Assistant Professor to partner with Strong Museum for Dungeons & Dragons exhibit opening

(ROCHESTER, NY — SEPTEMBER 16, 2024) When the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY, announced plans to host an exhibit on the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, Karis Jones, Ph.D., saw an opportunity for a partnership with Empire State University.

Now, Jones is part of the opening keynote team for a symposium on September 21 that kicks off the exhibit this fall. She and Alex Corbitt, an assistant professor of literacy for SUNY Cortland, will be doing two presentations: one at 11:30 a.m. on “Get Ready to Roll: Accessible Structures to Support D&D in Libraries and Schools” and a second at 2 p.m. on “Leveling Up Critical Storytelling: Using RPGs to Reimagine the Real World.”

The two created a professional development program called “Leveling Up Critical Storytelling” that centers on RPGs — role playing games. The program received the New York State Reading Association Richard L. Allington Grant for Research.

Since the summer of 2023, Jones and Corbitt have been working with libraries and K-12 schools, showing teachers and librarians the learning that often comes with role playing. They’ve also done virtual seminar discussions and presented at the National Council for Teachers of English earlier this year.

“It’s all about how to use role playing games to teach literacy skills,” Jones says. “There’s a lot of socioemotional learning and conflicts to work through. It’s also very collaborative and builds empathy. Students become better readers, writers, political citizens, and classmates.”

Jones also uses role playing instruction in her teacher education classes at SUNY Empire.

The event is funded with a special projects grant from the Empire State University Foundation and organized by Jones. Jones is inviting all SUNY Empire alumni to attend the event. For more information, visit the Strong Museum.