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UCI News: “Games + Learning + Society Conference set for June 2022 on UCI campus”

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Relaunched event to focus on gaming’s role in confronting systemic challenges

The Games + Learning + Society Conference, convening June 15 to 17, 2022, on the UCI campus, will bring together video game researchers and developers from around the world to explore the state of the art in gaming. A special focus of the event will be the role games play in addressing challenges facing the environment, the economy and society as a whole. Games + Learning + Society Center

Videogame research and development experts at the University of California, Irvine are inviting the world’s gaming community to the Games + Learning + Society Conference to be held June 15 to 17, 2022, on the UCI campus.

Keynote speakers are Raph Koster, CEO of Playable Worlds; Erica Halverson, professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of How the Arts Can Save Education: Transforming Teaching, Learning, and Instruction; and Aaron Trammel, UCI assistant professor of informatics in the game design and interactive media program.

Steinkuehler
“In addition to numerous opportunities to learn, network and connect, the conference will feature many of our signature community events but now with a SoCal flair,” said conference chair Constance Steinkuehler, UCI professor of informatics and chair of the game design and interactive media program. Steve Zylius / UCI

“The GLS Conference has been going strong since 2005, and we are excited to be presenting it for the first time here in Southern California, home to the nation’s biggest global entertainment and interactive media community,” said conference chair Constance Steinkuehler, UCI professor of informatics and chair of the game design and interactive media program.

“Our next meeting promises to be particularly impactful as we reconvene our industry and academic colleagues to tackle the multiple challenges we now face nationally: environmental, educational and economic health inequities; anti-democratic rhetoric online; racial injustice; and an all-time low in trust in our shared systems and each other,” she added. “How do we make games part of our solution instead of part of our problem?”

Conference organizers are calling for game research and development proposals to be submitted by Feb. 1. Participants may submit original games in advance for attendees to play in the GLS arcade during the three days of the conference. These games will automatically be included in the judging by a panel of industry and academic experts, with prizes to be awarded at a ceremony. Authors and presenters will be notified of the acceptance of their proposals by March 18.

The event will incorporate individual, peer-reviewed paper presentations; panel discussions and symposia on important conference themes; interactive posters; and, of course, fireside chats with luminaries in the field. Confirmed speakers include Henry Jenkins, Provost Professor of communication, journalism, cinematic arts and education at USC; and Noah Falstein, former chief game designer at Google.

“GLS 2022 will be held in our newly renovated conference center at the heart of the UCI campus,” Steinkuehler said. “In addition to numerous opportunities to learn, network and connect, the conference will feature many of our signature community events but now with a SoCal flair.”

Attendees may take part in a lively game design showcase on the UCI Conference Center terrace, an evening of live music and food trucks in UCI’s hallmark Aldrich Park, and a sunset barbecue on Doheny Beach.

“Expect our usual: academically rigorous content and community festival rolled into one,” Steinkuehler said. “We cannot wait to host everyone!”

Full details, submission templates and contact links are available on the GLS 2022 website.

Originally published at UCI News.

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