This is the home of the Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives, a community of academics and practitioners concerned with the advancement of all forms of interactive narrative – including narrative video games, interactive documentaries & video, journalistic interactives, artistic installations, XR (VR, AR, MR) pieces and further emerging forms. Lear more.
Newsletter Editor wanted – Strategic Communications & Curation
Newsletter Editor – Strategic Communications & Curation
ARDIN is seeking a Newsletter Editor to manage our primary communication channel and strengthen our global network. You will ensure our insights and updates reach hundreds of researchers and practitioners effectively, maintaining a professional standard that bridges academic depth with industry relevance.
Responsibilities:
- Editorial Management: Oversee the full production cycle of the ARDIN newsletter, from content sourcing to final distribution, ensuring timely delivery and high editorial standards.
- Content Curation: In collaboration with the ARDIN general board, select and refine news, event updates, and member spotlights that appeal to our diverse audience of scholars and creative professionals.
- Audience Strategy: Optimize newsletter layout and messaging to maximize open rates and reader engagement across our international community.
Requirements:
- Experience in editorial roles, digital publishing, or communications.
- Excellent command of English with a sharp eye for detail and tone.
- Familiarity with email marketing platforms (e.g., Mailchimp, Substack) and layout design.
Digital Publishing Specialist Wanted – Open Access & Indexing
The Journal of Interactive Narrative is looking for a Digital Publishing Professional to manage our production pipeline and expand our global reach. You will ensure our content is discoverable and compliant with global open-access standards.
Responsibilities:
- Open Access Management: Oversee the publication workflow (experience with OJS preferred).
- Indexing Strategy: Manage applications and metadata for major indices (Scopus, Google Scholar, etc.).
- Metadata & DOIs: Ensure correct assignment of DOIs and rich metadata.
Requirements:
- Experience in academic publishing or digital library services.
- Technical proficiency with publishing platforms and XML/metadata workflows.
Call for Copyeditor – Help Shape the Future of Interactive Storytelling
The Journal of Interactive Narrative is seeking a meticulous Copyeditor to join our editorial team. We publish cutting-edge research on games, VR, electronic literature, and digital storytelling. We need your eagle eye to ensure our scholarship is clear, correct, and accessible.
Responsibilities:
- Review accepted manuscripts for grammar, clarity, and flow.
- Ensure strict adherence to APA Style (7th Edition).
- Format references, citations, and headings to meet publication standards.
Requirements:
- Proven experience with academic copyediting.
- Deep expertise in APA style.
- Knowledge of InDesign
Curator Wanted – Shaping the Collection of Interactive Narratives
The Journal of Interactive Narrative is looking for a visionary Interactive Works Acquisition Editor. We don’t just write about interactive storytelling; we showcase it. We need a curator to scout, solicit, and manage the inclusion of creative interactive works (games, VR experiences, hypertext, and digital art) for our journal’s creative showcase and review sections.
What You Will Do:
- Scout & Recruit: Actively identify groundbreaking interactive narratives and invite creators to submit their work.
- Curate: Manage the selection process for the journal’s creative section, ensuring a diverse range of voices, mediums, and styles.
- Liaise: Serve as the primary point of contact between artists/developers and the editorial board.
- Contextualize: Work with creators to prepare artist statements or critical introductions for their pieces.
Requirements:
- Deep passion for and knowledge of the IDN scene, interactive visual novels, indie game scene, AI, electronic literature, and XR/VR communities.
- Strong networking skills within the digital arts and narrative design sectors.
- Ability to critically evaluate the narrative mechanics of interactive media.
Social Media Manager and Digital Engagement Strategist
ARDIN is seeking a Social Media Manager to elevate our global presence and drive engagement across our digital channels. You will be responsible for shaping our voice and expanding our reach within the interactive narrative community, ensuring our initiatives resonate with hundreds of researchers and practitioners worldwide.
Responsibilities:
- Content Strategy & Curation: Develop and execute a cohesive content calendar that highlights ARDIN events, member achievements, and industry news.
- Community Engagement: Foster active dialogue between academic researchers and industry practitioners through targeted interactions and discussions.
- Growth & Analytics: Implement strategies to expand our follower base and monitor engagement metrics to optimize our digital impact.
