M*U*S*H Architect-in-Residence Program

The Architect-in-Residence program is an opportunity for a would-be MUSH God or Head Wizard to share their game development experiences with the larger community of MUSH players and administrators. This competitive fellowship-style program provides the awardee with several opportunities to enhance not only the development of their MUSH, but also their own personal and professional development as a MUSH administrator and a leader in the MUSHing community.

Architects-in-Residence are chosen through a competitive application process, and each program lasts 12 months, during which the Architect develops their MUSH and conducts six educational programs at M*U*S*H (including one presentation at the Innovations in Text-Based Gaming Conference held each October). Architects are expected to become active M*U*S*H participants. Applications are accepted at any time.

Educational Program Requirements

Educational programs should include a variety of teaching methods and approaches, and cover many different topics. Some sample teaching methods might be: Examples of topics might be: These examples should not be taken as limiting. The exact content and format of the educational programs are negotiable, so long as they are interesting, novel, and educational. Architects must agree to have transcripts/logs of educational programs released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license.

Benefits

Through the generosity of program sponsors, the Architect is provided with free hosting for their MUSH-in-development during their 12 months, as well as special access to program alumni and mentors, recognition/publicity for their MUSH, and a small stipend on completion of the program.

Eligibility

The Architect-in-Residence program is open to anyone interested in developing a new MUSH who will be taking a "God" or "Head Wizard" or similar role. The MUSH-in-development can use any MUSH server flavor (e.g. PennMUSH, TinyMUSH, TinyMUX, Rhost, etc.), but hosting support may depend on the server chosen.

Application

To apply for an Architect-in-Residence award, please send the following materials to Javelin at <dunemush@pennmush.org> at any time:
  1. A plan for the MUSH-to-be-developed as part of the program. This plan should include information about the MUSH's theme, focus, server flavor (if known), administrative staff, etc. A development/operations timetable for the 12 months of the residence is highly recommended.
  2. A tentative curriculum for six educational programs to be given at M*U*S*H during the residence period. It is expected that this curriculum will be further developed with Javelin if the application is accepted, and does not constitute a binding commitment.
  3. A MUSH "resume/vita", or other list of MUSH experiences (including playing, IC leadership, adminstration, or anything else you think is relevant)
  4. (Optional) A list of any M*U*S*H administrators, M*U*S*H players, or other well-known figures in the MUSH community who you would prefer not be asked to review the proposal.
  5. (Optional) If you have a preferred hosting company, and they have agreed to provide 12 months of development MUSH hosting contigent on your residence, provide contact details for the hosting company.
Applications will be evaluated by Javelin and two external reviewers. External reviewers will be chosen individually for each proposal, and will not be identified to the applicant, but are expected to keep applications confidential. Applications will be evaluated by reviewers on the following criteria, equally weighted:
  1. The quality of the MUSH plan. Does the applicant propose to create a MUSH that is likely to be innovative and to attract a player base? Will this become a "significant" MUSH in its genre?
  2. The quality of the educational curriculum. Does the applicant propose a set of programs that are likely to be interesting, novel, and educational? Are appropriate methods chosen for presentations?
  3. The applicant's background. Based on the applicant's prior experiences, is the applicant likely to successfully complete the program?
Javelin makes the final decision about which applications will be accepted. In addition to the above criteria, he may also consider feasibility issues (e.g., the availability of donated hosting, the number of current Architects in the program, etc.)

Javelin would be happy to discuss early drafts of applications with potential applicants and offer constructive criticism.

Architects-in-Residence

The following are those who have been accepted into the Architect-in-Residence program:

Program Sponsors

 The following MUSH hosting companies, in alphabetical order, have agreed to serve as sponsors for Architects-in-Residence (thank you!): If you are a MUSH hosting company who can commit to donating 12 months of a development MUSH account, you can become a sponsor of the Architect-in-Residence program. Sponsor benefits include not only the public relations opportunity of being associated with the program and recognized (loudly and publicly) as a sponsor, but also the opportunity to make an investment in a new MUSH and in development of leadership in the larger MUSH community. Interested sponsors should contact Javelin at <dunemush@pennmush.org>
This announcement was last updated on 27 October 2003.

Sponsored by these fine companies and others: