Groundbreaking course challenges students to reimagine justice through art, game design, history

In what may be the first of its kind, two College of Arts and Sciences faculty members have developed an interdisciplinary course that challenges students to reimagine justice through creativity.

Matt Kenyon, an artist and designer, and Camilo Trumper, a historian specializing in Chilean protest movements, combined their classes — Kenyon’s “Design Play” (ART425LAB) and Trumper’s “Art and Revolutionary Politics in Latin America (HIS304) — to explore the question: How can we build a just world through play?

“This is the first time, to my knowledge, that history and art students have collaborated to design video games,” says Kenyon, associate professor of art. “It’s an exciting intersection of storytelling, political critique and interactive design.”

The collaboration, sparked by their mutual interest in fostering socially engaged scholarship, was guided by Dalia Muller, associate professor of history and principal investigator of the Impossible Project, a Mozilla Foundation-funded initiative promoting antiracist pedagogy. Together, Trumper and Kenyon crafted a learning experience that challenges students to not only think critically, but also imagine radically.

“This is a unique class. I’ve never been involved in anything like this,” says Trumper, associate professor of history. “This collaboration has been incredibly generative and enlivening, providing space for new ideas and approaches to emerge. Having Matt there to bounce ideas back and forth has also been transformative for my teaching approach. I think it’s also the best class I’ve ever taught at UB in 14 years. It’s been a great experience.”

Trumper’s “Art and Revolutionary Politics in Latin America” is largely a street art class that looks at how people took to the streets to claim public space and participate in politics, both in democracy and under dictatorships.

“This topic stems from my own research interests and I’ve taught iterations of this course before, so it’s familiar to me,” Trumper says. “However, the opportunity to collaborate with Matt and his students has been transformative for me as a teacher and for our history students. That’s what I hoped would happen, and it’s borne out in really interesting ways.”

Workshops, lectures and hands-on sessions bring together students from diverse disciplines, including history, art and design. These undergraduate and graduate students form interdisciplinary teams, blending their expertise to craft games that engage with real-world issues.

Kenyon says that at the heart of the course is the idea of “deep play,” where students explore justice-oriented themes through interactive games.

“We have a very rich, mixed class of skills and abilities, and the whole semester started off with the question of how we can build a more just world through play. This kind of imagination is a radical gesture,” Kenyon says. “It asks students to move beyond critique and start imagining what might seem impossible. Through art and design, they can manifest these ideas in tangible ways.”

Kenyon emphasizes the importance of cultivating “critical imaginary” — the ability to envision radical possibilities and bring them to life. This approach combines traditional elements like readings and lectures with unconventional methods such as interactive gameplay and collaborative storytelling. The result is a curriculum that balances analytical rigor with creative freedom.

Juno Hunter, a senior studying theatre performance, was pleasantly surprised by the class.

“I was aware of the collaboration with the game design class, but I was expecting more of a traditional art history class,” Hunter says. “Once I was presented with the reality of the class — that being a largely discussion-based and community-oriented experience — I let myself get excited. I’ve always functioned better in nontraditional class environments, so I felt really safe to throw myself into the discussion and research.”

Trumper notes feedback from students has been informal but overwhelmingly positive, and he’s discovered that the structure and space the class provides allows for students to become leaders in the classroom.

The fall semester culminated in a unique opportunity: The best student project received a $5,000 grant from the Mozilla Foundation to continue development. “The grant motivates students to push boundaries,” Kenyon explains. “It’s not just about learning skills; it’s about creating something impactful.”

Students presented their games and concepts on Dec. 9 to a panel of judges consisting of local artists Alexa and Edreys Wajed, and Kenny León Adino. Ahmed Best, an actor, educator and artist, flew in from California to serve as a judge.

“They were exceptional judges for our course finale, offering their expertise in performance, storytelling and visual artistry to evaluate the students’ work. Their diverse perspectives and deep understanding of design and social justice provided invaluable insights and inspiration to the next generation of game creators,” Kenyon says.

Hunter’s group, Eye-Ris, took home the top prize for their game Quazar, which gives players an idea of what it’s like to navigate the world as a disabled entity.

“The player’s bodily autonomy is restricted and it’s intentionally frustrating for them, so they have a better understanding of what it’s like to be disabled,” Hunter says.

Kenyon and Trumper agree the course is more than an academic exercise: It’s an opportunity to shape a better future.

“By designing games that grapple with justice and possibility, they are not only reimagining the world, but also learning how to build it,” Kenyon says.