Gaming + Ethiopian Teens = Stronger Together
Researcher Jessica Hammer on Designing Games to Strengthen the Social Lives of Girls
Personal Best is a new event series presented by NYU Game Center which showcases the best practices of contemporary women game designers and researchers through a feminist lens. Co-created by Game Center MFA candidate, Toni Pizza and Graduate Assistant to the NYU Poly Game Innovation Lab, Sarah Schoemann in partnership with NYU Game Center faculty and staff.
Jessica Hammer, a Columbia University researcher, veteran game designer and teacher, will share about her current work on Stronger Together, a games-based youth education program based in Ethiopia, created in partnership with the NGO Girl Affect. Hammer will discuss her work on the design of Stronger Together’s pilot program, which works with teenage girls to practice emotional skills and forge social connections with each other through gameplay. Join us to learn why Hammer saw games as the perfect medium for exploring and strengthening social relationships between girls and to hear her insights into the complex process of designing effective games that also serve as research and facilitation tools.
[EXPAND Read More about Jessica Hammer]Jessica Hammer is a Mellon Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Fellow at Columbia University, a founding member of the Teachers College EGGPLANT game research laboratory and a member of the Creativity Research Group. She is the lead designer and researcher for the Advance game project, on which she is writing her dissertation. Her larger research interests include stories, games, communities, gender, creativity and learning. She also developed the game design course sequence for the Communications, Computing and Technology program at Teachers College Columbia University. Before joining the department, Jessica worked as a writer, consultant and game designer with an emphasis on serious games and social software. She has taught at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, consulted for both academic and business clients, and worked at noted New York game company Gamelab. She received a masters degree in interactive telecommunications from NYU and her BA in computer science from Harvard University. In her free time, she runs an experimental storytelling group in New York City. [/EXPAND]
When: Tuesday, February 19, 7:00pm, Where: 721 Broadway, 9th Floor Lobby
Event is free and open to the public.
Stay tuned for a second event this March or join the Game Center email list for more information.