Browsing by Author "Marc Russo"

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A Shadow at the Door How Narrative Addresses Trauma and Abuse
(2021) Parker, Jaekwon; JMark Scearce; Laura Widman; Marc Russo
This paper is an aggregate of information gained from general research, personal experience, and creative influence. We will explore the consequences of sexual assault on survivors who experienced said assault in childhood. As well as how narrative and creative media can help one come to terms with, address, and heal with the resulting trauma. To provide an example of how narrative can assist in addressing childhood trauma, I created a graphic novel titled A Shadow at the Door. The narrative follows a young black boy coming to terms with sexual assault he survived and learning to ask for help when the trauma and triggers become too much for him to bear. The purpose of this project is not to be a self-help book, or the end-all-be-all on advice as to what to do if one finds themselves a survivor of abuse, sexual or otherwise. The intent is to provide representation in terms of racial and gender demographics in a medium that would best reach out to an audience of pre-teen boys that could find use in the narrative of Nairobi.
Anxiety-Coping Strategies and their Place in Game-Based Learning: An Exploration into How the Integration of Stress-Reducing Strategies into a Serious Game Can Offer Children a Learning Environment that is Both Encouraging and Effective
(05-05-2020) Hennes, Isabel; Marc Russo; John Nietfeld; JMark Scearce
Every human experiences stress in some form or another, and in the right amount it can act as an excellent motivator. It is only when a person experiences so much anxiety that it negatively impacts his or her ability to function in everyday life that it is truly considered a disorder. Anxiety is the body’s fight or flight response to perceived danger and—when treated appropriately through various therapies and from a young enough age—those who suffer from anxiety can learn to cope and overcome his or her disorder. Unfortunately, many children who develop anxiety, whether due to a learning deficit or a variety of other factors, take that anxiety into adulthood if untreated. By identifying whether or not a child is struggling in school due to symptoms of anxiety, parents and teachers have the opportunity to teach and encourage healthy coping strategies that can enable the child to appropriately react when experiencing an overwhelming amount of stress and worry. By addressing such symptoms early on, parents and teachers have the ability to recognize unhealthy behaviors and seek professional help if they fear their child is struggling. The intended purpose of this project is first, to understand what ways can the integration of anxiety coping tools and strategies into a game-based learning environment help normalize and alleviate assessment-induced stress; and secondly, how can such a system bring attention to parents and teachers of children who might be struggling in school? This project is not meant to diagnose anyone with learning or anxiety disorders, or provide long term therapy, but rather give students, no matter their condition, an opportunity to learn how to react to stressful situations with healthy behaviors.
Anxiety-Coping Strategies and their Place in Game-Based Learning: An Exploration into How the Integration of Stress-Reducing Strategies into a Serious Game Can Offer Children a Learning Environment that is Both Encouraging and Effective
(05-05-2021) Hennes, Isabel; Marc Russo; John Nietfeld; JMark Scearce
Every human experiences stress in some form or another, and in the right amount it can act as an excellent motivator. It is only when a person experiences so much anxiety that it negatively impacts his or her ability to function in everyday life that it is truly considered a disorder. Anxiety is the body’s fight or flight response to perceived danger and—when treated appropriately through various therapies and from a young enough age—those who suffer from anxiety can learn to cope and overcome his or her disorder. Unfortunately, many children who develop anxiety, whether due to a learning deficit or a variety of other factors, take that anxiety into adulthood if untreated. By identifying whether or not a child is struggling in school due to symptoms of anxiety, parents and teachers have the opportunity to teach and encourage healthy coping strategies that can enable the child to appropriately react when experiencing an overwhelming amount of stress and worry. By addressing such symptoms early on, parents and teachers have the ability to recognize unhealthy behaviors and seek professional help if they fear their child is struggling. The intended purpose of this project is first, to understand what ways can the integration of anxiety coping tools and strategies into a game-based learning environment help normalize and alleviate assessment-induced stress; and secondly, how can such a system bring attention to parents and teachers of children who might be struggling in school? This project is not meant to diagnose anyone with learning or anxiety disorders, or provide long term therapy, but rather give students, no matter their condition, an opportunity to learn how to react to stressful situations with healthy behaviors.
