The Event

Dr Sara Zaeemdar (Newcastle University Business School) and Dr Ken Pierce (School of Computing) organised the first Newcastle University Inclusivity Game Jam in Enrichment Week (6-9/11/2023). This four-day, student-led event explored themes of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) through theatre-based activities and computer game development. The event welcomed 25 students from six schools (Business School, School of Computing, School X, School of Engineering, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, and School of Art and Cultures).

You can find the games here… The Games!

Creating ‘Images of EDI’ through Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed.

We collectively explored what EDI means to us through expert talks and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, identifying six important themes: Power, Exclusion, the Bystander Effect, Assimilation, Safety, and Discrimination. The students formed six multidisciplinary teams around these themes, encompassing a range of creative and coding skills, and developed computer games over 48 hours.

The teams working on their game ideas.

We ended the event with a showcase in which the teams presented their work and shared their experiences. You can find more details – including the games – on our website: https://www.societies.ncl.ac.uk/igj/. We have also created a mailing list for all game enthusiasts to receive updates and news of our upcoming game jams: inclusivity-game-jam@newcastle.ac.uk.

The showcase in progress.
After the event, a smile and a call of “smelly socks”!