Requirements:
- Experience in social media management for academic, cultural, or professional organizations.
- Strong understanding of digital storytelling and interactive narrative trends.
- Proficiency in creating engaging content for platforms such as LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Malta, June 29, 2025
Deadline
Call for Papers:
We invite educators, researchers, and practitioners involved in game studies and related disciplines to contribute to the Workshop – Global Games Education Now: Exploring Contemporary Approaches in Game Studies. This workshop is organized by the leadership of both the global communities in the Higher Educational Video Game Alliance (HEVGA) and the Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives (ARDIN).
Building upon an earlier workshop with a similar topic at DIGRA 2019: Teaching Games: Pedagogical Approaches, this workshop aims to bring together educators, researchers, and practitioners to discuss and develop innovative strategies for teaching game studies in a global context. It will also facilitate a reflection on what has changed within the last six years in the field. The evolving landscape of game studies necessitates a critical examination of current educational practices and methodologies, especially considering the growth of artificial intelligence and other generative tools, the shifting geo-political landscape and educational priorities, and the growth of games educational programs in higher education. This workshop provides a platform for critical reflection and exchange on contemporary educational practices within game studies.
We encourage submissions related to, but not limited to, the following key topics:
- Curriculum Development: Strategies for designing inclusive and comprehensive game studies programs that cater to a diverse student body.
- Pedagogical Innovations: Exploration of teaching methods that effectively integrate theoretical and practical aspects of game studies.
- Global Perspectives: Understanding the role of cultural context in game education and how to incorporate global viewpoints into the curriculum.
- Industry Collaboration: Examining partnerships between academia and the gaming industry to enhance educational outcomes and employability.
- Technological Integration: Utilizing emerging technologies to enrich the learning experience in game studies.
Submission Guidelines:
Workshop participants are invited to submit either of the following:
- Opinion Pieces: 750–2000-word opinion pieces describing the author’s perspectives on games education in their region (which can range from hyperlocal to a country or regional cluster of countries).
- Discussant Profiles: A 250-word profile to be considered as a discussant, allowing dialogue between those who have a well-formed and easily articulated perspective and those who are looking to engage in dialogue about games education more informally.
Publication Opportunities:
Work submitted or authored as part of the workshop will be considered for publication in the ACM Journal of Games: Research and Practice. These submissions will be considered for inclusion in the ongoing Global Games Education Now Series in the journal, ACM Games: Research and Practice. This series, curated by Lindsay Grace (a co-organizer of the workshop), is designed to foster community and reflection on the regional differences for games-focused education. The goal of these pieces is to examine from within the geographic community noteworthy elements of the education environment, candidly disclosing regional challenges and opportunities based on direct interaction with learning communities, administrators, and others shaping the educational environment. The structure of these reports will generally follow a three-part format: introductory context, observations and reflections, and conclusions.
The workshop authors will also use the workshop conversations to create a reflection on the state of global games education in 2025 to be published in the same journal. Several of the workshop organizers are on the editorial board for the journal, and one of the organizers, Lindsay Grace, started the series. The Global Games Education Now reports aim to provide direct observations about the state of games-focused education and training within a global context, collecting reflections on the ever-changing state of education across the globe. This new series, G-Gen, aims to provide a relevant contemporary perspective on the state and emerging trends in geographic communities’ games-focused education to help pedagogy, research, and practice globally by observing, reporting, and reflecting on the state of education from a regional lens.
Target Audience:
This workshop is designed for educators, curriculum developers, researchers, administrators, and practitioners involved in game studies and related disciplines. It is also beneficial for industry professionals interested in collaborating with academic institutions to shape the future of game education.
Outcomes:
By participating in this workshop, attendees will:
- Gain an enhanced understanding of current trends and challenges in game studies education.
- Acquire practical strategies for curriculum development and pedagogical innovation.
- Develop insights into incorporating global perspectives and cultural contexts into teaching practices.
- Generate ideas for fostering collaborations between academia and the gaming industry.
- Become part of a network of professionals committed to advancing game studies education.
- Contribute to the ongoing discourse on game studies education and help shape its future direction in a globally interconnected world.
