Papers by Sarah Lynne Bowman
Psychology and Role-Playing Games
Routledge eBooks, Apr 25, 2024
Finding the self in role-playing games: Weaving myth, narrative, and identity
Media practice and education, Mar 2, 2024
Welcome to Issue 8 of the International Journal of Role-Playing. In the past few years, the educa... more Welcome to Issue 8 of the International Journal of Role-Playing. In the past few years, the educational role-playing game (RPG) has evolved from its roots as a curious hybrid of leisure role-playing and experiential learning to an increasingly widespread practice around the world. This year saw the publication of the first textbook in our field, Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations (2018), edited by José P. Zagal and Sebastian Deterding, a collaboration between dozens of scholars and practitioners from several countries. The book features significant contributions on topics pertaining to virtual, tabletop, and live action role-playing (larp) from a multitude of disciplines and approaches, including a chapter on the use of role-playing in education.
International Journal of Role-Playing
Editorial - Special Issue: Role-playing and Simulation in Education
Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Role-play has long been used as an active learning technique in educational and training contexts... more Role-play has long been used as an active learning technique in educational and training contexts. In particular, Edu-larp (a structured, live action roleplay experience that teaches through social enactment and refection [1]) has been used in therapeutic contexts, training courses, and even an entire course curriculum . We propose to host a workshop at CHI 2023 which will connect CHI attendees of various disciplines interested in this topic, with the outcome to understand how edu-larp might be an efective way of augmenting existing teaching and research within HCI. During the workshop, attendees will participate in numerous edu-larp exercises designed to introduce and orient them to the concept, and facilitate discussion about the diferent ways edu-larp can be leveraged in the broad domain of HCI. • Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing; Human computer interaction (HCI).
International Journal of Role-Playing
IJRP 8: Special Issue — Role-playing and Simulation in Education 2018 Table of Contents Sarah Lyn... more IJRP 8: Special Issue — Role-playing and Simulation in Education 2018 Table of Contents Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Editorial” This special issue contains five articles chosen from among those presented at the Role-playing and Simulation in Education Conference at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, on May 17, 2018. Ken Koziej and Mikael Hellström, “Year Zero Economics: Using Edu-Larping to Explore Economic Systems in the Ninth Grade” This paper describes the process of converting elements of the game Mutant: Year Zero for teaching a ninth grade unit on economics, how students played the unit, and the post-game evaluation. Magdalene Loh, “Edu-Larping for Career Design” This paper explains the basis and structure of the Career Design Life Game, which helps participants better understand the job market by mimicking the actual world of school and jobs. Rian Rezende, Sabrina Araujo, and Denise Portinari, “Wonder Cards Storytelling: Imagination, Storytelling, and Role-playing in the Creation...
International Journal of Role-Playing
Much of the current research in the field of role-playing studies focuses upon the positive impac... more Much of the current research in the field of role-playing studies focuses upon the positive impact that games can have on the lives of participants. Analysis of the more negative social interactions within role-playing communities becomes necessary in order to establish a more complete picture of the psychosocial effects of these games. This research describes potential problems within role-playing communities in order to aid groups experiencing cohesion difficulties. This thematic, qualitative ethnography describes the types of social conflict occurring within role-playing groups and examines possible sources for their exacerbation. The study includes several types of role-playing from a phenomenological perspective, including tabletop, larp, and virtual gaming. Semi-structured interviews were collected from a selective sample of 30 international participants gathered from vastly different play cultures. While the types of games and methods of play contributed to conflict in some i...
Monstrosity in Games and Play: A Multidisciplinary Examination of the Monstrous in Contemporary Cultures, 2015
Drawing from previous work by Beltrán (2013) and Bowman (2010, 2012, 2017a) and several semi-stru... more Drawing from previous work by Beltrán (2013) and Bowman (2010, 2012, 2017a) and several semi-structured interviews with therapists and psychologists, this paper details the concept of shadow work within the context of role-playing games. Originating in Jungian depth psychology, the term shadow has morphed to include not only the unconscious, but also more conscious aspects of the self that a person may want to criticize, disown, hide, or shame. Drawing upon the methods and experiences of experts in the field, this chapter shapes theory around the ways in which players can interact productively with repressed parts of their own consciousness that emerge in play spaces. Themes of shadow work found in the interviews were: experiencing loss, violation, and/or trauma; exerting power over others; portraying undesirable personality traits; expressing mental health challenges; and exploring dysfunctional or maladaptive social dynamics.
