Playing for change: crafting creative intersections between social justice, non-fiction storytelling and gameful design

This dissertation consists of two distinct but intimately related parts that I will designate: "Practice" and "Reflection." These two components, in turn, are based on a portfolio of design work assembled over the past several years. This electronic document, created using the authoring platform Scalar, negotiates a middle ground between these two models of scholarly practice. Whereas, the bulk of my "Practice" component took place in real time and space, the product of (sometimes ongoing) collaboration with design teams and communities of player-users, the "Reflection" component has taken various forms, ranging from written documents and reports, to proposals for funding and scholarly publications. ❧ This work spans research interests that include “serious,” documentary, and “art” games; interactive and expanded documentary; gameful design as strategy and language in contemporary culture; ubiquitous and locative experience design; modes of transmedia storytelling, production and activism; game-based learning; value-centric and participatory design; the expanding roles and responsibilities of public media to inform, innovate and advocate; and the creative application of theories of social justice such as anti-oppression and ethical spectacle. ❧ I introduce three Critical Lenses for further understanding the design practices documented in this dissertation, and I showcase a series of Exemplars created collaboratively with members of the USC and Take Action Games communities. These exemplars are representative of the interconnections that I am interested in between non-fiction storytelling, social justice activism, and gameful design. A closer look at my methodology is provided by the Case Study section, which describes the production of a transmedia project in partnership with The Independent Television Service (ITVS). The ways in which my practice has lead to intellectual and creative pay-offs are explicated in the Lessons Revealed section and in conclusion, next steps are briefly discussed in Future Directions.