Scott Preston

Dr. Scott Preston studies applied game design, games-based learning, and the history of games and popular culture.

With his research group, Resolve, he has created: Project AUDE: The UNB History Card Game, a collaboration with UNB Archives and Special Collections; Paradoxides, a board game about the history of geology and palaeontology in Atlantic Canada; and, Campus Paths, a tabletop university sim for career counselling and advising. Resolve explores how developments in modern tabletop game design can be used to create games for change while providing work-study and internship opportunities. Alongside Dr. Preston, UNB students study game design and graphic design and develop important career competencies such as problem-solving, teamwork/collaboration and professionalism.

In the classroom, Scott teaches introductory courses in film studies, design and creativity, as well as advanced courses in media and cultural studies, film studies and game design. He has media production background in community television and his previous research and publications have focused on popular genres, Canadian culture and identity, and film history.

Currently the Director of the Media Arts and Cultures program, Dr. Preston has previously served as MAAC Advisor (2011-25), Department Chair (2019-22) and sat on the Steering Committee for Arts Academic Planning (2021-23).

Recent publications and creative works

Paradoxides (Fossil Hunting on Canada's East Coast 1860-1900) (tabletop game - in progress) [shortlisted for 2026 Canadian Game Design Award]

Dominion Bridge Company (tabletop game - in progress) [shortlisted for 2026 Canadian Game Design Award]

A History of Tabletop Games in Canada (manuscript working title - in progress)

Project AUDE: The UNB History Card Game (Published by Resolve, 2025)

"The Bloody Brood: Canadian Horror Cinema, Past and Present". The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Cinema. Will Straw and Janine Marchessault, Eds. (Published by Oxford University Press, 2019)

Courses taught

• MAAC 3675: Games for Change
• MAAC 3722: Film Directors
• MAAC 1023: Media, Technology and Creativity
• MAAC 2022: The Art of Film
• MAAC 3001: Media Arts
• MAAC/CCS 3082: History of Canadian Cinema
• MAAC/CCS 3065: The Thrill of Fear - Horror Narratives Across Media and Cultures
• MAAC 3075: Framing Reality - Theory and Practice of Documentary Media
• MAAC 4021: Advanced Studies in Popular Culture