Colleen Macklin
colleen@newschool.edu
http://colleenmacklin.com
Teaching and Research Interests
Game Design, Iterative Design Methods, Artificial Intelligence and Creativity, Systems Thinking, Play and Social Justice, Failure, Interactive Design, User Experience, Games for \Learning.
Education
1992 Pratt Institute, Bachelor in Fine Arts in Media Arts
2013 The New School, Master of Arts in International Affairs
Academic Appointments
Parsons School of Design
2008–pres Associate Professor, School of Art, Media and Technology
2012–pres Co-Director, PETLab (Prototyping, Evaluation, Teaching and Learning)
2007–2012 Director, PETLab (Prototyping, Evaluation, Teaching and Learning)
2003–2008 Chair, Department of Communication Design and Technology
2003 Associate Chair, Digital Design Department
2000–2003 Director, M.F.A. Design and Technology Program
1998–2008 Assistant Professor, Digital Design Department
1994-1997 Adjunct Faculty, Digital Design Department, Parsons School of Design, The New School
Center for Advanced Design, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Parsons) 1997–1998
Full–time Faculty and Director of Computer Graphics
Pratt Institute 1994-1995
Adjunct Faculty, Continuing Education/Computer Graphics
Awards, Fellowships and Visiting Positions
2020 International Mobile Gaming Awards: Most Meaningful Play (Dear Reader)
2019 Monash/RMIT Visiting Faculty: Conducted workshops, advised students, developed new research collaborations
2017 Higher Education Videogame Alliance (HEVGA) Inaugural Fellow: One of 30 fellows recognized for scholarly work in games
2014-2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): Director’s Fellow, MIT Media Lab
2014 Different Games Fellow: NYU and National Endowment for the Arts
Geek of the Month: New York Media Lab
2011 Artist In Residence: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Design Media Arts, Art|Sci Lab
Selected Courses
Gaming the System: The Politics of Play (Spring 2017 – present) A 100-student University-wide Lecture course offered to all New School undergraduates exploring the political and cultural dimensions of games.
Collaboration Studio: Communitology (Fall 2016/Fall 2017) A course in collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Students work in cross-school and cross-disciplinary teams to research, prototype, design and document public health related design projects for pilot testing with selected community-based organizations in East Harlem.
MFA Design and Technology Thesis (Fall 1998 – present) A year-long studio for the MFA in Design and technology program focused on the development of a thesis project and paper with an emphasis in iterative design methods including prototyping and testing as well as professional standards and practices.
MFA Design and Technology Major Studio I (Fall 1998 – present) The first studio for students entering the MFA in Design and Technology program, this course explores fields at the intersection of design and technology as well as design methodologies for interactive media, including prototyping, testing, and assessment.
MFA Design and Technology Major Studio II (Spring 1999 – present) The second studio for graduate students in the Design and Technology program, this course introduces intermediate methods in interaction design, user experience, and design thinking.
Game Design (Fall 2015) An introductory course in game design for MFA Design and Technology students.
Collaboration Studio: Playful Explorations (Spring 2015) A course in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab developing various game design projects with biologists, chess grandmasters and magicians. Work shown at South By Southwest Interactive, 2015.
MFA Transdisciplinary Design, Orientation 1 (Fall 2010, Fall 2012) A week-long intensive studio introducing new MFA students in Transdisciplinary Design to the design process, collaborative practices, prototyping methods for system design, and design-led research.
Collaboration Studio: PETLab Projects (Spring 2008) A course involving brainstorming and prototyping methods for games for youth (15–21 years old) that encourage civic engagement, activism and learning.
Design and Ethnography (Fall 2007, with New School for Social Research Anthropology) An introduction to the intersection of design and ethnographic practices through innovative projects focusing on social relations, urban media and public space.
Mobile Media: Mumbai (Fall 2006) The objective of the course was both material and pedagogic. Through locative and mobile media prototyping, students examined the ways contingent but critically human stories, histories and needs can be made visible.
Grants
The majority of my research activity has been housed in PETLab (Prototyping Technology and Education Lab), a research lab I founded in 2007 to investigate the potential of games and play in learning, civic engagement and social justice. Since its inception, PETLab has raised about $2 million in funding, the majority of which goes towards graduate research assistants.