International Journal of Role-playing 13 -- Full Issue -- IJRP
International Journal of Role-Playing
IJRP 13: Full Issue Table of Contents Sarah Lynne Bowman, William J. White, and Evan Torner, &quo... more IJRP 13: Full Issue Table of Contents Sarah Lynne Bowman, William J. White, and Evan Torner, "Editorial: Transformative Play Seminar 2022: Education,Personal Development, and Meaning Making” This special issue is the first of a two-part series collecting the short articles presented during the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar, held at Uppsala University Campus Gotland in Visby, Sweden on October 20-21, 2022. Maryanne Cullinanand Jennifer Genova, “Gaming the Systems: A Component Analysis Frameworkfor the Classroom Use of RPGs” This article presents guidelines for constructing educational experiences with learning role-playing games (LRPGs) based on specific learning objectives, including academic skills, social emotional skills, and executive functioning skills. Josefin Westborg, “The Educational Role-Playing Game Design Matrix:Mapping Design Components onto Types of Education” This article offers categories for understanding different facets of learning and role-playing g...
Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM, 2023
Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially wi... more Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially with enacted roles, as a site for learning and therapeutic growth. This article weaves together a plethora of theories from psychology, Counseling, and role-playing game studies in an effort to understand the nature of enacted roles, their relationship to identity, and their transformative potential. Challenging the notion that identity is a fixed, stable monolith, the article synthesizes four overall approaches to theorizing the nature of identity drawn from various theories: identity as a social construct, narrative identity, identity as psychodynamic, and identities as parts of a whole. The authors posit that these ways of framing identity can help role-players, designers, and facilitators better understand the multifaceted nature of selfhood. This work holds implications for understanding the enactment of characters in role-playing games, especially with regard to the transformative potential of the role-playing experience.
Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices.
Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.
#eduRPG. Rollenspiel als Methode der Bildung, Apr 30, 2024
As with any educational modality, no guarantees can be made about efficacy and consistency across... more As with any educational modality, no guarantees can be made about efficacy and consistency across student populations. Therefore, when we discuss didactics and RPGs, we refer to their potential. Because RPGs are a form of experiential learning, within which players interact with each other in shared co-creativity, our experience and research indicates that their didactic potential is heightened, particularly along specific cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions (Bowman 2014). Additionally, because RPGs are multimodal, meaning they have multiple methods of engagement operating at the same time, students have the possibility to train several skills and practice working with multiple bases of knowledge at once.
Notably, this strength of RPGs can also be considered a weakness depending on the context. RPGs are often far more chaotic than typical classroom activities, as each student is granted more agency to make meaningful choices than is usually permitted in educational settings. Sometimes, teachers may feel out of control or ill-equipped to handle this comparatively chaotic energy (Larsson 2004, p. 247; Harder 2007, p. 234; Hyltoft 2010, p. 51). Additionally, RPGs’ multimodal nature often means that students are engaging in multiple activities at the same time, with their associated thought processes and emotional reactions. Thus, a challenge for educational RPG designers and facilitators is in finding ways to make sure the activity centers upon the specific learning objective and/or curricular goals. Additionally, educators should be aware of some of the central concepts in both role-playing theory and in didactics in order to make informed choices in the classroom. This chapter will explain some of the key concepts in these areas, applying them to learning situations involving RPGs.
Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Participatory Media and Role-Playing, 2012
This paper will examine these recent applications of previous theories to the activity of role-pl... more This paper will examine these recent applications of previous theories to the activity of role-playing, while adding a new dimension to understanding the process of immersion from the perspective of Jungian psychoanalysis. I will explain how Jung’s concepts of active imagination, the collective unconscious, archetypes, envisioning, dialoguing, individuation, and integration can help role-players conceptualize the process beneath the enactment of their role-playing characters. Then, I will explain Jungian theory’s place within the spectrum of the history of ideas in the last century. Lastly, I will offer tracks for further research in the area of applied analytical psychology and role-playing, including: the Campbellian monomyth, Erich Neumann’s three universal mythic structures, and more detailed analyses of common archetypes. While I do not intend for this contribution to explain all of the psychological factors present while role-playing, I hope to further complexify our understanding of the psychological nature of the fantasy content enacted through characters during immersive play.
