Reckoning with Redress with Full Spectrum Features

A panel of representatives of the National Coalition for Redress / Reparations San Diego chapter speak at the Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings in August 1981 at the State Building in Los Angeles. photo by Roy Nakano

Professor Lien Tran joins Full Spectrum Features (FSF) as the game design lead for their “Reckoning with Redress” project, an educational program (film + interactive site) to learn about the justice and reparation movement for Japanese Americans wrongfully incarcerated during World War II. This is FSF’s final project as part of a trilogy on Japanese… Continue reading Reckoning with Redress with Full Spectrum Features

Lien Tran to join as trainer for 2023 YSEALI Game Changers

YSEALI Game Changers 2023 logo

The U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has invited Lien Tran via a funded cultural engagement to participate as an international game design trainer and workshop facilitator for YSEALI Game Changers (YGC) in May 2023.   YGC brings together mid-level professionals to learn about and explore, through a 2-day game jam,… Continue reading Lien Tran to join as trainer for 2023 YSEALI Game Changers

Games for civics op ed published in New Thinking

Illustration by Nikki Muller (New Thinking magazine)

The majority of Americans know little about civics and government; video games could prove the unorthodox solution to our miseducation. This is the topic of Professor Lien Tran’s second op ed as a Public Voices fellow with The OpEd Project. On February 4, 2023, New Thinking magazine published her op ed entitled “The Game of Life: Leveraging Tech for Civics Education“. Educators… Continue reading Games for civics op ed published in New Thinking

Emerging technology’s role for telling critical Asian American history

Photo by Red Morley Hewitt

Professor Lien Tran is part of DePaul University’s 2022-23 The OpEd Project’s Public Voices fellowship. Professor Tran’s first op ed entitled “Lunar New Year Offers a Chance to Reflect on Asian American History“, was published in VISIBLE magazine ahead of Lunar New Year on January 22, 2023. In this op ed, Tran shares examples for how… Continue reading Emerging technology’s role for telling critical Asian American history

Dwell wins GLS Creativity and Design Award

Lien Tran receives Creativity and Design award at the 2022 Games+Learning+Society conference in Irvine, CA.

Judges for the 2022 Games+Learning+Society conference’s game showcase awarded Dwell the Creativity and Design award in June 2022 in Irvine, CA.  The games showcase selections were double-blind peer-reviewed. 30+ games were selected for showcase, and a panel of expert judges reviewed the games for award consideration. There were a total of four awards, 1 of… Continue reading Dwell wins GLS Creativity and Design Award

Poor Not Guilty Challenges featured as a National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) resource

Matters at Play collaborated with several subject matter stakeholders on the creation of Poor Not Guilty: Fines and Fees Challenge, including the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC). The challenge is now available on the NHLC’s website along with a suggested Street Law lesson plan. The Fines & Fees Challenge is an interactive educational tool based on a… Continue reading Poor Not Guilty Challenges featured as a National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) resource

Teaching Games with Games at GDC 2022

GDC 2022, Education Summit: Tran intro

On March 22, 2022, at the 2022 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA, Professor Lien Tran joined an esteem group of educators to share new ways to look at games for change and learning. This Educators Summit session called “Teaching Games with Games 7: Changing the Game” was particularly useful for seasoned and new… Continue reading Teaching Games with Games at GDC 2022

Big Build Up for the win at #LoveLifePAX Unplugged

On Sunday, December 12, 2021, Jennifer Ann’s Group (JAG)’s Drew Crescente moderated the “Gaming Against Violence: Unplugged” panel at PAX Unplugged on the potential for analog games to communicate signs of and concerns for Power & Control in romantic relationships. #LifeLovePAX The judges for JAG’s 2021 Unplugged game design challenge made up the panel speakers:… Continue reading Big Build Up for the win at #LoveLifePAX Unplugged

Going Unplugged with Jennifer Ann’s Group as game challenge finalist

The Big Build Up

Lien Tran, Matters at Play director and DePaul’s School of Design assistant professor, and Lynn Baus, DePaul’s graduate student in the Experience Design program, teamed up to propose an analog game concept for Jennifer Ann’s Group (JAG)’s 14th Annual Game Design Challenge, which challenges game makers everywhere to design compelling prosocial games for violence prevention.… Continue reading Going Unplugged with Jennifer Ann’s Group as game challenge finalist