Cultivating Transformative Communities

About Course

Welcome to Cultivating Transformative Communities! This course explores foundational concepts and practices to consider when community building around analog role-playing games for transformative impacts.

See the PDF version of this course linked here on Zenodo.

Course Content

Course Information

Unit 1: Cultivating Transformational Communities
This course explores foundational concepts and practices to consider when community building around analog role-playing games for transformative impacts.

Unit 2: Emotional Safety in Role-playing Games
We have touched upon many of the concepts in this Unit before, but we will focus less on game design and more around the community built around the game in terms of emotional safety.

Unit 3: Academia and Analog Role-playing Games
This section considers a specific role-playing community: that of scholars studying these games and practices.

Unit 4: Group Dynamics and RPG Communities
We are broadening our scope now from role-playing games in academia to thinking about groups surrounding role-playing as a whole.

Unit 5: Conflict and RPG Communities
Our approach when discussing conflict will be to examine how games can address and sometimes even improve conflict situations.

Unit 6: Social Identities and Conflict in Role-playing Games
In alignment with this course’s focus on communities, we will shift gears to consider role-playing through a sociological lens.

Unit 7: Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
In this unit, we will be explicitly focusing on the impacts of these topics on communities as a whole beyond the context of specific game designs or play experiences.

Unit 8: Safer Community Container Setting
In this unit, we will speak more explicitly about the sorts of issues that can arise in communities and ways to make them feel safer.

Unit 9: RPG Communities Around the World
We have discussed styles and cultures of play before and examined various traditions. We will expand that work in this unit.

Unit 10: Transformational Communities and You
In this Unit, you will submit your final draft of Major Assignment 2, as well as reflect upon your experiences.

About Course

Course Content

Course Information

Unit 1: Cultivating Transformational Communities This course explores foundational concepts and practices to consider when community building around analog role-playing games for transformative impacts.

Unit 2: Emotional Safety in Role-playing Games We have touched upon many of the concepts in this Unit before, but we will focus less on game design and more around the community built around the game in terms of emotional safety.

Unit 3: Academia and Analog Role-playing Games This section considers a specific role-playing community: that of scholars studying these games and practices.

Unit 4: Group Dynamics and RPG Communities We are broadening our scope now from role-playing games in academia to thinking about groups surrounding role-playing as a whole.

Unit 5: Conflict and RPG Communities Our approach when discussing conflict will be to examine how games can address and sometimes even improve conflict situations.

Unit 6: Social Identities and Conflict in Role-playing Games In alignment with this course’s focus on communities, we will shift gears to consider role-playing through a sociological lens.

Unit 7: Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility In this unit, we will be explicitly focusing on the impacts of these topics on communities as a whole beyond the context of specific game designs or play experiences.

Unit 8: Safer Community Container Setting In this unit, we will speak more explicitly about the sorts of issues that can arise in communities and ways to make them feel safer.

Unit 9: RPG Communities Around the World We have discussed styles and cultures of play before and examined various traditions. We will expand that work in this unit.

Unit 10: Transformational Communities and You In this Unit, you will submit your final draft of Major Assignment 2, as well as reflect upon your experiences.