Colleen Macklin, Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media and Technology
at Parsons The New School for Design and Director of PETLab

(Just kidding.) This is not a talk about how much time is wasted playing games when you could be doing something else—like saving the world. (Although you can  combine the two). Instead, Macklin will talk about how making games could actually be the key to world peace—or at least offer a deeper understanding of complex problems and what we can do to solve them.

The only catch? Making games is hard. At times, soul-crushingly hard. Drawing on her vast experiences, Macklin will explain how recent developments in game design curricula, software, and new tools have helped cushion the pain and  complexity of game design—perhaps even making it fun. She’ll probe how the rise of
indie game design is changing the way games—and game designers—are perceived culturally; and how game design is becoming not just an art form, but a one of the liberal arts of the 21st century. This state-of-play talk will link the activities of learning, play and design through a survey of exciting new ideas, projects and products, all from the perspective of an optimistic game designer, educator, and fan of the videogame form. [Recorded April 18, 2012]