Dr. James Fleury, Senior Lecturer of Film and Media Studies, has received three internal teaching grants for the 2026-2027 academic year.
A recipient of the College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Innovation Award, Dr. Fleury earned $4,492 for a proposal to create an Interactive Archive within the Film and Media Studies Program. Housed in Seigle Hall 401, the archive will allow students to engage with video game history firsthand by playing games on their original hardware.
The Interactive Archive will serve as a gameplay lab for the growing number of game studies courses in the Film and Media Studies program. These include FILM 3370 Retro Game Design, FILM 338 Global Game Industries, FILM 3420 Introduction to Video Game Studies, FILM 4250/5425 Video Games, Gender and Sexuality, FILM 4270/5427 Gaming Communities: Audience Discourses and Production Cultures, and FILM 4700/5477 Interactive Narrative Design.
According to Dr. Fleury, “The Interactive Archive will help showcase the Film and Media Studies Program as the home for video game studies at WashU.”
Dr. Fleury also joined the inaugural cohort of the AI Curriculum Corps through the Center for Teaching and Learning. This summer program offers two tiers for faculty to bring artificial intelligence into their teaching—Tier 1: AI-Integrated Assignment Design and Tier 2: AI-Integrated Course Development.
Dr. Fleury will participate in the first tier, based on his proposal to more deeply integrate AI into the Oral History Project in FILM 3380 Global Game Industries. For this assignment, students research and interview a video game industry professional (e.g., developer, actor, esports player). The revised version will use AI to enhance interview preparation and reflection.
“I’m excited to learn more about best practices for updating this and other assignments with AI in mind,” says Dr. Fleury.
Finally, he was selected as a Career Innovation Faculty Fellow through the Center for Career Engagement. Dr. Fleury will design a creative project in FILM 4780/5478 Transmedia Franchises. The assignment will ask students to design a transmedia franchise, in which a single story is spread across multiple media. Star Wars, for example, tells a unified narrative across films, TV series, novels, video games, and theme park attractions. The project will culminate with students pitching their franchise concept to a panel of judges. Through this experience, students will develop creative and practical skills, including evaluating the affordances of media platforms and identifying aspects that make franchises commercially successful.
As Dr. Fleury explains, “One of my goals as a Career Innovation Faculty Fellow is to help students see how media literacy and media creation are crucial skills that can enrich many careers.”
FMS congratulates Dr. Fleury!