2020-2021
Research Assistantship Fund, School funds for Research Assistant to support Research in play, creativity and artificial intelligence ($5,100)
2013–pres.
Co-Investigator, Ms. Foundation Fellowships, supervision and design of a fellowship program for graduate students to work with women’s rights organizations nationally ($175,000)
2017–pres.
Co-Investigator, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, supervision and design of a multi-phase project designing games for youth to engage with USHMM’s mission of memorializing the Holocaust and preventing future genocide. ($106,000)
2019–2020
Recipient, School-based Research Fund, Recipient of funding for Fun Games with Serious People, a podcast about games and what they say about the world around us. ($7,600)
2015–2017
Co-Investigator, Provost’s Research Fund, funding for the development of Iterate, a book, website, and research project chronicling the ways that creative practitioners mitigate failure through the iterative process. ($21,000 cumulatively)
2007-2009
Co-Investigator, MacArthur Foundation, to found the research lab PETLab, focused on games for learning and social change, a joint project with Games for Change. ($329,000)
2007–2015
Principle Investigator, Open Society Foundations, Summer Fellows Program (osi.parsons.edu/), a partnership between OSI and Parsons, placing students in over 15 countries to develop media training and advocacy materials for over 20 health–related NGOs. ($280,000 annually)
2014-2015
Fellow, Different Games, NYU and The National Endowment for the Arts, Artist grant to develop work in diversity and games ($5,000)
2012–2015
Co-Investigator, Red Cross, “Games for a New Climate” Working with the American Red Cross and Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre to develop public-interest games for better crisis management. Games have been played in African and Asia and will be presented at the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar ($65,000)
Principal Investigator, National Endowment for the Arts, “Art Play” A grant from the NEA to work with art teachers nation-wide to integrate games into art curricula, K-12 ($50,000)
Co-Investigator, Knight Foundation, “Data Toys” interactive data to develop systems-literacy for journalism ($50,000)
Co-Principal Investigator, “Games for a New Climate” A grant from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre to develop games for Climate awareness ($120,000)
2009–2015
Principal Investigator, Red Cross Games for Disaster Preparedness with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, public-interest games for better crisis management. Games played worldwide and presented at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen ($10,000)
2009–2013
Principal Investigator, AMD Foundation, “Activate!” an online curriculum in game design emphasizing systems and issues literacy for classrooms and after school programming funded by the AMD Foundation. Activate was piloted in Beijing, China at the Dandelion School ($195,000)
2008–2011
Researcher, University Forum Nokia, one of a group of US researchers/professors in the Nokia University Forum.
2009-2010
Principal Investigator, Boys & Girls Clubs of America GameTech Developing a curriculum in game design for the Boys & Girls Clubs (5 million members) after school programming, funded by the AMD Foundation ($135,000)
2008–2010
Co-Principal Investigator, MacArthur Foundation, New York City Learning Network/HIVE Creating a network of NYC institutions centered on new media and design-based learning, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation. ($250,000)
2008-2010
Co-Principal Investigator, Microsoft Games for Learning Institute Developing and assessing game’s potential for learning as part of a consortium of academic partners including NYU (principal institution), NYU Polytechnic, CUNY, and Columbia. Funded by Microsoft ($35,000)
2008-2009
Principal Investigator, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Games for Fiscal Literacy, designing a game to generate awareness of the federal deficit amongst college students. The project resulted in “Budgetball”, a sport designed in collaboration with Area Code (now Zynga, NYC). Funders include the National Academy of Public Administration and the Peter G Peterson Foundation. ($161,000)
2006–2008
Mobile Geographies: Mumbai (with Vyjayanthi Rao) Mobile Geographies is a project that created mobile platforms for the production and dissemination of geo–tagged urban information for community participation in urban development in Mumbai, India.
2006–2007
Faculty Fellow, India China Institute, The New School
1998–2007
Organization of collaborative design research projects and partnerships with Adobe, Aid to Artisans, Care International, The Cooper Hewitt, the EPA, The Open Society Institute, Microsoft, NASA, Nokia, Scholastic, UNICEF, UNESCO and Viacom
Advising / Mentorship
2018
External Reviewer, Kelly Chang, MFA, NYU Integrated Digital Media
2015-2017
External Critic, NYU Game Center, Naomi Clark, Eric Zimmerman Game Design Studio
2015
Advisor, Jason Haas, PhD, MIT Media Lab
Advisor, Deitrich Squinkifer, MFA, University of California Santa Cruz
2011
Advisor, Mark Essen, MFA, University of California Los Angeles
Professional Involvement and Service (selected)
2020-pres.
