Mikael Jakobsson

At the Center, Mikael Jakobsson will continue building on the foundation established in the book Playing Oppression (MIT Press, 2023) co-authored with Professor Mary Flanagan, which has developed further through ongoing research activities in other domains. Jakobsson’s objective is to chronicle a turn within modern historical and political games that questions and critiques the traditional glorifying narratives of conquest and Western supremacy and instead experiments with new ways to craft participatory dynamic experiences that amplifies underprivileged causes. This connects Jakobsson’s work with the MIT Global Humanities Initiative where he coordinates the Public Literacies pillar and runs the Changing the Game of Diplomatic Hegemonies project which centers the use of games as cultural diplomacy. The project also draws on work done in the MIT Game Lab with partners in Aisa and Latin America related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. This work connects aspects of play in history and culture with environmentalism and social justice through creative design explorations.

More generally, Jakobsson studies and designs games and playful experiences informed by theory and methodology spanning design studies, cultural studies, and critical theory. With a foundation in participatory design, Jakobsson approaches research questions with the aim of amplifying voices of underprivileged stakeholders. When not on sabbatical, Jakobsson teaches classes in game studies and game design at MIT and Harvard.

For more information, please visit: https://www.mjson.net/