World-Building and Unbuilding

What happens when we reject the classic hero’s journey in favor of new myths? From folktales to franchises, this course from the Digital Storytelling Lab will explore transportive worlds and the methods used to create them. Collectively, we will deconstruct the idea that World-Building is a private practice and instead, uplift the notion that it is a creative tool to strengthen stories and expand ideas. As Author and activist Clarice Lispector writes: “Creating isn't imagination, it's taking the great risk of grasping reality,” but what happens when we use World-Building to shift the systems that govern our reality?

Leveraging storytelling techniques of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and Role Playing Games (RPGs), we will collectively build a world that transcends the classroom and moves into the outside world, ultimately bringing participants together to tackle complex issues and redefine solo authorship as a collaborative space. This course culminates in the collective experience of each other’s worlds and the Alternate Reality experiences therein. There are no prerequisites for this course.