Ball State University’s College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM) has welcomed accomplished animator, game creator, and entrepreneur Ben Vu, ’00, back to campus this Fall as the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Visiting Expert in Residence for Media.
The Visiting Expert in Residence initiative brings media industry professionals to Ball State to share current practices and perspectives with students in and out of the classroom. Visiting experts teach specialized courses and engage with students through classroom visits, presentations, mentoring, and other opportunities. Recent visiting experts have included actors and producers David and Christina Arquette, visual effects producer Knhik Haefner, and cinematographer Kaline Schounce.
“One of the greatest benefits of this residency is that our students are learning directly from experts who are still actively working in these industries,” said Suzy Smith, department chair of the Department of Media. “They’re able to bring real-world examples, current challenges, and insights into the classroom that couldn’t be more relevant. In an industry landscape that is constantly changing, that kind of firsthand perspective is incredibly valuable to our students.”
A CCIM graduate in telecommunications, Mr. Vu is known for his animation work on the Academy Award-nominated film Coraline and as the creator of the BATTLE BEARS game series, which has generated more than 40 million downloads worldwide. His career spans feature animation, game development, production, entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence—disciplines that increasingly intersect as students prepare for careers across the creative industries.
“CCIM students are preparing to enter the creative industries at a pivotal moment,” Mr. Vu said. “My goal is to share not only the production methods and emerging technologies we’re using today, but also the hard lessons I’ve learned over more than two decades in animation, games, and entrepreneurship.”
For his residency, Mr. Vu developed and is teaching two specialty courses: MDIA 288: Story for Film and Games, exploring visual storytelling and professional production workflows across film, animation, and interactive media; and MDIA 299X: To AI or Not AI, a three-credit course in which students compare traditional production methods with emerging generative AI workflows and critically evaluate the strengths, limitations, and implications of both.
During the week of Sept. 21, Mr. Vu will visit additional classes and participate in a larger presentation for the CCIM community, offering even more students the opportunity to learn from his experience in the gaming and app development industries.
“It has been incredibly meaningful to return to Ball State and work with the next generation of media creators,” Mr. Vu said. “I began discovering my own path here as a student, so having the opportunity to come back decades later and help CCIM students discover theirs is very special to me.”
The Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Visiting Expert in Residence for Media initiative is sponsored by the
Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation.