I am an Associate Professor in Game Design and Development in the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences at Wilfrid Laurier University. I am also affiliated with Laurier's Community Psychology graduate program, where I supervise graduate students. I have a Ph.D. in Information from the University of Toronto, a Master of Arts in Media Production from Toronto Metropolitan University, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Video Production from York University.
Scholarly practice:
I research autobiographical game design as a creative practice supporting mental health. As a qualitative researcher drawing from participatory-action, arts-based, and phenomenological methods, I organize game jams to study the creative processes of game designers from marginalized and high-risk communities. My research contributions are in the fields of health/medical humanities, as well as human-computer interaction (HCI). I have published on various topics, including games for health, abstract board games, machinima filmmaking, and autism in virtual worlds. My first book, Arts for Health: Games, is published by Emerald Publishing. My second book, Game Design Therapoetics, is under contract with the University of California Health Humanities Press (UCSF).
I am also the lead researcher on an arts-based study exploring how adults living with opioid addiction harness game-based storytelling to support their recovery, funded by Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This research can be found on www.RecoveryGameCafe.com.
Multimedia practice:
I have at least 10 years of experience working as an independent documentary filmmaker and multimedia artist/designer. My documentary machinima, "Second Bodies," on female self-image, avatar identity, and mental health/disability, won Best Documentary at the New Media Film Festival in San Francisco and the Gordon F. Keeble Award at Toronto Metropolitan University. My previous documentaries explored immigrant narratives set within historical and contemporary contexts; Portrait of a Street: The Soul and Spirit of College (funded by the National Film Board of Canada and Toronto Arts Council) and Just Arrived (commissioned by Rogers Media) were respectively broadcast on PBS and Rogers OMNI Television.
Scholarly practice:
I research autobiographical game design as a creative practice supporting mental health. As a qualitative researcher drawing from participatory-action, arts-based, and phenomenological methods, I organize game jams to study the creative processes of game designers from marginalized and high-risk communities. My research contributions are in the fields of health/medical humanities, as well as human-computer interaction (HCI). I have published on various topics, including games for health, abstract board games, machinima filmmaking, and autism in virtual worlds. My first book, Arts for Health: Games, is published by Emerald Publishing. My second book, Game Design Therapoetics, is under contract with the University of California Health Humanities Press (UCSF).
I am also the lead researcher on an arts-based study exploring how adults living with opioid addiction harness game-based storytelling to support their recovery, funded by Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This research can be found on www.RecoveryGameCafe.com.
Multimedia practice:
I have at least 10 years of experience working as an independent documentary filmmaker and multimedia artist/designer. My documentary machinima, "Second Bodies," on female self-image, avatar identity, and mental health/disability, won Best Documentary at the New Media Film Festival in San Francisco and the Gordon F. Keeble Award at Toronto Metropolitan University. My previous documentaries explored immigrant narratives set within historical and contemporary contexts; Portrait of a Street: The Soul and Spirit of College (funded by the National Film Board of Canada and Toronto Arts Council) and Just Arrived (commissioned by Rogers Media) were respectively broadcast on PBS and Rogers OMNI Television.