Interdisciplinary Panel on Games for Social Change at Etmaal 2015

PGiC group will be participating at the Etmaal 2015 conference with a panel on Games for Social Change. The ETMAAL (24 Hours of Communication Sciences) is an annual conference organised under the patronage of NeFCA, the Netherlands Flanders Communication Association, which brings together communication scholars from Flanders, the Netherlands and beyond. The objective is to exchange research findings and discuss emerging topics.

Our panel Games for Social Change aims to advance our understanding of digital games that combine the dissemination of information with attempts to engage players in particular behaviours and attitudes.The panel is research-based in order to highlight the contribution academic work can pay to the development of this field of social practices. As panelists we are convinced that an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to advance our understanding. Too often, however, interdisciplinarity has remained an abstract principle and a distant goal in research. Therefore this panel approaches interdisciplinarity in two ways. First, by profiting from the fact that all panelist work in interdisciplinary teams which guarantees that their research is understandable for scholars from different backgrounds. Second, by linking theory and research to case studies. The in-depth analysis of case of actual games helps to account for the combined influence of the game’s content, its context of play and the intended effect of the game.

The panel will be composed by the following contributions:

Introduction: the Why and How of Games for Social Change
Jeroen Jansz & Joyce Neys (ERMeCC, EUR)

The Role of Endocentric Persuasion in Games for Social Change
Teresa de la Hera Conde-Pumpido (Media Studies, Utrecht University)

User Centered Design
Ben Schouten & Martijn Kors (Industrial Design, TU/e)

Best practices for interdisciplinary research supporting the development of digital games for personal empowerment and social inclusion
Jan Van Looy, with Lizzy Bleumers, Ilse Mariën, James Stewart, Dana Schurmans, Anissa All

The Friendly ATTAC project: creating a serious game as intervention against cyberbullying with adolescents
Sara Bastiaensens, Katrien Van Cleemput, Steven Malliet, Heidi Vandebosch, Karolien Poels, Gie Deboutte, Ann DeSmet, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Frederik Van Broeckhoven, Edgar O. Cebolledo Gutierrez, Olga De Troyer, Olivier Janssens, Gaetan Deglorie, Samuel Eeckhaut, Koen Samyn, Sofie Van Hoecke

A Model of Persuasive Gaming in Context
Ruud Jacobs, MSc (ERMeCC, EUR)

The 2015 edition of the Etmaal is organised by the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Antwerp and will take place the 2nd and 3rd of February.