Prof. Elodie Fourquet’s new course, “Playful Thinking, Serious Coding,” was featured in Colgate News. In the course, first taught in spring 2026, students designed and programmed 2D platform games with three levels of increasing difficulty. Several games were based on students’ other interests. For example, one was adapted from Homer’s The Odyssey, and another was inspired by Colgate’s Linsley Geology Museum. Students presented their games at a public event in Bernstein Hall and got feedback from guests in the game industry.

Prof. Fourquet developed the course with input from Prof. Ashleigh Cassemere-Stanfield (Film and Media Studies). It was made possible in part by Prof. Fourquet’s tenure as Arnold A. Sio Chair in Diversity and Community. The department is bringing ideas from the course into other classes, including COSC 101 this fall.