Board Member, Raising Good Gamers, An initiative to create healthy game communities among youth
2015-pres.
Partner, Local No. 12, LLC., Makers of The Metagame, Dear Reader
2018-pres.
Member, None in Three Consortium
2020
Co-Chair, IndieCade Finalist Jury, IndieCade 2020
2019
Finalist Judge, IndieCade 2019
2018
Finalist Judge, IndieCade 2018
2017
Mentor, International Game Developers Association GDC Scholars, International Game Developers Association
2015
Mentor, Creative Leader’s Retreat, The One Club
Advisor (Video Game Acquisition), Museum of Modern Art, Design
2012-2015
Member, White House Consortium on Games for Impact, Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House.
2014
Technical Editor, A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design, Pearson
Advisor, CurrentLab, Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Art Education
2013-2016
Chair, IndieCade Finalist Jury, IndieCade
2011
Think Tank Participant, Project CREATE!, California State University, Fullerton: A National Department of Education funded initiative to develop of a National Arts Assessment Tool
2004–2013
Open Society Institute, NYC and Budapest: Consultant on information visualization and usability design for open source media projects
2003–2006
UNESCO, Africa Animated!, Kenya: Consultant/Steering Committee Member. Curricular consulting for the development of an animation training program and industry incubator in Kenya, Africa
1999–2003
M Interactive, NYC: Programming and design for Saatchi and Saatchi, Credit Suisse First Boston, Standard Chartered Bank
1993–2003
Frierson Mee and Partners, NYC, Designer, Midori, New York Life, Moét Champagne, Citibank, France Telecom, Bordeaux Wines, and Thompson
Books
2018
Macklin C., Sharp, J. Iterate: Ten Lessons in Design and Failure. MIT Press (2019)
2016
Macklin, C. Sharp, J. Games, Design and Play: An iterative approach to video game design, Addison Wesley Professional. (2016)
Video Series / Podcasts
2020
Macklin, C. “Fun Games with Serious People”, (fungameswithseriouspeople.com)
2014
Macklin, C., Sharp, J. “Iterate: lessons in Design and Failure”, (designandfailure.com)
Macklin, C., Sharp, J. “Introduction to Game Design”, Livelessons Video Series, Pearson
Peer-Reviewed Publications and Book Chapters
2020
Macklin, C. “We, the Prui…”, in Infinite Playground: A Player’s Guide to Imagination, Bernie DeKoven, MIT Press
2019
Macklin, C. “Playing in Public: the politics of design”, LA+ Interdisciplinary Journal of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, (Spring 2019).
2018
Macklin, C. Forward to Resonant Games: Design Principles for Learning Games that Connect Hearts, Minds, and the Everyday, MIT Press, 2018
2017
Macklin, C. “Finding the Queerness in Games” in Queer Game Studies: Gender, Sexuality, and a Queer Approach to Game Studies, University of Minnesota.
2015
Chaplin, H., Macklin, C., Sharp, J. “Playable Models and the News/Tensions Between Journalism and Design” Journalism and Design (The New School) and Knight Foundation Website.
2012
Macklin, C., Suarez, P. Medler, J, Bachofen, C. “Games for a New Climate” BU Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre, 2012
Macklin, C., Guster, T., “Re:Activism: Serendipity in the Streets” in Mobile Media Learning, Dikkers, Martin, Coulter eds. ETC Press, 2012
Macklin, C., Martin, J. Dikkers, S., “Planning your Game Jam: Game Design as Pedagogy” in Mobile Media Learning, Dikkers, Martin, Coulter eds. ETC Press, 2012
Macklin, C., Sharp, J., “Freakin’ hard”: Game Design and Issue Literacy” in Games, Learning, and Society: Learning and Meaning in the Digital Age. Barab, Squire, Steinkuehler, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2012
2011
Macklin, C., “DataPlay: Experiments in the Ludic Age”, International Journal of Game-Based Learning, Edited by Patrick Felicia. IGI Global, 2011
Suarez, P., Benn, J., Macklin, C., “Putting vulnerable people at the center of communication for adaptation: The case for knowledge sharing through participatory games and video tools” World Resources Report (URL:http://www.worldresourcesreport.org/responses/putting-vulnerable-people-center-communication-adaptation-case-knowledge-sharing-through-p)
Suarez, P. and Macklin, C. “Games to explore forecast-based decisions” in: Hellmuth, M. et al. (eds) (2011). A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management. Climate and Society No. 3. International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, New York, USA.
