Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Video Games

• In Event: The Messy Intersection of Games and Governance, Both Within and Surrounding Games (High-Density)

Abstract

Video games are an increasingly popular vehicle among government agencies and offices seeking novel means for engaging, educating, and leveraging citizens. Efforts to incorporate games in government-funded programs range in topics from childhood obesity reduction to increasing science engagement to training soldiers to catalyzing scientific discovery. Games for impact are no longer only the purview of private foundations seeking to reach a younger audience; they are now a visible component of political campaigns, outreach efforts of multiple federal agencies, science programs, military recruitment efforts, and even local, civic efforts to clean up streets and repair neighborhoods. This presentation details the history of these efforts, the stakeholders within this space, the rhetorical framing of games in the context of government and governance, and the issues such efforts raise in terms of the design and implementation of interactive, participatory media aimed at augmenting or replacing traditional definitions of policy (Lastowka & Steinkuehler, 2014).

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Constance Steinkuehler a Professor in Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Higher Education Videogames Alliance (HEVGA), an organization that supports the cultural, scientific, and economic importance of video game programs in colleges and universities. In 2011-2012, she served as Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) where she advised on national initiatives related to videogames. Her current research interests include the cognitive and intellectual life of games, including literacy, scientific reasoning, attentional and emotional self-regulation, diversity, and civic engagement. Her research and leadership work has been featured in Science, Wired, USA Today, New York Times, ABC, CBS, CNN NPR, BBC and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She has published over twenty peer reviews publications on games and learning, edited three special issues of peer reviewed academic journals focused on the intellectual life of games and two books, and served on the authoring committee of the 2009 National Academies of Science report entitled Learning Science: Computer Games, Simulations, and Education. Her work has been funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

Author

• Constance Steinkuehler, U of California - Irvine