MEDIA
PLAYING WITH PERSPECTIVES: Play Nice - Empathy at the Heart of Design [Keynote] (2022)
On Friday, 2 December 2022 at 3:00p CST, University of Connecticut professor Dr. Stephen Slota gave a keynote address at the Playing with Perspectives Symposium hosted by Texas Christian University. The presentation, titled 'Play Nice: Empathy at the Heart of Design,' described subjectivity and identity; individuals' positioning within and between complex systems; the relationship between empathy and perspective-taking; authorial intent; three levels of narrative; storytelling in contemporary transmedia properties; collaborative worldbuilding; and best practices for high-quality storytelling in education, training, and game design.
OH, THE HUMANITY: Humanities Games in a STEM World [Plenary Discussion] (2022)
Plenary discussion titled 'Oh the Humanity!': Games, Play, & the Humanities in a STEM-Focused World' at the Frontiers in Playful Learning (2022) conference hosted 2 June 2022 at the University of Connecticut (ITE Building Room C80). Moderator: Stephen Slota. Panelists: Roger Travis, Trent Hergenrader, Drew John Ladd, Wendi Sierra, James Coltrain.
COLLABORATIVE WORLDBUILDING: Creative Approaches for Teaching Critical Thinking (2022)
Presentation titled Collaborative Worldbuilding: Creative Approaches for Teaching Critical Thinking for the Frontiers in Playful Learning (2022) conference delivered by Trent Hergenrader on 2 June 2022 at the University of Connecticut (ITE Room 119).
COLLABORATIVE WORLDBUILDING: Conversation with Trent Hergenrader & Stephen Slota (2021)
On 25 March 2021, the University of Connecticut's Digital Media & Design DMD3522: Interactive Storytelling and EPSY5266: Instructional Media & Game Design courses (led by Dr. Stephen Slota, UConn Assistant Professor-in Residence of Educational Technology) hosted a synchronous online conversation with Rochester Institute of Technology's Dr. Trent Hergenrader, professor of creative writing and author of the (2018) text 'Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers.' Among topics discussed: 1) Story breadth, scope, structure, and perspective; 2) Pedagogical affordances of collaborative worldbuilding and roleplaying for K-12 and higher education classrooms; 3) Use of collaborative worldbuilding as a lens for understanding history, policy, culture, and personal identity; and 4) Comparisons of scripted vs. emergent narrative and affordances of both for teaching/learning and game design. Some of the specific games/media we discussed include: Valheim, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, Spelunky, Supergiant Games' Hades, Dungeons & Dragons, Fiasco, The Last of Us, Gears of War, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, Star Wars, Dark Souls, The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones
SOMETHING WITTY ABOUT STORIES: Emergent vs Fixed Narrative (2021)
On Friday, 23 April 2021, the University of Connecticut Game Development Club hosted a synchronous online conversation with Dr. Stephen Slota (Assistant Professor in Residence of Educational Technology, co-administrator of the UConn Educational Technology Program, and co-administrator within the UConn Digital Media & Design Game Design Program). Among topics discussed: 1) Definitions of 'game,' 'narrative,' and 'instructional game design'; 2) Authorial Intent vs. Death of the Author; 3) The 'Three Levels of Narrative' (i.e., Narrative-as-Designed, Narrative-as-Perceived, Narrative-as-Social Organizer); 4) Situated cognition, ecological psychology, life-worlds, and applications of learning science to game and narrative design; 5) 'The Intentional Spring' and its relevance in education, game design, and storytelling; 6) Definitions for 'fixed' vs. 'emergent' narrative (including various examples); 7) Practical applications of the ADDIE instructional design model to narrative and game design; 8) 1:1 alignment of learning and game/play objectives as grounded in a situated understanding of thinking and learning; 9) Strategies to apply 'fixed' vs. 'emergent' narrative in an instructional (game or otherwise) context (e.g., objective crosswalks, Courtroom 600, EOS-503); and 10) Communities of Practice and their emergence/evolution through spacetime.
