UNB PhD Candidate Explains Pokemon GO : It May Be What Breaks Gamer Stereotypes for Good

Pokémon GO has this month become a global sensation, an obsession for untold millions, a cultural phenomenon, and all while free to play. Nathan Thompson of Fredericton is pursuing his doctorate in sociology at the University of New Brunswick and is a lifelong gamer. He says Pokémon GO may be just the thing to finally dispel the notion that all gamers are basement-dwelling, sedentary stereotypes.

Thompson says most folks under 35 already knew the world of Pokémon. But the Pokémon GO explosion has spread the fun to all age groups and personality types, while getting them outdoors in new environments and socializing in ways they might never have done.

He says, contrary to what some critics have proposed, the app is part of a new reality and new paradigms of socialization, and not evidence of increasing self-absorption.

This month, The University of New Brunswick learned it's among the top four percent of degree-granting institutions of higher learning in the world, according to a newly released global ranking.

This year’s tally by the Center for World University Rankings, the largest academic ranking of global universities, places UNB at 882 among the more than 25,000 institutions eligible.

In ranking the world’s top institutions of higher learning, the centre evaluates areas such as quality of the education provided, employment of alumni, quality of faculty, research citations and patents.