dr tomasz z. majkowski

DR TOMASZ Z. MAJKOWSKI
CURRICUM VITAE
address: al. Pokoju 22/40, 31-564 Kraków, Poland, EU
phone: (+48) 505 917 375
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
EDUCATION
2009
PhD in Literary Science defended at Department of Literary Theory, Faculty of
Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Based on thesis Fantasy:
przyczynek do monografii gatunku [Fantasy Literature: Contribution to the
Genre Monograph], supervised by prof. Stanisław Balbus. Examiners: prof.
Danuta Ulicka, prof. Jerzy Jarzębski. Grade: very good, with honors.
2003
Master of Arts in Literary Theory, Faculty of Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University
in Krakow.
1996
High school graduation
LANGUAGES
Polish
native tongue
English
fluent
Russian
intermediate
Latin
basic
ACADEMIC CAREER
2013 –
Assistant Professor at Faculty of Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
2009 – 2013
Post-Doctoral Assistant at Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer
Science, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
GAMES-RELATED EMPLOYMENT AND PROJECTS
2008
Member of Polish to English translation team for CD Projekt’s The Witcher
2006 – 2009
Board game designer for Wolf Fang publishing house. 6 board games,
designed and co-designed, available in Polish and English
2006
Member of design team for Crystalicum role-playing game for Wolf-Fang
publishing house
2004 – 2006
Member of design team for Crystalicum collectible card game for Wolf Fang
publishing house
2003 – 2004
Line editor for Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea polish editions, Wolf Fang
publishing house
2003
English to Polish translation of 4 digital games for Lemon Interactive publisher
2002
Member of editorial board of Gwiezdny pirat game magazine, involved in
magazine design
2002
Section Editor in Magia i miecz role-playing games magazine
2001 – 2002
Line co-editor for Deadland role playing game, Mag publishing house
2001 – 2012
Freelance RPG editor. 20 role-playing rulebooks and game-related books
edited for MAG, Wolf Fang, CD Projekt, Imaginator, Gramel and Kuźnia Gier
publishing houses
1998 – 2012
Freelance RPG translator. 15 role-playing rulebooks translated from English to
Polish, independently and in translation teams. Books were published by MAG,
Portal, ISA, Wolf Fang and Gramel publishing houses
1994 – 2002
Freelance game journalist, specializing in tabletop role-playing games and
digital games. Publications in Polish game magazines: Portal, Magia i miecz,
Gwiezdny pirat, Fantasy, Gambler
MEMBERSHIPS AND AWARDS
MEMBERSHIPS
2016 –
Steering Committee member of Games and Literary Theory association
2016 –
Steering Committee member of GAMEINN grant program for video game
research and development, held by Polish National Centre for Research and
Developement
2015 –
Member of Digital Games Research Association
2014 –
Steering Committee member of Central and Eastern European Game Studies
association
2011 –
Member of Polish Culture Studies Association
2004 –
Founding Member of Polish Game Research Association
1999 – 2012
2012 – 2013
Board Member
2012 – 2013
Chair of Krakow Branch of Polish Game Research
Association
Board Member of Quentin Award, national best roleplaying scenario award
AWARDS
2015
Jagiellonian University Rector Award for Outstanding Organizational
Activity
2014
Jagiellonian University Rector Award for Accomplishment in Science
2011, 2012, 2013
Jagiellonian University Rector Award for Outstanding Teaching
TEACHING
SUPERVISION
PhD:
3 ongoing, auxiliary supervisor
Master:
7
Bachelor:
49, 15 ongoing
COURSES
All listed courses were designed and conducted by myself.

Dyskurs gier [Game Discourse]
- seminar, 90 h.

Historia i teoria gier [History and Theory of Games]
- lecture, 30 h.

Komunikacja dla naukowców [Communication for Scientists]
- lecture, 20 h., co-teacher

Kultura 2.0: Groznawstwo [Culture 2.0: Game Studies]
- seminar, 30 h.

Kultura popularna: Fantastyka [Popular Culture: Sci-fi and Fantasy]
- seminar, 30 h.

Kultura popularna: Gry wideo [Popular Culture: Video Games]
- seminar, 30 h.

Kultura popularna: Komiks [Popular Culture: Comics]
- seminar, 30 h.

