Webinar Blurb
Thanks to virtual tables, online actual plays, and pop culture, Dungeons & Dragons is larger than life. In the midst of this newfound popularity, the reactionary, queerphobic underbelly of the tabletop gaming hobby has reared its head as D&D wrestles with its own conservative legacy. Yet queer and trans designers are redefining tabletop play. From one-page microgames about gay pirates to deeply personal journaling games about discomfort in one’s body to games about becoming a lich to survive trans healthcare waitlists, tabletop games represent a bold horizon of queer play and storytelling. In this talk, game scholar PS Berge (they/she) will discuss tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), transness, and “zine” game-design. They will examine the troubling histories (and present realities) of the TTRPG hobby and show how we might look beyond Dungeons & Dragons; learning from queer and trans TTRPG designers who are changing the game in indie spaces. They’ll talk about the making, archiving, and playing of queer indie RPGs, how we can engage zine games safely with students and new participants, and how we might center queer play and making in our own pedagogy and curation.
Presenter Bio
PS Berge (they/she) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Central Florida and director of the Discord Academic Research Community. Their research falls at the intersection of queer and trans game studies (especially tabletop roleplaying games and gaming fandoms) and toxic technocultures (including cross-platform dynamics and white supremacist recruitment). Their work has appeared in Game Studies, New Media & Society, and elsewhere. Website: http://psberge.com/
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