Revista de Estudos Universitários - REU, 2022
Analog role-playing games provide an avenue for players to explore a diversity of experiences and... more Analog role-playing games provide an avenue for players to explore a diversity of experiences and self-concepts by playing out new roles in a co-created fictional reality. This article provides a theoretical framework for this process, discussing the nature of consensus reality as a force that can suppress forms of identity expression that individuals find authentic. We discuss how live action role-playing (larp) and tabletop games can provide transformational containers, where individuals can explore new ways of being, relating, and enacting beliefs through the experience of increased agency. As an example, we discuss our larp, Euphoria, which was designed as a role-playing game environment reflecting queer performance spaces within which participants can express gender and sexual identities that feel more authentic.
Psychology and Role-Playing Games
Role-Playing Game Studies, 2018
Resumo: Este trabalho analisa algumas características da poética do humor no seriado "Chaves... more Resumo: Este trabalho analisa algumas características da poética do humor no seriado "Chaves", tal como ocorre na interação verbal entre as personagens a partir, especialmente, do conceito de "comunicação poética" formulado por Décio Pignatari. A partir de pesquisa exploratória feita com episódios com a "trupe clássica" (1973-1980), foram destacados três elementos: (a) a criação de palavras e trocadilhos derivada da incompreensão constante entre as personagens; (b) a materialização de elementos grotescos na fala das personagens; (c) um substrato negativo, baseado em uma sutil crítica social. Palavras-chave: Teoria da Comunicação. Humor. Televisão. Chaves. Abstract: This papers analyses some characteristics of the television show "El Chavo Del Ocho" poetics of humor as it is displayed in the character's interpersonal communication. Pignatari's concept of 'poetical communication' is particularly adressed as a main analytical tool...
Play can be fun, liberating, exciting, orderly, trivial, and regenerative, but it can also be dis... more Play can be fun, liberating, exciting, orderly, trivial, and regenerative, but it can also be disruptive, disrespectful, unruly, serious, chaotic, and transgressive. Role-playing games (RPGs) are ordered play. They not only have rules set down by game designers, but also social rules, and cultural norms about how participation is conducted. For the most part, play and playfulness stay within the limits of the rules, but at times they overstep those boundaries. Indeed, play is prone to invite disport with norms and boundaries. These transgressions can happen accidentally, but it is also possible for players to knowingly question and ignore the numerous boundaries. RPGs, specifically, establish temporary alternative norms and rules which might be transgressive in many other situations, while providing plausible deniability for societal boundary-breaking as players are just following the rules of the game. In many ways, play is a contested space: a tension between the possible and impo...
Learning and Role-Playing Games
Players and Their Characters in Role-Playing Games
Role-playing: An ethnographic exploration
UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collectio... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, Role-playing: An ethnographic exploration. by Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Ph.D., THE UNIVERSITY ...
This mixed method case study examines the effectiveness of an educational role-playing (edu-larp)... more This mixed method case study examines the effectiveness of an educational role-playing (edu-larp) intervention into the science curriculum of a charter school in Los Angeles that serves an economically disadvantaged population. Utilizing psychometric surveys and semi-structured interviews, the investigators gathered data from middle school students evaluating their development along five dimensions of learning before and after the semester-long program: intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, school engagement, team work, and leadership. The study also gathered qualitative data from the 23 students in this convenient sample group regarding their overall experiences with the edu-larp method. When paired with traditional pedagogy, out of these five dimensions of student development, the investigators found that the edu-larp intervention helped increase overall intrinsic motivation and interest/enjoyment of science in the quantitative data. The qualitative and quantitative findings...
Uploads
Papers by Sarah Lynne Bowman
Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices.
Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.
Notably, this strength of RPGs can also be considered a weakness depending on the context. RPGs are often far more chaotic than typical classroom activities, as each student is granted more agency to make meaningful choices than is usually permitted in educational settings. Sometimes, teachers may feel out of control or ill-equipped to handle this comparatively chaotic energy (Larsson 2004, p. 247; Harder 2007, p. 234; Hyltoft 2010, p. 51). Additionally, RPGs’ multimodal nature often means that students are engaging in multiple activities at the same time, with their associated thought processes and emotional reactions. Thus, a challenge for educational RPG designers and facilitators is in finding ways to make sure the activity centers upon the specific learning objective and/or curricular goals. Additionally, educators should be aware of some of the central concepts in both role-playing theory and in didactics in order to make informed choices in the classroom. This chapter will explain some of the key concepts in these areas, applying them to learning situations involving RPGs.