New women-led game design program at Mohawk College to focus on ethics and inclusion

She grew up playing action and adventure video games on Atari, Commodore 64 and Nintendo DS, and has continued as an adult, using them as a motivational tool" in research and writing.

But Lisa Funnell said some of the games, in particular a remake of a 1990s Lara Croft game, were triggering and off-putting."

The opponent threatened to sexually assault Croft and, as a player, I had to press a series of buttons in a particular order to survive the attack," Funnell, Mohawk College's associate dean of creative industries, told The Spectator in an email.

Funnell failed the first time, and watched her character be brutally murdered on screen."

It was so disturbing that I didn't want to continue playing the game," she said. It made me question, who green-lit this portion of the game?"

Funnell hopes a new Mohawk game-design program with a bent toward ethics will help change the way games are developed.

The program, which will host its first cohort next fall, will have a unique focus on breaking down barriers and creating gaming content that better reflects today's more diverse and inclusive society," reads a recent release.

The three-year advanced diploma was developed in response to a fast-growing" industry, and will teach design, technical and artistic skills involved in game production, along with ethics in both game content and the workplace.

Design thinking requires an empathetic understanding of people, challenges assumptions, centres on experimentation and testing, and is highly action oriented," Funnell said. It is important that we help to train the next generation of ethical and inclusive creators."

Funnell, who researches gender and geopolitics in film, in particular James Bond, said she initiated the redesign of the curriculum utilizing an EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) lens" when she started as associate dean in May.

Too often, sexual violence is problematically used to depict female vulnerability and emerging heroic strength in the media," Funnell said.

Angela Stukator, a special adviser who is co-leading the development of the program, said the program aims to be a leader in the industry.

We don't want to mirror the industry, we want to model another approach to the industry, one that is inclusive," said Stukator, who has about four decades of post-secondary teaching experience.

Mohawk says the program's leadership team is made up largely of female academics, highlighting the prominent role women can play within the industry."

We are at a time in our cultural history where we recognize that this has to be a priority," Stukator said.

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com