Enjoy our Fall 2021 roundtable in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series! This roundtable features a discussion on the transformative power of role-playing games with Whitney “Strix” Beltran, Johanna Koljonen, Diana J. Leonard, Jaakko Stenros and Allen Turner. Stay tuned for future events.
Moderated by Josefin Westborg. Originally recorded November 9, 2021.
Presenter bios:
Whitney “Strix” Beltrán is a multiple award winning narrative designer for video games and TTRPGs. She is the Project Narrative Director at Hidden Path Entertainment, on an unannounced AAA Dungeons & Dragons title. She holds a Master’s degree in Mythology and Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara. Learn more at http://www.strixwerks.com/
Johanna Koljonen (co-founder, Participation Design Agency) is an experience designer, theorist and strategic consultant, and an expert in designing for safe and enthusiastic participation. She lectures internationally on participatory storytelling and on the future of the audiovisual industries, as well as advising cultural institutions as well as public and private sector clients on participation and immersive experiences. An occasional writer of drama, comics, and digital games, she serves on the board of the Swedish Film Institute. In 2011, she received the Swedish Grand Journalism Award in the Innovator category. Her latest book is the edited anthology Larp Design: Creating Role-Play Experiences (2019). For more information, visit https://www.participation.design/
Diana J. Leonard received her PhD in Psychology at UC Santa Barbara in 2012, and is currently Associate Professor of Psychology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. While working on her PhD in an intergroup emotions lab, Leonard joined the Southern California cinematic boffer larp community, where she currently serves as a storyteller and community manager for the post-apocalyptic larp Apocalypse 47. Dr. Leonard’s research agenda blends practice with scholarship: she applies social psychology theory and methodology to the study of larp group dynamics. Meanwhile, as an educator and larp designer, she uses elements of role-play to empower students and larpers alike to explore marginalized identities in and out of the classroom.
Jaakko Stenros (PhD) is a University Lecturer in Game Studies at Tampere University. He has published nine books and over 50 articles and reports and has taught game studies for a decade. Stenros studies play and games; his research interests include norm-defying play, game jams, queer play, role-playing games, pervasive games, game rules, and playfulness. Stenros has also collaborated with artists and designers to create ludic experiences and he has curated exhibitions at the Finnish Museum of Games.
Allen Turner is a game designer, storyteller, artist, author, composer and performer who has been involved in storytelling and education most of his adult life. He teaches game and design at DePaul University and runs the DePaul Originals Game Studio. He believes in the power of play and story as fundamental, powerful medicines which shape our sense of self, relationships, and our connection to the cosmos. He extols play as a learning tool via workshops and projects, for bringing games and game-like learning into our everyday lives to give a sense of progression and purpose, and as rites of passage.