About this blog: This is a space where I can save and share ideas, announcements, and other things that I know are of interest to myself — and maybe you!
About me: I teach at Parsons The New School for Design and direct a research lab there called PETLab. We make games, media and curriculum in the social interest. I’m also a member of the game design collectives “The Leisure Society” and “Local No. 12″. When I’m not doing those things I practice Shaolin Kung Fu biking and barbecue.
Some projects I have worked on include:
The Yes Men’s “Fix The World” Challenge (http://challenge.theyesmen.org/)
Re:Activism, an augmented reality game about the history of protest and civil rights (http://reactivism.parsons.edu)
BackChatter, a conference game played with twitter (http://backchattergame.com)
BudgetBall, a “fiscal” sport about the federal deficit (http://budgetball.org)
The official bio:
Colleen Macklin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Design and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City and Director of PETLab (Prototyping Evaluation, Teaching and Learning lab), a lab focused on developing new games, simulations, and play experiences for experimental learning and social issues. Projects range from a curriculum in game design for the Boys and Girls Club, a card game for the Red Cross Climate Centre, and big games such as Re:Activism and the sport Budgetball. In addition to work in social games and interactive media, her research focuses on the social aspects of the design and prototyping process. In this vein, she is working with the Social Science Research Council on a prototyping approach to creating innovative mobile learning spaces with youth, public schools and cultural institutions, with funding through the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative. Member of the game design collectives Local No. 12 (see backchattergame.com) and The Leisure Society. India China Institute Fellow (2006-2007). Interactive work shown at Come Out and Play, SoundLab, The Whitney Museum for American Art and Creative Time. BFA, Media Arts Pratt Institute, graduate studies in Computer Science, CUNY and International Affairs, The New School.