2010
Macklin, C. “Reacting to Re:Activism: A Case Study in the Ethics of Design”, in Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values through Play, D. Gibson and K. Schrier.eds IGI Global
2009
Macklin, C., Wargaski, J., Edwards M., Li Kan Yang. “DATAPLAY: Mapping Game Mechanics to Traditional Data Visualization” Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA) September, 2009.
Macklin, C. “Smart Design, Serious Play?”, Cumulus Design Journal, September 2009
Macklin, C. “Screen Design,” in Michael Ehrloff and Tim Marshall, eds., Design Dictionary / Wörterbuch Design (Boston/Basel/Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2008)
Macklin, C. “Human Factors,” in Michael Ehrloff and Tim Marshall, eds., Design Dictionary / Wörterbuch Design (Boston/Basel/Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2008)
2007
Macklin, C and Rao, V. (2007). “Mobile Geographies: Design and Ethnography,” The Journal of Design and Management, 2, 28–29.
Awards, Exhibitions, and Creative Projects
2020
Dear Reader, Finalist, “Best Gameplay” Games for Change, New York, NY
Dear Reader, Finalist, International Mobile Game Awards
Dear Reader, Special Selection, Ludicious, Zurich
2019
Dear Reader (game), Apple Arcade.
Dear Reader, Indie Megabooth at the Game Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, CA
Dear Reader, Wordplay Festival, Toronto, CA
2018
Losswords, IndieCade 2018 Festival Nominee (game), One of 36 selected finalists in the IndieCade Festival
2016
Microcultures, American Museum of Natural History (social card game), a game designed in collaboration with David Kong (MIT) about the human microbiome, designed for the AMNH’s monthly talk series.
2015
Local No. 12, The Metagame (game), Game released on amazon.com, as well as major retail outlets (Barnes and Noble, Target, and more).
Microcultures (social card game), a game designed in collaboration with David Kong (MIT) about the human microbiome, premiered at South by Southwest Interactive
Making Connections (networking game) MIT Media Lab Summer Festival
2014
The Metagame: Queer Edition (with Local No. 12), Different Games, NYU, New York, NY
2013
Local No. 12, The Metagame (game), Doing It on the Table: a Lounge of Tabletop Games by Video Game Designers, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, CA
2012
Colleen Macklin, Re:Activism (game), LA Re.Play, Broad Art Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Local No. 12, The Metagame (game), forallgamerssake, Ottowa, Canada
Colleen Macklin, Revolution (game), Art|Sci Center, UCLA, Loas Angeles, CA
2011
Local No. 12, The Metagame (game), Game Developers Conference, sponsored by BBC Games, NYU Game Center, Hosted by the International Game Developer’s Association
2009-2015
PETLab, Early Warning, Early Action (set of games), Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, - Senegal (Saint Louis and Doun Baba Dieye), Panama (Panama City), El Salvador (San Salvador), Canada (Winnipeg), Switzerland (Lugano), USA (Washington DC), Panama (Panama City), USA (New Haven CT), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Kenya (Nairobi), Switzerland (Lugano), Thailand (Bangkok), Mexico (Guadalajara), USA (Ann Arbor, MI), USA (Atlanta, GA), Mexico (Cancun), USA (New York, NY), Philippines (Manila)
2009-2011
PETLab and Area/Code, Budgetball (game), New York University, Philander Smith College, Miami University, National Mall, Washington DC
2010
Local No. 12, BackChatter (game), Game Developers Conference, sponsored by BBC Games, NYU Game Center, Hosted by the International Game Developer’s Association
PETLab, Activate! (online curriculum), Launched at Games for Change, NYC
PETLab, Mannahatta: The Game (game), Maker Faire, NY Hall of Science, NYC
2009
PETLab, Re:Activism: NYC, Election Day Edition (game) at “We: Democracy in the Age of Branding”, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics, Sheila Johnson Gallery, NY, NY
PETLab, GameTech (online curriculum), Launched via Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Atlanta Ga
2008
PETLab, Re:Activism: NYC (game), Come Out and Play Festival, NYC
PETLab, Open House (game), Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, CT
PETLab, Solar Flush (game) CitySol festival, NY, NY
2006 Mobile Geographies (installation), The Second Annual Arts and Sciences Exhibition, Tsinghua University, Beijing China
Presentations and Lectures (selected)
2020
Keynote, “Playing for Change: 10 Games to Play Right Now”, Games for Change, NYC
Workshop, “Gaming the System: Designing Games about Real-World Systems”, Games for Change, NYC
2019
Keynote, “Failing Better: A Peek into Failure-Positive Creativity”, IndieCade
Workshop, “Games for Change: Researching + Designing”, RMIT Europe, Design Week Barcelona, Spain
Talk, Colleen Macklin and John Sharp. "MLTalks—Creativity and failure: Colleen Macklin and John Sharp in conversation with Joi Ito", MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Workshop, “Systems and Social Justice”, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia. 2019
Workshop, “How Games Create Change”, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia. 2019
2018
Keynote, “Gaming the System: How Games Make Meaning in a Messed Up World”, Playful by Design, University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.
