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Scott Nicholson

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Steve Wilcox

The Game Design and Development program at Wilfrid Laurier University was launched in 2015 with the goal of helping students to learn how to create meaningful games through critical design concepts. During this presentation, Scott Nicholson and Steve Wilcox, the first two faculty members hired for the program, will talk about the development of the program, the curriculum, the challenges in encouraging students to find their voices in creating meaningful games, the continual fight against the assumptions by parents, students and administration about what games are, and some of the games created by students during the program.

Attendee Benefits

Attendees will learn about lessons learned over 8 years of building and running a University program focused on meaningful and critical game design.  They will learn the importance of teaching students to not only make games that can make a difference, but also how to incorporate critical design concepts so that the students will ask important questions about the impact of games they play and create and become more thoughtful creators.