Month: November 2021

CFP Communication, Conflict & Peace (UK but Online)

ConferencesCall for Papers: Communication, Conflict and Peace, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies, Liverpool Hope University, June 27, 2022, Online. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

Global transformations fostered by the decentralization of communications from mainstream media and governance institutions to a plural range of socioeconomic actors and stakeholders have shaken the foundations of social consensus, truth and objectivity in the construction of public spheres. Such transformation has posed unprecedented challenges to conflict management and peacebuilding, multiplying risks of instability and war, but also the spaces for the construction of collective meanings and the voices shaping them.

As the international community struggles to find consensus and challenges to peace and security risks multiply, the aim of this event is to explore the relationship between communication broadly conceived, and the challenges and possibilities for peace. Organizers will receive papers from scholars, practitioners and activists on all the dimensions of communication and conflict. Registration will be free of charge.

Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen: A Video Game for Fostering Positive Intercultural Relationships

Guest PostsA video game for fostering positive intercultural relationships. Guest post by Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen.

On an overall level, playing the game resulted in significant attitude change towards outgroup members.

In a culturally and racially diverse world, it is important for people to be able to live together harmoniously. Being respectful of cultural differences and fostering a genuine curiosity to better understand how and why other people are different from ourselves is one way to bridge the gap between self and others. This was the underlying motivation to create the prosocial game, Icebreaker. Icebreaker is a short role-playing game where players take on the role of the protagonist, an ice gatekeeper whose family has been tasked with protecting the village from an annual disaster known as ‘The Freezing.’ The goal of the game is for players to discover the true cause for this annual occurrence and to stop the event for good. The game design is primarily driven by narrative design integrated with interactive play. Certain tasks in the game require the player to work together with a banished villager, whose race has been blamed for being the cause of the disaster.

Download the complete essay as a PDF.