Call for Participants

In today’s crowded media ecosystem, dominated by multitudes of niche networks and programming, the expansion of major IPs to emerging platforms, and burgeoning experiments in mixed reality everywhere from theme parks to backyard Pokémon hunts, what isn’t transmedia? Through several studies, including Frankenstein200, our own project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, it’s evident that transmedia environments can be an effective mode for public engagement, informal learning, and multimodal storytelling. As the logic of transmedia engagement continues to shape the digital activities of today’s learners, and the effects of the global pandemic move more interactions into virtual spaces, educators must learn new ways to effectively wield these tools.

In fall 2020 and spring 2021, Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination will convene two virtual workshops to identify the key questions and challenges facing transmedia research and engagement projects, with the outcomes of these discussions forming the core of a new volume of essays on transmedia learning. Contributions to this volume will include case studies that define best practices for real-world transmedia projects and scholarly essays that synthesize perspectives from the humanities, learning sciences, museum studies, and related fields. By understanding transmedia theory and practice in the context of a rapidly evolving media environment, the book will address the central questions of when, how, and why to use transmedia as a critical lens or a strategic approach.

Contributors to the two workshops and the edited volume will receive US$2,000. (If a contribution to the edited volume is coauthored, the payment will be divided equally between the coauthors.) If you are interested in participating, please complete the following application by Monday, August 31 at 12:00pm U.S. Pacific time to be considered for inclusion in the project.

Should you have any questions, please contact Bob Beard at bob.beard@asu.edu.

The material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number 1516684. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.