In this episode, I’m joined by Owen Gottlieb. Owen is an Associate Professor of Interactive Games and Media and the Founder and Lead Research Faculty of the Initiative in Religion, Culture, and Policy (RCP) at the RIT MAGIC Center and MAGIC Spell Studios. Owen leads the Interaction, Media, and Learning Lab. The lab is focused on interventions that expand our understanding of learning, exploration, play, and media. The lab’s projects encompass games and simulations for religious and cultural literacy, game design for policy impact, applications of interactive media for healing and wellness, uncovering valuable historical instructional design histories, and pioneering new approaches to narrative.
The new segment, "Notes from the Fields,” is an opportunity to discuss interdisciplinary practice, social impact, and popular culture to explain how the media we consume can become a vital tool to help us understand our contemporary moment. These notes inspire us as teachers and researchers trying to make sense of popular culture. For me, it is an opportunity to share scholarly discourse that shapes thinking and builds arguments we take to the classroom and the public.