We encourage you to contribute your expertise and perspectives to this important discussion on the future of global games education. This workshop provides a valuable opportunity to share experiences, discuss challenges, and collaboratively develop solutions to advance the field and its practice.
Submission:
Submit to
ARDIN, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University Press, proudly presents the first edition of An Educator’s Guide to Interactive Digital Narrative: Syllabi and Resources from Around the World co-edited by Joshua A Fisher, María Cecilia Reyes, and Jonathan Barbara.
Open access download: https://lnkd.in/dwvamTau
Paperback purchase link: https://lnkd.in/d8ceRuAr
This global, transdisciplinary, and continuously evolving collection is dedicated to educators, scholars, and practitioners who teach and develop Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) across diverse fields—including storytelling, game development, journalism, AR/VR/XR, digital humanities, and more.
45 syllabi from university programs worldwide, this first edition offers a kaleidoscopic view of IDN as it solidifies into a recognized academic discipline. Each syllabus spotlights unique approaches to interactive storytelling, from foundational theories to hands-on best practices.
What You’ll Find Inside:
- Syllabi & Teaching Materials: From survey courses and introductory workshops to advanced graduate seminars, each syllabus shares resources, assignments, grading rubrics, and platform recommendations (Twine, Unity, Inky, Adobe XD, and more).
- Theoretical Foundations & Practical Guidance: Dive into transdisciplinary approaches that blend game design, media studies, literature, and computer science for holistic IDN instruction.
- Community-Driven Perspectives: Learn from instructors worldwide who contribute unique insights shaped by their local context, audience, and institutional structures.
- Collaborative & Flexible Pedagogies: Get inspiration for mixing lectures, peer critiques, project-based learning, and real-world playtesting.
Learn more about the project at https://idnsyllabi.com/
Guest talk by Dr. Ilaria Mariani, an expert in Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs), game design, and AI-enhanced public sector innovation.
Speaker Bio
As an Assistant Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Dr. Mariani has spent the past ten years developing and refining a pedagogical model that leverages IDNs as catalysts for social change. She will share insights from a decade of experimentation, assessment, and transdisciplinary collaboration, exploring the opportunities and challenges in designing interactive systems that engage with and reshape societal narratives.
Talk abstract
This presentation marks the tenth anniversary of a pedagogical model developed in a design course, focusing on crafting IDNs as catalysts for social change. Over the last decade, this model has been refined through continuous iterative processes within higher education settings. We discuss the specific features of this approach, which integrates transdisciplinary methods and practical tools to design IDNs as complex interactive systems that engage with and potentially alter societal narratives. The talk will highlight the evolution of our educational practices and methodologies, and present the lessons learned through ten years of application, experimentation, and continuous assessment. We will explore insight into the systematic design process that puts together theoretical underpinnings and operational strategies to support the creation of IDNs for social change, sharing key opportunities and challenges from our extensive empirical study.
Related publication: Design for Narrative Change. A Pedagogical Model for Interactive Digital Narratives – Mariani, Ciancia –2023 – International Journal of Art & Design Education
The call for papers for ICIDS 2025 in Malta is out. The theme is “Kaleidoscopic Machines” and there is a new focus on updates and replication studies
https://icids2025.ardin.online
Guest talk by Samya Brata Roy, PhD Scholar at IIT Jodhpur & Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London
Speaker Bio
Samya Brata Roy is a leading researcher in Electronic Literature, Digital Humanities, and Video Game Studies. In this talk, he will delve into the emergence of Electronic Literature in India, examining how literary institutions engage with digital narratives and the challenges posed by print-centric traditions.
Talk abstract
The talk will take a deep dive into “Electronic Literature in India & its Im/Possibilities.” It critically explores the evolving landscape of Electronic Literature in India, its institutional challenges, and the diverse ways readers engage with this emerging field. Samya’s research not only highlights the dominance of print-centric literary institutions but also challenges us to rethink the historiography of Electronic Literature through a decentralized, intersectional lens. Through interviews, field visits, and experimental studies with students from diverse institutions, Samya’s research uncovers how different audiences interpret and interact with Electronic Literature, from shock and awe to critical reflections on interface design. His work highlights the need for decentralized, inclusive approaches in shaping the historiography of this evolving field.