184: Building better futures with games

Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators

On this week: Dr. Kat Schrier discusses the potential of games to help people better connect with themselves and others. She shares her research on using games to enhance compassion, empathy, and reduce biases, as well as her work on a game in Nigeria that teaches about different ethnicities and discrimination. Dr. Schrier also highlights the importance of understanding multiple perspectives and the complexity of games. She emphasizes the need to reframe how we think about games and the diverse uses and possibilities they offer. The conversation explores the intersection of games and empathy, the value of grief literacy, and the hope that games can bring. Dr. Kat Schrier (she/they) is Full Professor, Director of the Play Innovation Lab, and Director of the Games and Emerging Media program at Marist College. She is the author/editor of over 100 published works, such as We the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics & Civics (Oxford University Press, 2021) and Knowledge Games (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). She has previously edited two book series, Ethics and Game Design and Learning, Education, & Games. She was a Belfer Fellow with the ADL's Center for Technology & Society, and she is co-PI for a Templeton Grant on designing VR games for empathy. Prior to joining the Marist College faculty, she worked as a media producer at Scholastic, Nickelodeon, and BrainPOP. She is currently consulting with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a game designer. She has a doctorate from Columbia University, a master’s from MIT, and a bachelor’s from Amherst College. https://www.karenschrier.com/ https://www.karenschrier.com/publications https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/how-we-can-use-games-understand-others-better