Speaker (with John Sharp), “Teaching Games With Games”, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, CA
Panelist, “Tag: Proposals on Queer Play and the Ways Forward”, Institute for Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA
2017
Keynote, “Gaming the System”, Games for Change, New York, NY
Speaker, “Gaming Programs and Their Influence on Communities”, Library Journal, Online Talk
Speaker (with John Sharp), “Teaching Games With Games”, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, CA
Speaker, “Metagaming the Future”, South by Southwest, Austin, TX
Speaker, “Being in Virtual Reality, or Now I’m a BelieVR”, Immersive Storytelling Symposium: SUBJECTIVE/OBJECTIVE Panel, The New School, New York, NY
Speaker, iThrive Games and Education Design Workshop, iThrive, Anaheim, CA
2016
Keynote, “Systems and Sensibilities”, Clash of Realities: International Conference on Art, Technology and Theory of Digital Games, Cologne, Germany
Presenter (with Eric Zimmerman and John Sharp), “The Metagame”, Kickstarter, Brooklyn, NY
Speaker, “Gaming the System”, Right of Refusal, Vera List Center for Art and Politics, The New School, New York, NY
Player, “David Shrigley's "Your Parents, You , Your Wee Sister, and The Social Services," 2001”, Free Play Exhibition Match with Curator, The New School, New York, NY
Speaker, “Gaming and Prototyping”, NYC Media Summit, New York, NY
Presenter, “The Metagame”, World Maker Faire, Kickstarter, Brooklyn, NY
Speaker, “Failing to Change”, Games for Change Festival, The New School, New York, NY
Workshop, “Modding The Metagame: Everyone’s a Critic”, Mountain West Arts Conference, Utah Department of Heritage and Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah
Keynote, “Creative Failure: What Games Can Teach Us”, Mountain West Arts Conference, Utah Department of Heritage and Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah
Speaker, “Game Industry Lecture Series”, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY
Speaker, “Games for Change”, India China Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal
Keynote, “Fail Better”, Scholastic Arts Awards, New York, NY
Speaker, “Games for Change: Turn to Face the Strange”, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, CA
Speaker (with John Sharp), “Teaching Games with Games”, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, CA
Host, “Women in Games Luncheon”, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, CA
Keynote, “Failure” HarvardxDesign, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Speaker (with John Sharp and Eric Zimmerman), “Metagame Morning”, Field Trip, Kickstarter, Brooklyn, NY
2015
Speaker, “Playing with Complexity: games and systems thinking”, World Wildlife Federation Fuller Symposium, Washington, DC
Speaker, “What I have learned from being an impostor” (women in games and the impostor’s syndrome), Riot Games, Los Angeles, CA
Artist’s Talk, USC Graduate Seminar in Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Keynote, “The Evolution of Games and Puppies and Kittens” Future and Reality of Gaming (FROG), Vienna, Austria
Symposia, “Games”, The Dictionary of the Possible, Shifter Magazine, New York, NY
Speaker, “Microcultures” MIT Media Lab Lounge, South by Southwest, Austin, TX
Keynote, Microsoft Women in Games Luncheon, Game Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, CA
Speaker, TEDx Cambridge, “What we learn from recess", Cambridge, MA
Panelist, Director’s Fellows in Conversation with Joi Ito, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Workshop, Game Design Workshop, Beirut Design Week, Alba University, Beirut, Lebanon
Speaker, Game Design for Social Change, School of Media and Communications, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Panelist, “Optimizing for Impact AND Creativity", Tribeca Film Festival, New York, NY
Moderator, “Art and Activism”, FACETS, NYU, New York, NY
Speaker, “Up to Us”, Babson College, Wellesley, MA
Speaker, “Making a Play for Change”, Designing Change, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Keynote, “Finding the queerness in games” Montreal International Games Summit, Montreal Canada
Speaker, New York Media Lab Geek of the Month, WNYC, New York, NY
Panelist, #1reasontobe, Games Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, CA
Keynote, “Games. What are they good for?” Gotland Game Conference, Visby, Sweden
Keynote, “Takeaways” Practice: Game Design in Detail, New York University, New York, NY
Speaker, MIT Media Lab Conversations Series, Cambridge, Mass.
