The deadline for submissions is now closed.

The CUNY Games Festival is a two-day conference on game-based pedagogies in higher education. The first day is presentations and the second day consists of low-key game design workshops for faculty (as well as playing board and card games together).  Participants include faculty, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and game designers. Both CUNY and non-CUNY participation is welcome.

With the growing maturity of game-based learning in higher education comes a new set of questions. The focus has shifted from whether games are appropriate for higher education to how games can be best used to bring real pedagogical benefits and encourage student-centered education.

This conference seeks to address current topics in game-based learning for higher education. Consequently, all submissions must address the guidelines established by the Conference Theme and Rubric. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• What problems need to be addressed in higher education, and how might game-based learning address those problems?
• How might game-based learning mediate these problems if other solutions are present?
• How do these solutions generalize across learners, disciplines, and campuses?
• What possibilities are there for educators to not only create/implement games for learning but also to utilize/alter/subvert commercial games for learning?
• What differences do we see in digital versus non-digital game-based learning? What affordances or barriers are inherent in each?

The conference will offer four types of session formats:

• 30-minute interactive presentations: Reserved for interactive presentations only, such as workshops and game demonstrations/play. Please identify the interactive components in your proposal.
• 20-minute full-length presentations: Presenters are still strongly encouraged to include an interactive component in these sessions as well.
• 10-minute short presentations: Short talks that briefly discuss theories, research, practice, and/or individual games. These are especially suited for works in progress.
• Posters and game demos: An arcade area will feature posters and games (finished or in progress). We also encourage undergraduate research presentations.

Proposals will be accepted from individuals or panels:

• Individual Proposals: Include session format, contact information for the corresponding presenter, name, affiliation and email address for each additional presenter, title, 250-word abstract, a paragraph on connections to higher education, keywords selected from a list on the submission form, and special requests (e.g., scheduling or equipment needs).
• Panel Proposals: Panels run 60 minutes including a mandatory 15-minute question-and-answer period (e.g., three 15-minute presentations, or four 10-minute sessions). Include complete contact information for all presenters, a panel title, individual presentation titles, 250-word descriptions and keywords for each presentation, and special requests.

When you submit your proposal, you will be asked to state your proposal’s connection to higher education. Please be aware that, no matter which format you choose, the relevance to higher education must be made explicit. If you are a college student who has created a game that is not designed for college students, please describe how this experience affected your education.

Presenters are strongly encouraged to speak extemporaneously rather than read from a manuscript. Please proofread and edit your proposal before submission. Accepted proposals will be published in our conference proceedings.