Prof. Gerald Voorhees Wins SSHRC Connections Grant

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Gerald Voorhees is the principle applicant on a successful SSHRC Connections Grant, “ADE for Games Communities: Enculturing anti-racism, decolonization, equity, diversity, and inclusion (ADE) in games research and creation” that has been awarded $47,300. The grant will fund a year-long knowledge mobilization initiative in collaboration with the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo that consists of a series of 8 speakers and 8 workshophanas (including in-person and online events) taking place over the course of the 2023 academic year. 

Our initiative centres the voices of individuals from equity-deserving groups (including, but not limited to, Black and Indigenous individuals, people of colour, women-identified individuals, LGBTQ2S+ individuals, persons with disabilities, and people from other under-represented communities) who are willing to share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives towards advancing ADE principles. Speakers and workshop leaders will address questions such as: How do we make anti-racism, decolonization, and equity vital elements of the research and development of games and playable media? Why/how should the specific racialized experiences of Indigenous, Black, and other people of colour inform the questions we ask in our research? What can we do to ensure that the methods and approaches we practice in our scholarship and creative work are respectful and responsive to the needs of the marginalized communities? Where do the logics and imperatives of colonialism still inform and impede how our critical approaches address inequalities related to race, gender, Indigeneity, ability, etc.?

Taken together, these questions offer an opportunity to deliberately engage with the systemic barriers and exclusions that continue to be articulated within games scholarship and games communities. Hopefully, these activities will 1. Provide a platform for a diverse group of academic and industry researchers, practitioners, and students to foster dialogue and promote public discourse on how we might better incorporate ADE across our games research and creation. 2. Create training and networking opportunities for young games scholars and practitioners while providing them with the language, practices, and tools to address current barriers and exclusions in the games industry. 3. Normalize and extend sustainable, community-oriented games cultures that value diverse perspectives experiences.