Speaker, USC Graduate Seminar in Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Keynote, “The Gaymer Movement” GaymerX, San Francisco, CA
Speaker, “Let’s Prototype: Women at the intersection of Learning, Games and Design”, “Fireside Chat”, “The Metagame: Discuss and Design”. Games Learning and Society (GLS), Madison, WI
Keynote, Meaningful Play, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Speaker, “DIGITAL GAMES: USING PERSUASIVE PLAY FOR SOCIAL IMPACT”, Media That Matters, American University, Washington, DC
Speaker, Different Games Fellow Presentations, Different Games, NYU, New York, NY
Speaker, Creating Games with and for the Red Cross, Games for Change Festival, New York, NY
2013
Keynote, QGCon: The Queerness and Games Conference, Berkeley, CA
Panelist, Women in Games, Games Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, CA
Speaker (with John Sharp), “The Play, Make, Appreciate Manifesto” Education Summit, Game Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, CA
Panelist, “NewsBots”, South by Southwest Interactive, Austin, TX
2012
Keynote, Learntec, Karlesruhe, Germany
Keynote, The 31st Annual Gathering of the National Council of Arts Administrators, Columbus, Ohio
Keynote, Sandbox Summit, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Keynote, 2012 Statewide Arts Education Conference, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Lebanon, NH
Keynote, Games, Learning and Society 8.0, Madison, Wi
Speaker, ISEA2012, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Speaker, Civic Games, Center for Civic Media, MIT, Cambridge MA
Speaker, Project Next, IndieCade, Los Angeles, CA
Moderator, Beyond Play - Game Change: Society and Culture Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Speaker, Game Developers Conference (“Games for Change Microtalks”) San Francisco, CA
2011
Speaker, Game Developers Conference (“Microtalk”, “Game Educator’s Rant!”, “University Collaboration Panel”) San Francisco, CA
Facilitator, Workshop on Mobile and Civic Learning, University of Southern California, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation
Speaker, Annenberg Research Seminar, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
Speaker, Digital Studies Symposium, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California
Panelist, South by Southwest (“Child's Play: Game Design As An Educational Gateway”), Austin, Texas
2010
Keynote, National Endowment for the Arts Education Leader’s Institute (“Serious Play”), Hosted by the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago, IL
Keynote, Dropout Awareness and Youth Engagement, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Washington DC
Keynote, Department of Education Arts in Education Annual Meeting, Washington DC
Speaker, Games Learning and Society 6.0 (“Real-Time Research 3.0: An Experiment in Designing Research”, “DataPlay: Early Experiments in the ”Ludic Century”, “Games by Network: Thinking about Game Design for the Development of City-Wide Learning Channels”, “Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s Game Tech: A 360-degree Post-mortem”, “Playing with 140 Characters: Making Games for Twitter”) hosted by University of Wisconsin, Madison
Facilitator, Games Learning and Society (“Mobile Media Workshop”), University of Wisconsin, Madison
Speaker, IndieCade Festival (“Big Games Panel”, “Interview with John Romero”) Culver City, CA
Speaker, South By Southwest (SXSW) (“Playing with 140 Characters: Games using Twitter”) Austin, TX
Speaker, Game Education Summit (“Activate!”) University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Speaker, Games for Change Festival (“Issues Literacy”) New York, NY
2009
Keynote, National Endowment for the Arts Education Leader’s Institute (“Trends in Games and Learning”), Hosted by the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago, IL
