Hey at least we're both back here xD
Game design is pretty big all in all. Not so much in terms of how it looks like game art (which I'm also working on), but it's more to do with how the game works - what's the story, who are the characters, map design and what goes on the map, how does the player win/lose the game, User interface - all the kinda stuff.
VR is pretty new and it hasn't been really touched under academic teachy-ness I guess. But my lecturers are hella keen on letting us make games with VR since we have a few Oculus Rifts - and they were pretty chill with me doing my master's thesis on it xD