Wilhelmina Statham

Short presentation

I am a Senior Lecturer in Game Design at Uppsala University. Before academia, I spent seven years in AAA game development as 3D character artist and animator, working on titles like Alan Wake, Battlefield, and Mirror's Edge. My work bridges industry, education, and community in game design and creative industries.

I am interested in new opportunities and collaborations that advance participatory projects in game design and creative industries, Human-AI collaboration and inclusive learning.

Keywords

• Game design
• Digital Media
• Human-AI Collaboration
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Inclusive Pedagogy
• EdTech
• AI in Education
• Participatory Research

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Game Design and Digital Media at Uppsala University with a PhD in Digital Media and seven years in AAA game development. My journey began creating 3D character art and animation for AAA games including Alan Wake, Battlefield, and Mirror's Edge. In 2011, I transitioned to academia, initially focusing on technical production, developing motion capture pedagogy, researching photogrammetry workflows for game environments (published in Games and Culture and Entertainment Computing), and teaching 3D production. Over 14 years teaching students from 40+ countries, I've increasingly focused on the people behind creative work and how we support them.

Over the years, I've had the privilege of teaching hundreds of students who now work across the game industry—including at EA DICE, Massive Entertainment, and Machine Games—have started their own studios, and have joined me in education and research.

I support faculty development, particularly in technology-enhanced inclusive learning. Since 2024, I have held eight workshops on AI in Education and Research for over 100 faculty across Uppsala, Dalarna, and Stockholm universities.

Research

My research and teaching center on the human dimension of creative industries and game development, and game design applied to interdisciplinary contexts through participatory development:

•Future-ready pedagogy in creative industries: Preparing learners for technology-mediated creative work through synergy between higher education, industry, and local communities. Bridging student-centered, technology-enhanced and inclusive learning, informed by Universal Design for Learning.

• Human-AI collaboration in creative practice and education: Investigating how AI can augment human potential when people engage with AI as creative partners, and as inclusivity and accessibility tools.

• Participatory Game Development: Engaging children, marginalized communities, and heritage organizations as co-creators in game development projects. My work examines the people, processes, and pedagogy of participatory game-making.