The Games Institute (GI) is concerned with the entire research process as a continuum. All stages in the process are conducted by human beings doing their work in the contexts of all aspects of their jobs, their lives, their collaborators and teams, and the societies and cultures in which they live and where impact of the research may be seen. Hence, the GI is about the researcher, with a holistic view of how research works and how researchers make it happen. To this end, the GI values traditional outputs of university research – conference talks, journal articles, scholarly books, etc. – equally to the implementation of collaborative projects, the management of research teams, the applications for funding whether or not the funding is granted, and the follow through of research results to determine how they might affect audiences both inside and outside the academy.
The focus is on the full research process and, with it, the stories that emerge from this process–valuing innovation and thinking outside the box in both research and its dissemination. The GI places major importance on the well-being of its members with the ultimate goal that they feel welcome, they are treated well, and learn from each other and their experiences. Researchers guide the GI, and it’s the Institute’s goal to provide the best possible environment – physically, socially, and culturally – for their work.
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Games and Interactive Media Studies;
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Games and Interaction Science; and
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Games and Interactive Media for Special Purposes.
The GI’s researchers work within these major clusters. While these clusters, on the surface, focus on either the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), Health, or the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, the interdisciplinary basis of the GI has seen each cluster welcome members from any discipline as their research interests coincide. Found below is a select few of GI member projects to highlight how their work contributes to these three clusters.
Games and Interactive Media Studies
Games and Interactive Media Studies covers a range of sub-disciplines which, in themselves, have developed as constellations of disciplines largely in the humanities and social sciences. This cluster incorporates game studies, primarily a humanities-based exploration of games and game culture, with digital media studies, a set of linked areas driven primarily by exploring digital interactions, our current media landscape, and media interventions. This cluster also examines the ever-increasing range of issues surrounding art, culture, and human behaviour.
Game and Interaction Science
Games and Interaction Science covers research in STEM and Health disciplines which is often complemented by the social sciences and the humanities. This cluster studies the multimodal and multisensory means players use to interact with their games and how viewers of virtual reality, augmented reality, and other interactive immersive media engage with their virtual experiences. This cluster also looks at feminist principles in design and how technology should be evolving with anti-racism, decolonization, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront. It also studies player accessibility as well as user interactions with technology and human behaviour.
Games and Interactive Media for Special Purposes
Games and Interactive Media for Special Purposes is a cluster derived from the concept of purposeful games and expanded to include game-driven simulations in any immersive media. The GI was created, in part, because of the belief shared by all founders that games can teach. This cluster requires strong interdisciplinary collaboration, and, in a very real sense, draws together the two clusters described above. In particular, researchers considering games and interactive media for special purposes focus their projects, among others, on knowledge translation and mobilization, health applications, social justice intiatives, ethical design of technology and media, and other activities taking games and immersive media beyond screens for entertainment alone.