Speaker, Games Learning and Society 5.0 (Re:Activism NYC: Urban Interactions and Learning”, “Budgetball: A New Fiscal Sport”, “Gaming After School: Boys and Girls Clubs of America Game Design Curriculum”, “Mobile Games and Education: Current Projects and State of the Practice”, “OTB: On the Backchannel”) hosted by University of Wisconsin, Madison
Presenter, Games for Change Festival (“Games 101: Production”, “Boys and Girl’s Club Game Design Curriculum”), Games and Ethics”,, NY, NY
Presenter, Game Education Summit (“Gaming After-School: Boys and Girl’s Clubs of America Game Design Curriculum”) Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Speaker, Glass House Conversations, Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, CT
Digerati (one of 20 presenters), Smithsonian 2.0, Washington, DC
2008
Keynote, 2008 Biennale Internationale Design, St. Etienne, France
Panelist, Game Developer’s Conference (“Learning Case Studies”), San Francisco, CA
Moderator, Games Learning and Society 4.0 (“Mobile Learning”), hosted by University of Wisconsin, Madison
Presenter, Games for Change Festival (“Games 101: Production”) NY, NY
2007
Speaker, Nokia Annual Mobile Gaming Conference (“Innovations in Mobile Gaming”) Lisbon, Portugal
Speaker, Open Society Institute Annual Health Convening (“Information Design for Advocacy”) Antalya,Turkey
2006
Keynote, Diseño+ (“Beyond Usability” ) ICESI University, Cali, Columbia
Speaker, Tsinghua University (“Information Design Revolution”) Beijing, China
Speaker, The Waag Society for Old and New Media (“Old and New (York) Media”) Amsterdam, Holland
2005
Presenter, I.D.E.A. Summit – Innovations In Design Education and Application, (“educational entrepreneurship and the new foundations for design practice in the 21st century”) The Design Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Workshop Instructor, The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum: Summer Design Institute, NY, NY
Press, Media and Reviews (selected)
2020
Review, “With These Literary Puzzlers, the Game’s Afoot (and in Hand),” New York Times Book Review, June 2, 2020
2019
Review, “Iterate: Ten Perspectives in Design and Failure, review by AnneMarie Dorland,”Journal of Design Research, Vol. 17, Nos. 2/3/4, 2019
Interview, “Learn from failure by looking for the seeds of success”, In the Black (https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2019/11/08/learn-from-failure-by-looking-for-the-seeds-of-success)
2017
Interview, “FREQ #14: Colleen Macklin and the Politics of Fun”, Feminist Frequency (https://feministfrequency.com/2017/05/03/freq-14-colleen-macklin-and-the-politics-of-fun/)
2015
Interview, “'Am I trans?' One teen’s quest and how gaming helped”, New Tech City, Public Radio International (PRI, WNYC)
Review, “A Card Game That Makes Players Fight Over Pop Culture” Wired Magazine
Interview, “How To Design A Game With A Social Message (That's Also Fun)”, Fast Company Design
Featured, “Five Female Developers Turning the Tables on the Gaming Industry”, Good Magazine
Featured, “When Gamers and Activists Collide, It's Not About Winning—It’s About Social Change”, Yes! Magazine
Interview, “Games for Change 2015: Interview with Colleen Macklin on Gaming for Good”, Ad Council
2014
Interview, “Gaming in Color” Documentary Film, Amazon, Netflix, iTunes
Interview, “Game Loading: Rise of the Indies” Documentary Film, Steam, iTunes, XBOX
2013
Interview, “MOMA’s Videogame Acquisition”, BBC World Service
Interview, “Game Designers in Detail: Colleen Macklin”, NYU Game Center (https://gamecenter.nyu.edu/game-designers-in-detail-colleen-macklin/)
2011
Interview, “Interview: Colleen Mackin”, Civic Tripod, International Journal of Learning and Media (http://civictripod.com/civictripod.com/colleen-macklin/index.html)
2010
Interview, “Interview with Colleen Macklin, director of PETLab”, Games for Change (http://www.gamesforchange.org/blog/2010/12/17/interview-with-colleen-macklin-director-of-petlab/)