As many of you would be aware, I wrote the section on ARGs & Academia for the International Game Developers Association Alternate Reality Game SIG Whitepaper. *whew! * I looked around far and wide to find academics and educators who are looking at ARGs and presented what was at the time a pretty comprehensive listing of people in the area. Since then there has been a great many more researchers who have either made themselves known or commenced studying ARGs. There has been more, however, educators who are looking at ARGs as a pedagogical device in secondary and tertiary education and the public sector. Because of the publicity around the whitepaper they joined the IGDA ARG SIG listerv, ready for conversation, sharing and advice…which is great. The list is unfortunately, not as active as it could be.
There are a few reasons I could posit, one being that there are soooo many people on the list that people feel reluctant to share to such a massive audience. Another reason is that the area is so new everyone feels a bit out of water. Who knows what the reasons are? What I do know is I receive alot of emails offlist from academics and educators wanting to talk and share. So, in the interests of facilitating some good academic exchange I’ve started another listserv for ARG Academic Researchers and Educators. I hope the list is seen as being complementary to the current SIG list and not a competitor since both can co-exist quite well. Indeed, the fact that more specialised lists are needed is a sign that the area is maturing. Hey, the new list may not even work as a conversation space either…but I hope it does…because I’m keen to share and hear other people’s thoughts and knowledge. So, without further delay, here is the link to signup to the
Alternate Reality Game Researcher & Educator List
http://lists.transmodiology.org/listinfo.cgi/argresearch-transmodiology.org