This lecture by Sarah Lynne Bowman gives a brief introduction to identity and role-playing games. Bowman describes common notions of identity as stable and consistent, as well as how shifting identity in daily life can be seen as destabilizing psychologically. She then discusses social psychological and psychodynamic approaches to understanding the fluidity of identities within each person. Bowman briefly explains the ways in which role-playing games allow participants to shift identity with fewer social consequences, permitting them to have experiences of identity that potentially can lead to long-term transformation. She discusses the 9 Types of Characters categorized in her ethnographic work (2010), focusing on the way participants describe their relationship to the character with regard to identity.
Bio: Sarah Lynne Bowman, Ph.D. is a scholar, game designer, and event organizer. She is an Associate Professor for the Department of Game Design at Uppsala University Campus Gotland and the Coordinator for Peace & Conflict Studies at Austin Community College. McFarland Press published her dissertation as The Functions of Role-playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems, and Explore Identity (2010). Bowman has edited for The Wyrd Con Companion Book (2012-2015), the International Journal of Role-playing (2016-), and Nordiclarp.org (2015-). She helped organize the Living Games Conference (2014, 2016, 2018) and Role-playing and Simulation in Education Conference (2016, 2018).