Kultura popularna: Kultura popularna XIX i XX wieku [Popular Culture: Popculture of
19th and 20th Century]
- seminar, 30 h.

Kultura popularna: Seriale [Popular Culture: TV Series]
- seminar, 30 h.

Kulturowa historia gier [Culture History of Games]
- lecture, 30 h.

Popkultura i tożsamość: Narodowość, etniczność i popkosmopolityzm [Popculture and
Identity: Nationality, Ethnicity and Pop-Cosmopolitism]
- seminar, 30 h.

Popkultura i tożsamość: Tożsamości fanowskie [Popculture and Identity: Fandom
Identites]
- seminar, 30h.

Popkultura: narracje i ideologia [Popculture: Narratives and Ideologies]
- lecture, 60 h.

Społeczeństwo spektaklu i kultura uczestnictwa [The Society of Spectacle and the
Culture of Participation]
- lecture, 30 h.

Technologia informacyjna [Technology of Information]
- seminar, 30 h.

Tworzenie scenariuszy [Screenwriting for Video Games]
- seminar, 30 h.

Wprowadzenie do popkultury [Introduction to Popular Culture]
- lecture, 30 h.

Wprowadzenie do tworzenia gier wideo [Introduction to Video Game Design]
- seminar, 36 h.

Wprowadzenie do wiedzy o grach wideo [Introduction to Game Studies]
- seminar, 30 h.

Zasady tworzenia scenorysów [Storyboarding for Video Games]
seminar, 12 h.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Current research topics include:

Bakhtinian approach to digital games

Intersection between literary theory and game studies, especially game hermeneutics

History of popular culture, especially history of games

Postcolonial and postdependency studies of video games

Popular culture and national culture, especially relation between popculture and
nationalism

Fandom, especially, postcolonial and national issues in fan communities

Fairy tales
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS

W cieniu białego drzewa. Powieść fantasy w XX wieku, Wydawnictwo UJ, Kraków
2013, pp. 436
PEER-REVIEVED JOURNALS, PROCEEDINGS AND BOOK CHAPTERS

(Forthcoming) The Renaissance Ass. Ezio Auditore and Digital Menippea, [in:]
Transgressions in Games and Play Anthology, ed. K. Jørgensen, F. Karlsen

(Forthcoming) Dissonance. On the Possibility of Video Game Heteroglossia [in:]
The Games and Literary Theory Collection, ed. J. Goggin, T. Welsh, London:
Bloomsbury

(Forthcoming) Geralt of Poland. The Witcher 3 between Epistemic Disobedience,
Colonial Mimicry and Imperial Nostalgia, [in:] Postcolonial Perspectives in Game
Studies, a special issue of Open Library of Humanities, ed. S. Mukherjee, E. Hamma

(Under Review) The Importance of Being Certain. Video Game Hermeneutics and
Ethics of Authenticity, “Journal of the Philosophy of Computer Games”

(Pending Publication) (with Agata Zarzycka) The Transmedial Romance of Beauty and
the Beast [in:] Routledge Companion to Fairy-Tale Cultures and Media, ed. P.
Greenhill, J. T. Rudy, N. Hamer, L. Bosc, New York: Routledge

Pasja kartograficzna. Wyobraźnia imperialna i mapy w grach wideo z otwartym
światem, “Kultura Współczesna” 2016 nr 2 (90), pp. 33-44

Z archiwum XCOM. Jak pokonać kosmitów i zachować rozsądek, “Forum Poetyki”
2016 (4), pp. 82-91

From the XCOM Archive. How to Defeat the Aliens and Stay Sane, “Forum of Poetics”
2016 (4), pp. 60-69 (English version of aforementioned paper)

Grotesque Realism and Carnality: Bakhtinian Inspirations in Video Game Studies [in:]
New Perspectives In Game Studies, ed. T. Bártek, J. Miškov, J. Švelch, Brno: Munipress
2015, pp. 26-43

Różnojęzyczność gier wideo a sytuacja gracza. Rozpoznanie wstępne, “Wielogłos”
2015 nr 3 (25), pp. 23-40

Ciało Lary Croft. Parodia i gry wideo, “Czas Kultury” 2015, nr 2 (185), pp. 117-123

