Difference Engine Initiative participant Stephanie Fisher sends along this call for observers and participants, with an April 1st deadline.

Open Call:

We are inviting submissions for participation in an inaugural “Feminists in Games” workshop to be held in Toronto, Ontario at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in collaboration with York University, Simon Fraser University and OCAD University from May 4-6, 2012. The structure of the workshop is two-fold:.

1) For Participants

We invite young and up-and-coming scholars as well as established practitioners in the field (including researchers, educators and practicing or aspiring game designers) who are interested in presenting a short paper (maximum 3000 words) on questions related to, but not limited to the challenge of advancing gender equity in relation to the following areas:

•  game design and development;
•  game content;
•  socio-cultural constructions of “gameplayers”;
•  player communities and online play; and
•  the games industry

Applicants will have the opportunity to bring their work into conversation with established feminist scholars and activists during a two-day invitational workshop. Participation and attendance at the conference is free. There is a limited amount of money allotted to assist participants with their travel costs. If you wish to apply for this funding please include a short statement (no more than 100 words) with your abstract describing your financial need.

2) For Observers

We invite members from the general public, the games industry and academia to attend keynotes and workshop roundtable sessions, and to lend their voices, perspectives and experiences to conversations and emerging initiatives that support feminist purposes and processes in games education, research, design and development. There will also be an opportunity to participate in a roundtable session aimed at generating a collaborative research project between scholars and industry professionals.

Those interested in participating may send abstracts of no more than 1000 words, outlining their research question(s) and approach, to Rachel Muehrer (rachel.muehrer@gmail.com) or Jennifer Jenson (jjenson@edu.yorku.ca) by April 1, 2012. Those wishing to attend as ‘observers’ (this includes the industry round table) are invited to reply by April 1, 2012 with a short statement about how attending might be of benefit to you (250 words).