Combating Conspiracy
(05-2022) Granholm, lydia; Justin Johnson; Kate Greder; Marc Russo
While nothing new, conspiracy theories are shaping our world in dangerous and increasingly apparent ways. From Covid denialists to violent antisemites, conspiracy theorists are killing people by spreading and acting upon misinformation. The goal of this project is to develop in players an understanding of what makes a credible source of information and how to think critically about what they see online and in the news. Combating Conspiracy is a serious game that will achieve this by teaching a mindset that prevents people from falling into conspiracy theories, by gamifying the curriculums of English and Theory of Knowledge classes. The supporting research for this project is based in how games can be used in education, how games reach a diverse audience, and the evaluation of sources of information. The resulting game is one that can be played in a traditional high school classroom setting to engage students in the material and facilitate further classroom discussion.
De:Void
(05-2022) VanDeVenter, Melissa; Dr. Derek Ham; Marc Russo; Katie Greder,
Games are perhaps as diverse in nature and outcome as humanity is in appearance and personality. The English word itself has a plethora of different definitions and colloquial uses: “quit playing games with me!” and “he has a game leg”. Additionally there are differing opinions on what things classify as a game and what do not. Puzzles and simulators, for example, are often debated in regards to this with strong cases on both sides. This varied quality and the negative associations often tied to them tend to leave games overlooked as activities deeper than leisure. For how could play lead to real impact? This project—an alternate reality game (ARG) titled De:Void—offers to shed some light on how we expect too little from games and play. It demonstrates how gameplay can naturally prompt collective intelligence (also referred to as “swarm thinking”), crowdsourced work, and social enrichment through shared participation. De:Void’s system and content is shaped by the essential concepts and principles discussed by many of the leading experts in the theories of games and play. Through careful inspection of these characteristics and reference of many precedents, this ARG directs its players toward collaborative, real hard work by employing gameful measures to generate strong motivation and player agency. It organically encourages the participants toward engaging in systems of thought, such as design thinking, and offers a development framework for future serious games to be made. De:Void illustrates how games are an under-utilized method of directing real change.
ENIGMA
(5-2022) Daniels, izzy; Dr. J. Mark Scearce; Dr. Mark Hursty; Tori Ralston; Marc Russo
Losing sight of one's own identity has become increasingly prevalent in today's society between the emergence of the digital age, the isolation of living through a pandemic, and the loss of ‘self’ one often feels while going through a profound life change. The pursuit of self-knowledge and authenticity have long been linked through the philosophical works of countless great minds. Influenced by the works of Sartre, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Descartes, ENIGMA is an interactive stop motion experience that not only begs the audience to recognize their own authentic selves, but also builds a community of users who are going through the same process of self-authentication. In order to achieve this, ENIGMA explores empathy through decision making as the user is led through a gritty world of both craft and glitchy CG imagery. ENIGMA is simultaneously about the process of finding one's own authenticity and building an honest and vulnerable community through that process, in equal importance. Through the story told within ENIGMA and the decisions the users make in regard to their treatment of the world, empathy is encouraged as a tool for understanding both oneself and the world at large.
HOMETOWN: Exploring Escapism Through Meta-Narrative
(2020) Wiedner, Andrew J.; Marc Russo; J. Mark Scearce; Chris Martens
Loxodonta
(5-2022) Connor, Mitchell; Marc Russo; Justin Johnson; Dr. Derek Ham,
Loxodonta is a virtual reality application that explores the importance of memory, and how specific visual styles might be able to trigger them. This thesis is the culmination of the research and practice that went into making this VR experience. The main objective of Loxodonta is to explore the efficacy of virtual reality being used as a nostalgia triggering device, as well as the best practice for achieving nostalgia while in virtual reality. This was accomplished by creating an experience that focuses on generalized nostalgia, with the aid of retrieval cues. The virtual environments consist of an interactive playspace with a large collection of objects that are related to a specific, meaningful time period for the user. It is important to note that this experimentation is targeted towards a very specific audience and time period, as this is only an experiment of virtual reality that triggers nostalgia, and the results may vary across audiences. Loxodonta is meant to be a tool - a device which allows you to access what was once lost to time.