Odejść, żeby powrócić. „Kowal z Podlesia Większego” na tle programu literackiego
J.R.R. Tolkiena [in:] Widnokręgi literatury – wielogłosy krytyki ed. T. Kunz, A. Łebkowska,
R. Nycz, M. Popiel, Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ 2015, pp. 327-336

Freedom of Destruction and Carnivalesque in Video Games [in:] Proceedings of the
Philosophy of Computer Games Conference 2014, Istanbul Bilgi University,

Opowiem ci, co zrobiłeś. Głos w grach wideo, “Ekrany. Film & Media” 2014, Kraków, nr
1 (17), pp. 27-30

Fatalne zauroczenie. Gry wideo i kino przygodowe, “Ekrany. Film & Media” 2013, nr 2
(12), pp. 84-87

Powieść, której nie było. O „Sezonie burz” Andrzeja Sapkowskiego, “Wielogłos” 2013,
nr 4, pp. 61-71

Duma i ożywienie. Parodia klasycznego romansu w konwencji grozy [in:] Różne głosy,
ed D. Wojda, M. Heydel, A. Hejmej, Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ 2013, pp. 345-353

Złote Runo:. Gra wideo jako doświadczenie interpretacyjne [in:] Olbrzym w cieniu, ed.
A. Pitrus, Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ 2012, pp. 177-179

Gra wideo jako model dobrego życia [in:] Kultura zabawy, ed. T. Paleczny, R. Kantor,
M. Banaszkiewicz, Krakow: Wydawnictwo UJ 2012, pp. 153-165

Gry wideo i kultura autentyczności, “Homo Ludens” 2011, nr 1 (3), pp. 95-102

(with Jakub Janicki) Cywilizacja w sosie barbecue, “Kultura Popularna” 1 (2002)

(with Jakub Janicki) Wielki Wstrząs w Starym Świecie, “Kultura Popularna” 0 (2002), pp.
207-211
NOTEWORTHY ESSAYS

Gra, czyli świat, “Znak” 2015, nr 725, s. 102-110

Prometeusz wyzwolony. Wiek XX i marzenie o lepszym człowieczeństwie, “Znak” 2015,
nr 722-723/2015, s. 6-11

Gra o ojcowski tron. Modele rodziny w „Pieśni Lodu i Ognia” George’a R.R. Martina,
“Nowa Dekada Krakowska” 2014 nr 1/2 (11/12), s. 28-35

Dom Salomona. Nauka, fantazja, literatura, “Tygodnik Powszechny” 2014, nr 19 (3383).

Raport o stanie świata przedstawionego, “Znak” 2012, nr 686-687 i 688 (zapis debaty)

Granie z pieprzykiem, “EKRANy” 2012, nr 4

Efekt masy, “EKRANy” 2012, nr 3

Rozrywka wykluczonych, “EKRANy” 2011, nr 1-2

Ciąg dalszy nastąpił, “EKRANy” 2011, nr 3-4

Magia młodego czarodzieja, czyli fantastyczna literatura młodzieżowa wokół Pottera¸
“Dekada Literacka” 2011, nr 4

Nowe przygody Królewny Śnieżki, “Książki w Tygodniku” 2011, nr 1-2

Utopia, która nadejdzie, “Autoportret” 2011, nr 2

Fantastyczna Sieć. Internet i środowisko miłośników literatury fantastycznej, “Dekada
Literacka” 2010, nr 1-2

Uciec przed Tolkienem, “Dekada Literacka” 2004, nr 5-6

Dyskretny urok wyobraźni, “Dekada Literacka” 2003, nr 7-8

Gry fabularne a inne teksty kultury, “Dekada Literacka” 2003, nr 7-8

Gry fabularne w pytaniach i odpowiedziach, “Dekada Literacka” 2003, nr 7-8
CONFERENCES AND LECTURES
NOTEWORTHY CONFERENCE TALKS AND GUEST LECTURES

Matters Of Construction, Wrocław, 12 January 2017
-
Cartography in Digital Games and Imperial Imagination (guest lecture,
expanded version of conference talk)

Central and Eastern European Game Studies 2016, Lublin, 20 – 22 October 2016
Between Parody, Mimesis and Self-Awareness. Grand Theft Auto V as a Sphere
of Tensions (with Marta Błaszkowska and Maciej Nawrocki)

