Digital Storytelling Colloquium: Allen Turner

Join IDRH for our Digital Storytelling Colloquium with a presentation by Allen Turner

Thursday, November 5, 4:00 PM

"The tomorrow that we dream: A conversation with Allen Turner on building worlds and creating narratives in games and play spaces"

In our current world where everything seems to be falling apart, worldbuilding may be a radical act. In this talk we'll explore the various ways we can create somatic and cognitive containers for experiences and empathy, how we set boundaries, and how we can use them to create new conversations and narratives for entertainment and positive growth.

Register for free through zoom.

An Afro-Indigenous game designer, storyteller, artist, dancer and author, Allen Turner believes in the power of play and story as fundamental, powerful medicines which shape our sense of self.

After working in the video game industry, and freelance storytelling, for over 15 years, Allen focused his design, storytelling, and cultural experience to create, and publish a table-top RPG called “Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game.” which pulls from the myths and folklore of indigenous and tribal peoples from all over the world, looks through a Lakota lens, while exploring allegorical battles with depression, solitude, identity, and erasure. He has continued to explore the play conversations initiated in Ehdrigohr on his blog via fiction, musings, photography and additional writings in Ehdrigohr and in other table-top experiences he has created.

Currently, Allen teaches game design at DePaul University as faculty for the School of Design and Creative Director of the DePaul Originals Game Studio. This new game studio focuses on giving students the experience of being at a large studio, developing mastery, and working on a long term game project.

Outside of DePaul he uses game design concepts as a tool for examining personal narratives and empowerment with local communities and local urban youth.