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The Games+Learning+Society Center is excited to announce the relaunch of the Games+Learning+Society (GLS) Conference at the University of California, Irvine on June 15-17 2022. For nearly two decades, the GLS Conference has been a premier venue for those who create and research digital learning media inspired by games. Now in 2022, as we emerged from a global pandemic and a national reckoning of systemic racism and inequity in the US, the GLS event will continue as a forum for media and learning but now with a renewed commitment to tackling the most pressing questions and challenges of our time: How can games be a force for environmental, educational, and economic health and equity? How can we as interactive media creators and researchers contribute to the national conversations on digital democracy, racial justice, and rebuilding trust in systems and each other? How do we make games part of our solution instead of part of our problem?

Now relocated in Southern California, the entertainment media capital of the world, GLS will again feature the high quality program, top notch attendees list, and playful atmosphere it is known for. Expect an intimate event with in-depth conversation across diverse disciplines including game design and game studies, learning sciences and educational research, the social sciences and social policy. This year, we seek to engage the broader community of game developers and scholars in thoughtful consideration of games and their impact including but not limited to cognitive and behavioral change, social movements, sustainable futures, democracy, racial justice, and (lest we forget) joy.

The GLS conference features a variety of innovative session types including interactive workshops on game design and game research; individual academic and symposia presentations; our beloved Hall of Failure sessions, interactive well played sessions, and intimate conversations of substance over working papers at the poster event. This year, we celebrate each other and our community through our Game Showcase Event (Wednesday evening), live music (Distractor) and food trucks out under the stars on Aldrich Park at the heart of campus (Thursday evening), and a Sunset Beach BBQ on Doheny Beach (Friday evening) featuring polynesian music and an optional side dish of surf lessons. Kick off your summer 2022 with us in sunny SoCal for community, connection and cutting-edge content!