Charting the Digital: Play, Discourse, Disruption, Venice, 8 – 9 October 2016
-

Digital Games Research Association – Foundation of Digital Games, Dundee, 1 – 6
August 2016
-

Video Games and Culture of Laughter
Games and Literary Theory: 2nd Annual Conference, Amsterdam, 20 – 21 November
2014
-

Of certainty and authenticity. Toward ethical consequences of video games
hermeneutics
Digital Games Research Association Conference, Lüneburg, 14 – 17 May 2015
-

The Witcher and Polish Imagination (guest Lecture)
9th Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, Berlin, 14 – 17 October 2015
-

Temerian Rye: on uses and abuses of alcohol in The Witcher 3 (part of Games
Transgressive Aesthetics workshop)
University of Istanbul Polish Days, Istanbul, 21 – 23 May 2015
-

Player/Hero/Avatar: Interaction with the Game Protagonist between ‘HalfAnother’s Experience’ and ‘Double-Voiced Discourse’
Central and Eastern European Game Studies 2015, Kraków, 21 – 24 October 2015
-

Video Games and Culture of Laughter (guest lecture, expanded version of
conference talk)
Games and Literary Theory: 3rd Annual Conference, New Orleans, 20 – 22 November
2015
-

Złociste otoki. Wybrane problemy poetyki Festiwalu Piosenki Żołnierskiej w
Kołobrzegu (with Małgorzata Majkowska)
Games Lecture, Copenhagen, 11 December 2015
-

Immersive lore-friendliness. Game modifications as intertextual tropes
MUTE: Ogólnopolska Konferencja Popular Music Studies, Kraków, 20 – 22 May 2016
-

King Solomon’s Mines (cleared). Cartography in digital games and imperial
imagination
Discourse in the Video Game: Bakhtinian Inspirations in Game Studies
8th Philosophy of Computer Games Conference Istanbul, 13 – 15 November 2014

Central and Eastern European Game Studies 2014, Brno, 10 – 11 October 2014
-

Lochy, smoki i mechaniki opowiadania
Potwory-Hybrydy-Mutanty, Katowice, 23 – 25 February, 2011
-

Martwe Ziemie (pop)kultury
Od liberatury do e-literatury 2. Remiksy, remediacje, redefinicje, Kamień Śląski, 9 – 10
May 2011
-

Gry wideo jako model dobrego życia
VII Międzynarodowa Konferencja Kulturotwórcza funkcja gier, Poznań, 19 – 20
November 2011
-

„Fantastyka” i fantastyka
Kultura zabawy w zmieniającym się świecie, Kraków, 21 November 2011
-

O pojęciach gry i zabawy
Polska literatura popularna 1918-1989. Teorie – Historie – Interpretacje: Rybnik, 11 – 13
October 2012
-

Problemy poetyki gier wideo
VIII Międzynarodowa Konferencja Kulturotwórcza funkcja gier, Poznań, 24 – 25
November 2012
-

Przybyłem, by was ocalić: metafory kolonialne w grach wideo
IX Międzynarodowa Konferencja Kulturotwórcza funkcja gier, Poznań, 16 – 17
November 2013
-

W krainie cyfrowego szczęścia: gry typu city-builder jako projekty ustrojowe
Kto, co i dlaczego nami rządzi, czyli literatura i kultura popularna a władza, Wrocław,
29 – 30 November 2013
-

Grotesque Realism and the Joy of Destruction
Sympozjum Głos Pana, Kraków, 20 – 21 March 2014
-

Freedom of Destruction and Grotesque Realism in Video Games
Wynaturzenie: monstrualność i ideologia fantasy
VI Międzynarodowa Konferencja Kulturotwórcza funkcja gier, Poznań, 13 – 14
November 2010
-
Gry wideo i problem autentyczności
ORGANIZATION

Games and Literary Theory: 4nd Annual Conference, Kraków, 18 –2 0 November 2016:
organization committee co-chair

Central and Eastern European Game Studies 2015, Kraków, 21 – 24 October 2015:
organization committee chair

Krakow Game Seminars, bi-monthly game studies seminar held since February 2016 in
Kraków: organization committee member