Nice Folky Things
(05-2022) Sibiran, Gilberto; Tania Allen; Marc Russo; Lesley-Ann Noel
As a child of American immigrants, I often struggled with understanding my identity when it came to the lack of representation in the media that I consumed as a millennial second-generation Latin American. The stories that influenced the media and defined my generation lacked characters that looked like me and were largely inspired by stories from Western European and far removed from the stories that may have included people like me. By examining folk stories from countries of origin not often represented in mainstream American culture remediating them for a detached population - Nice Folky Things, explores the identity and culture of second-generation Americans through cross-cultural folk stories examination. This is an Auto-ethnographic study based on my own experiences as an American-born, second-generation Latin American who has, and still often feels, detached from my family’s heritage, and ostracized by my surrounding mainstream American Culture. Walking the line between contradiction, authenticity, and honoring heritage - this project is meant to be both an examination of my personal experiences, and authentic taste, as well as a larger examination of how media has, and can, re-shaped personal identity.
Reorganizing Narratives: Increasing Accessibility To Comic Book Literature
(2021) Campbell-Barner, Alec; Marc Russo
Within the medium of sequential art there are numerous unique categories, genres, formats, and styles. One of the oldest formats within the medium is traditional serialized comic books. These periodical magazines have been in circulation since the late 1930’s. My research outlines the artistic, literary, and historical value within the medium of comic books to highlight the significance of my thesis project. Over time the reading format for the medium of periodical comic books has evolved extensively and created a unique type of reader. Now, as the medium charges into a competitive and digitized future, evolving the reading format will become a necessity. My thesis argument proposes ideas on how the reading format of comic books can or should evolve to better support readers and researchers. My thesis argument proposes that the current reading format of comic books lacks accessibility and legibility and a digital resource for better understanding the medium is needed. The conceptual design that I have created could work as a digital literary resource to support readers, researchers, and educators with engaging with the medium. I discuss ways to enhance the reading format by designing digital contextual reading guides. This project design is a proof of concept and is influenced by numerous precedents. This thesis involves the investigation and creation of a platform design intended to improve the overall accessibility of the comic book reading format.
Reorganizing Narratives: increasing accessibility to comic book literature
(2021) Campbell-Barner, Alec; Marc Russo; Tania Allen; Patrick Fitzgerald
CAMPBELL-BARNER, ALEC, Reorganizing Narratives: Increasing Accessibility To Comic Book Literature. (Under the direction of Professor Marc Russo). Within the medium of sequential art there are numerous unique categories, genres, formats, and styles. One of the oldest formats within the medium is traditional serialized comic books. These periodical magazines have been in circulation since the late 1930’s. My research outlines the artistic, literary, and historical value within the medium of comic books to highlight the significance of my thesis project. Over time the reading format for the medium of periodical comic books has evolved extensively and created a unique type of reader. Now, as the medium charges into a competitive and digitized future, evolving the reading format will become a necessity. My thesis argument proposes ideas on how the reading format of comic books can or should evolve to better support readers and researchers. My thesis argument proposes that the current reading format of comic books lacks accessibility and legibility and a digital resource for better understanding the medium is needed. The conceptual design that I have created could work as a digital literary resource to support readers, researchers, and educators with engaging with the medium. I discuss ways to enhance the reading format by designing digital contextual reading guides. This project design is a proof of concept and is influenced by numerous precedents. This thesis involves the investigation and creation of a platform design intended to improve the overall accessibility of the comic book reading format.