THE GAY AGENDA: The Power of History as Storytelling (2021)
On Thursday, 22 April 2021, the University of Connecticut's Digital Media & Design DMD3522: Interactive Storytelling and EPSY5266: Instructional Media & Game Design courses (led by Dr. Stephen Slota, UConn Assistant Professor-in-Residence of Educational Technology) hosted a synchronous online conversation with public historian Nuri Sherif (they/them). Through a brief examination of queer history and its use on the contemporary sociopolitical stage, this discussion explored: 1) how historians and others who engage in the production of history (including teachers and designers) construct the stories they tell; and 2) how we can (and should) ethically tell historical stories—understanding history as both ‘what happened' as well as the narrative of what happened. Participants were encouraged to identify and weave together key elements of ethical storytelling to better appreciate the power of the past and its potential to shape the future.
SERIOUS GAMES: Social Implications of Design (2021)
On 23 September 2020, the University of Connecticut's Digital Media & Design DMD3998/5998: Serious Games course (led by Dr. Stephen Slota, UConn Assistant Professor-in Residence of Educational Technology) engaged in a synchronous online discussion about Social Implications of Design; including: 1) violence, gender/sexism, racism, ableism, and other challenges in digital environments (e.g., online games, movies, television, writing), and 2) how we can build prosocial, collaborative communities of practice that lead to positive and just social outcomes. The conversation featured two special guests—Drew John Ladd (Connecticut civil rights activist, author, public speaker, UConn alumnus, and unabashed gamer) and Andrea Kelley (UConn alumnus and current Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor Lecturer of Sociology whose research focuses on health, identity, and gender/sexualities)—who shared their experiences with and thoughts on the intersection of race, gender/sexuality, and more in the context of face-to-face/online/hybrid environments.
COLLABORATIVE WORLDBUILDING: A Short Introduction to the World Modeling Process (2020)
A series of educational videos describing the concepts and content in the book Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers. Among other topics, this video playlist answers the questions: What is a “world”? What is “worldbuilding”? And what is “collaborative worldbuilding”? It also elaborates on how to apply the Collaborative Worldbuilding Card Deck.
These videos were produced for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s ENGL 386 - Worldbuilding Workshop course during the Fall 2020 semester.
WORLDBUILDING & EDUCATION: Conversation with Trent Hergenrader & Bryan Alexander (2020)
How can we teach with emerging forms of technology-enabled creativity? On 1 May 2020, The Future Trends Forum met with Rochester Institute of Technology professor Trent Hergenrader, author of Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers. Moderator Bryan Alexander interviewed Trent about his use of gaming, fan culture, and creating fictional worlds in the classroom.
WORLD SCAFFOLDING: How to Avoid Worldbuilding Plotholes (2019)
Worldbuilding Plotholes are a big pain - but Dr. Trent Hergenrader (yes, a REAL LIFE professor of Worldbuilding) from Rochester Institute of Technology, NY and Janet from World Anvil discuss what they are, how to avoid them, and if you even need to! Trent Hergenrader is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. He teaches worldbuilding modules and this semester he’s using World Anvil to teach his class! His fiction writing has appeared in such places as Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, and Best Horror of the Year #1. He is co-editor of Creative Writing in the Digital Age (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Creative Writing Innovations (Bloomsbury, 2017). His book “Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers” was published in October last year by Bloomsbury and was an instant success.
GAMING GURUS: Building Games for the Real World (2014)
What do Super Mario Bros.'s plucky plumber, Portal's GLaDOS, and Warcraft's Thrall have in common? Believe it or not, they—and their video game contemporaries—rank among some of the best teachers we have. Since 2009, playful learning scholars Trent Hergenrader, Stephen Slota, Roger Travis, and Michael F. Young have examined the relationship between popular games, learning science, and interactive storytelling practices in hopes of shaping the way schools and businesses approach instruction. This presentation provides insight into their recommendations for future game-based learning research and draws attention to potential development options for both corporate and academic environments.