Rate My Professor Elizabeth Keegan

Elizabeth Keegan serves as Associate Professor and Chair of Game Art & Design at Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA (2011) and the University of California, Berkeley with an MFA in Art Practice, Keegan integrates her fine arts training into game design pedagogy. She emphasizes tactile workshops alongside digital production, creating environments where students build trust before tackling complex projects. Joining CCAD in fall 2018 as full-time Game Art faculty, she advanced to Assistant Professor of Animation and Game Art & Design, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023.

Keegan played a pivotal role in launching CCAD's Game Art & Design BFA major in 2020, leading initiatives that challenge 'crunch culture' in the game industry. In her Game Arts Project class, students developed the tabletop game "100 Hours Till Launch" in collaboration with ODAM Publishing's Matthew Tarulli, which debuted commercially and highlights work-life balance issues. She has supervised numerous student teams on real-world projects, including the Smokey Bear-inspired mobile game "Smokey's Scouts" (2022) with the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Forestry Partners Cooperative for wildfire prevention education. In the 2024 international Climate Game Jam, her students' games "At Least I'm Rich" earned Top Overall Game Choice, and "Restoring Harmony" won Top Gameplay and Aesthetics. Additionally, her teams have created a VR custom coloring game for children. Through game jams and prototypes, Keegan equips students with skills in rapid prototyping, interdisciplinary collaboration, and applying game design to non-entertainment contexts, fostering industry-ready portfolios and global networks.