Seisolo.io: Remixing the Recital
(12-2020) Hinton, Webb; Dr. J. Mark Scearce; Marc Russo; Michael Palm
SeiSolo.io is a multimedia web installation exploring classical and electronic music, aiming to create a unique and accessible way of engaging with classical music. SeiSolo.io features a recorded solo violin recital by Vivek Menon. In conjunction with the recital, five electronic musicians of various styles are commissioned to remix these solo violin recordings. Bridging these elements is a browser- based music production software developed by myself, allowing users to recompose the violin recordings into new tracks. All three components will be hosted on a website. SeiSolo.io can make a contribution to diversity in classical music by offering accessible opportunities for experiential digital learning. By enabling people to interact with classical music through remixing, this project will foster new interest and appreciation of the art form. Seisolo.io will illuminate relationships between music from different eras, and enable musicians from diverse traditions to engage in a productive and stimulating exchange of creative ideas.
Snow Seeker
(05-2022) Rhagavan, Vaikunth; Marc Russo; Justin Johnson; Patrick Fitzgerald
Climate change is transforming our planet, drowning ecosystems with the polar meltdown and pushing many species into their extinction. This project explores the predictions of climate science through the conceptualization and design of a role-playing game experience, Snow Seeker, which visualizes a future Earth adversely affected by climate change, depicting the likely transformations to the Antarctic and other ecosystems from multiple perspectives and see how such transformations affect every species on the planet. Using the latest theories framed by the scientific community to explain climate change and combining them with game engines and procedural 3D tools, the game environments created for Snow Seeker are designed to represent how the world will look in the future if the South Pole completely melts and global temperature goes above 4°C. Through storytelling and gamification, the players will embark on a journey for survival, looking for basic supplies as they travel across the globe over harsh and volatile ecosystems, witnessing how the lands change and realizing what could happen if we fail to control global temperature rise and climate change. Players can choose to play as different species and experience the landscapes as such and gauge how each is affected differently. Through speculation of such a future, the hope is to change people’s attuide and encourage them to work together and solve the climate crisis.
THE CHANGE WE SEEK: Creative History as Social Justice
(05-10-2021) Bailey, Darrien D.; Dr. Derek Ham; Dr. Blair L.M. Kelley; Marc Russo
In what ways could digital tools enhance the historical material of oral history to inspire public engagement and deepen understanding of the complexity of systemic racism in America? The Change We Seek is a project that intends to promote social change through reimagining how oral history can be used and presented to better inform collegiate and high school students on complex issues of race in American society. Through utilizing the educational value of sharing narratives from people of color (POC), and animation, this project is an all-out effort to redefine how oral history has the potential to provoke a realization within the American public of its sizeable racial disparity. The research included in this paper also documents significant historical and theoretical research that shapes the content produced for The Change We Seek. This research charts numerous instances of how the foundations which shape American society, most specifically education, have significantly affected the lives of black people forcing readers and viewers of content produced from The Change Week Seek to understand the gravity of America’s racial divide.
THE CHANGE WE SEEK: Creative History as Social Justice
(10-05-2021) Bailey, Darrien Douglass; Dr. Derek Ham; Dr. Blair L.M. Kelley; Marc Russo
Abstract In what ways could digital tools enhance the historical material of oral history to inspire public engagement and deepen understanding of the complexity of systemic racism in America? The Change We Seek is a project that intends to promote social change through reimagining how oral history can be used and presented to better inform collegiate and high school students on complex issues of race in American society. Through utilizing the educational value of sharing narratives from people of color (POC), and animation, this project is an all-out effort to redefine how oral history has the potential to provoke a realization within the American public of its sizeable racial disparity. The research included in this paper also documents significant historical and theoretical research that shapes the content produced for The Change We Seek. This research charts numerous instances of how the foundations which shape American society, most specifically education, have significantly affected the lives of black people forcing readers and viewers of content produced from The Change Week Seek to understand the gravity of America’s racial divide.