Are games disinformation tools?

The Disinformation and Games Research Group (Concordia University) will he hosting an online panel discussion on “Are Games Disinformation Tools?” on Friday, 17 March 2023 at 1200 EST.

Focused on the overlap of disinformation and games, this panel discusses the state of research in the field, areas in need of attention, and how to not only study but make an impact in this key area. The panel also signifies the launch of the Games and Disinformation Research Project at Concordia University and the establishment of a global network of scholars pursuing work in this area.

Dr. Adrienne Massanari: an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at American University. Prior to joining AU she was Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and affiliate faculty in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research interests include digital culture, online communities, platform politics, game studies, pop culture, and gender and race online. She is currently working on a book for MIT Press (Gaming Democracy: How Silicon Valley Leveled Up the Alt-Right) that discusses how Silicon Valley’s culture and politics contributed to the rise of the alt-right. Her 2015 book, Participatory Culture, Community, and Play: Learning from Reddit (Peter Lang), explored the unique culture of Reddit.com.

Dr. Lindsay Grace: Knight Chair in Interactive Media and an associate professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. He is Vice President for the Higher Education Video Game Alliance and the 2019 recipient of the Games for Change Vanguard award. Lindsay’s book, Doing Things with Games, Social Impact through Design, is a well-received guide to game design. In 2020, he edited and authored Love and Electronic Affection: A Design Primer on designing love and affection in games. In 2021 he published the Amazon best seller, Black Game Studies: An Introduction to the Games, Game Makers and Scholarship of the African Diaspora.

Dr. Rachel Kowert: a research psychologist and the Research Director of Take This. She is a world-renowned researcher on the uses and effects of digital games, including their impact on physical, social, and psychological well-being. In her current work, she serves as one of the primary investigators on the first grant-funded project from the Department of Homeland Security about games and extremism. http://www.rkowert.com. 

Étienne Quintal: the Manager of the Online Hate Research & Education Project. His research work is particularly focused on understanding the ways in which hate is promoted by and for young people. Based in Toronto, Étienne holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and recently completed a Master’s degree studying the use of emerging social media platforms by youth-oriented hate groups. 

Dr. Mia Consalvo: a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design at Concordia University in Montreal. She is the co-author of Real Games: What’s Legitimate and What’s Not in Contemporary Videogames (2019) and Players and their Pets: Gaming Communities from Beta to Sunset (2015). Mia runs the mLab, a space dedicated to developing innovative methods for studying games and game players. She is the Past President of the Digital Games Research Association, and has held positions at MIT, Ohio University, Chubu University in Japan and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

You can register for the event via Eventbrite.