The San Diego Diplomacy Council’s Fall Signature Event – Global Game On: How Video Games Promote World Peace & Diplomacy – on Friday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. PST will focus on how digital diplomacy and video games help close divisive gaps around the world.
In the Zoom event, co-hosted with San Diego chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), attendees will be transported from war to peace: Panelists include Lual Mayen, who fled war-torn South-Sudan and spent 22 years in a refugee camp. As founder of Junub games, Mayen now creates video games that build peace. He will be joined by Kate Edwards, a specialist in content culturalization and 27-year veteran of the gaming industry who currently serves as executive director of the Global Game Jam, the world’s largest annual game creation event; and Dr. Constance Steinkuehler, an American professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, who currently researches the cognitive and social aspects of video games and gaming, and previously advised on policy matters about video games and learning in the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House Executive Office. The event will also feature two representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with welcome remarks from Assistant Secretary of State Marie Royce and moderation by Joshua Shen, strategic designer for interactive media and games.
Then, in partnership with the North America Scholastic Esports Federation, attendees can witness the concept in action, as high school students in San Diego and Mexico participate in the empathy video game “Among Us,” to promote global dialogue and collaboration.
The North America Scholastic Esports Federation will also be partnering with Tech & Learning for the new Leveling Up: The Esports Expo & Conference on December 4th. This event is free for school staff. Learn more here.
