Biography

Lindsay is Knight Chair in Interactive Media and a full professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. He is Vice President for the Higher Education Video Game Alliance and the 2019 recipient of the Games for Change Vanguard award. Lindsay's book, Doing Things with Games, Social Impact through Design, is a well-received guide to game design. In 2020, he edited and authored Love and Electronic Affection: a Design Primer on designing love and affection in games. In 2021 he published the Amazon best seller, Black Game Studies, an Introduction to the games, game makers and scholarship of the African diaspora

His work has received awards and recognition from the Games for Change Festival, the Digital Diversity Network, the Association of Computing Machinery's digital arts community , Black Enterprise and others. He authored or co-authored more than 95 papers, articles and book chapters on games since 2009. His creative work has been selected for showcase internationally including New York, Paris, São Paulo, Singapore, Chicago, Vancouver, Istanbul, and others. Lindsay curated or co-curated Blank Arcade (2014-2016), Smithsonian American Art Museum’s SAAM Arcade (2014-2017), the Games for Change Festival (2017, 2022, 2023) and others.

He has given talks at the Game Developers Conference, SXSW, Games for Change Festival, the Online News Association, the Society for News Design, and many other industry events. He has had appearances on domestic and international television and radio and written editorials published by CNN and others.

Between 2013 and 2018 he was the founding director of the American University Game Lab and Studio. He served as Vice President and on the board of directors for the Global Game Jam™ non-profit between 2014-2019. From 2009 to 2013 he was the Armstrong Professor at Miami University’s School of Art. Lindsay also served on the board for the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) between 2013-2015.


Curriculum Vitae (CV) / Resume (2022) [pdf]

Publications | Exhibitions | Presentations | Teaching | Games | Applications | Press | Contact |

Headshots and photos for public use. Photos are cropped, please click to see full image, outcropped. Save image directly for use (i.e. right click, CTRL-click or tap and hold).

Lindsay Grace Main Headshot (2014) Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot 2021 Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot-China Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot Lindsay Grace Headshot

The following is a play list of television appearances and conference presentation videos

Research

Lindsay Grace has authored or co-authored more than 70 academic publications since 2009. He has given talks and keynotes at a variety of venues including the Game Developer's Conference (GHDC), SXSW, ACM CHI, the Games for Change Festival and a variety of other venues. The work is focused on uses of interactive media and games to explore cultural standards. The specific domains include social impact games, affection games, critical design, human computation games, and purpose driven games for education, news, and rhetoric. Lindsay founded the American University Game Lab and previously directed the Persuasive Play Lab (PPL) at Miami University. Lindsay is an a full professor at the University of Miami and Knight Chair in the School of Communication His game designs have received awards from the Games for Change Festival, Meaningful Play, Advances in Computer Entertainment and others. His creative work has been selected for showcase in more than eight countries and 12 states, including New York, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, Singapore, Istanbul, São Paulo, Chicago and Vancouver. .

Teaching

In 2018 Lindsay joined the faculty at the University of Miami School of Communication. Before that Lindsay founded the American University's Game Lab and Studio as associate professor and director. In 2009 he became the first Armstrong Professor of Creative Arts, holding a joint position between the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies and the College of Creative Arts. From 2003-2009 he taught in digital arts and writing at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago.

Lindsay has taught > 80 classes between 2003-2016. Visit the teaching section for student work samples and course content.

Game Design and Development

Lindsay has developed scores of games, typically serving as designer, developer and artist. He directed the American University Game Studio between 2013-2018, an academic game studio that produced purpose driven games for a variety of corporate and non-profit clients. He is the sole developer and designer behind Critical Gameplay and Mindtoggle Games. Critical Gameplay makes games designed to critique conventional game design and offer alternative play. Mindtoggle creates mobile games for a wide variety that integrate Critical Gameplay concepts into commercially oriented experiences.

Projects

Personal Note

I don't like talking about myself in the third person, but it makes it easier for other people to cut and paste my bio.

I teach because I have more people to thank than I can ever repay. With the skills I have and my propensities - teaching digital design is what I do. I don't think the work I design will save a life, but it might just inspire one.

I also teach because I love it. I want every one of my students to have that ah-ha moment at least once in my classes. Most of my ah-ha moments have changed my life for the better. I hope I can facilitate the same.

I am an alumnus of Friends Academy (Massachusetts), A Better Chance (Williamstown, Massachusetts) LEAD @ University of Arizona, InRoads, and the PhD Project (conference). I am a Christian A. Herter scholarship recipient. I've never done well on tests, which is fitting since I was one of 3 speakers at the 1994W. Allison Davis commemorative US postage stamp ceremony (Dr. Allison challenged the validity of standardized tests).

Before I was 12 I started selling half-baked video games. I called that company Mindtoggle (from mind-switches). 8 years later I started a company with my friend Tony (now at Twitter), to sell club merchandise, DJ mixes, promote club specials and offer VIP access. I called that company Mindtoggle.com. It grew to be the 3rd largest resource for clubbing news in Chicago, but I put it to rest when Metromix (the #1) matured. Now Mindtoggle sells mobile games. As Kurt Vonnegut writes - so it goes.

Hobbies:
For 6 seasons, I raced two cars in SCCA Autocross (a z51 vette and an mx-5). Before that I raced bikes in ABR and USCF road. Now I design and play video games. The rest of life is peppered with EDM and Salsa dancing, travel, cooking (we'll call it international fusion), board games, fiction and philosophy. My first claim to fame was a credit on Carl Cox's live at Crobar-Chicago CD.

Any significant press about me or my work can be found on the press page. Additional and older photos are here:

Singapore Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Malaysia Hawaii Raffles Hotel Singapore Playing Games Raffles Hotel Singapore 2009 2009 2009 2009

Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul