Innovative Creativity Research Champions

michael carroll

Dr. Michael Carroll

Associate Professor of Architecture

Michael Carroll is a tenured associate professor at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ State University. Prior to this appointment he was an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University. He is a registered Canadian architect. He is a founding partner of atelier BUILD, a design/build firm based in Montreal. Atelier BUILD was awarded the Canadian Professional Prix de Rome of Architecture in 2004. 
 
Michael Carroll is the founder and director of MAT_LAB at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ State University, a materials library, lab and exhibition space. His research focuses on materiality in contemporary architecture with a focus of  material expressions of under-represented communities.

As Principle Investigator (PI) he is the architectural designer of the ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Mini-Pavilion at the Cobb County Safety Pavilion. Together with Dr. Billy Kihei (Co-PI 1) they lead the charge to constuct the pavilion and use it as a site for off-campus research as well as a 'classroom' to instruct elementary students on the interconnection between safety and sustainability.

Dr. Victoria Lagrange

Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Victoria Lagrange is an Assistant Professor of Game Narrative in the Department of English at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ State University.

Her scholarly interests revolve around the examination of novel storytelling formats and their impact on audience reception and participatory culture. Dr. Lagrange’s scholarship includes multiple published articles, including analyses of the transmedia expansions of Bill Willingham’s Fables, the intricate relationship between violence, empathy, and decision-making in interactive fiction, and the study of user reception of video games. Her recent publications include work in Behavioral and Brain Sciences and PloS ONE.

Additionally, she serves as the director of the Game Narrative Lab at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ State University, where her team’s focus is on the creation and evaluation of prosocial video games. Their latest game, Corporation, Inc., recently achieved recognition by winning an international critical thinking games competition.

Dr. Victoria Lagrange
Andrea Knowlton

Andrea Knowlton

Associate Professor of Dance

Andrea Knowlton is an Associate Professor of Dance at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ State University, where she teaches Dance Technique, Dance Filmmaking, Improvisation, Dance Pedagogy, and mentors undegraduate research. She is a choreographer, filmmaker and educator. She is the recipient of the College of the Arts' Early Career Faculty Award (2023). She has presented her artistic work in New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta, GA.  She creates and screens films nationally and internationally, at top tier festivals including Dance Camera West, Screen Dance International, and Frame Rush @ The Place London.

As an educator, she has taught at California Institute of the Arts, California State University Long Beach, and Pasadena City College. She regularly presents research on her areas of focus, including Dance & Artificial Intelligence, and Dance Filmmaking. She is the Principal Investigator and recipient of a National Science Foundation Award which supports collaborative research exploring relationships between improvisational dance and artificial intelligence towards the creation of an interactive dance avatar.

She has published in several Human Computer Interaction journals as a dance specialist. She holds a BFA in Dance/Choreography from Marymount Manhattan College in NYC and an MFA in Choreography/Integrated Media from California Institute of the Arts.

Innovative Creativity Board of Advisors

andrew greenberg

Andrew Greenberg

Executive Director, Georgia Game Developers Association
Board Member Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office
david walens

David Walens

CEO at Exploring, Inc.
Board of Advisors Coles College Of Business Entrepreneurship Center ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ State University 
bert wesley huffman

Bert Wesley Huffman

CEO of Georgia Public Broadcasting 
andrew jamison

Andrew Jamison

CEO of Immersive Display Inc.