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-bogost" aria-label="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a> 286 </div> 287 </div>
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