Presenter Biography
Théo Caldwell (he/they) is a second year MPH in Epidemiology student at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. Their research interests include zoonotic diseases, social epi focusing on minoritized groups in society, and the therapeutic aspects of communal gameplay.
Nathan Bonnell (any/all) is a first year MPH in Epidemiology student at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. His research interests include infectious diseases, with a particular interest in HIV research, as well as government policy and infrastructure.
Program/Major
Epidemiology/ Epidemiology
Student Level
Masters
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-10-2025 1:30 PM
End Date
4-10-2025 2:45 PM
Creative Commons License or Rights Statement
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43470
Abstract
How to Kill a Human is an experiment in teaching through gameplay. The environmental crisis facing the planet, though denied by many, is a collection of well-documented historical environmental catastrophes. The purpose of this project was to design a method of relating the impacts of environmental systems on human health, highlighting the dangers of ill planned human tampering, by presenting hypothetical environmental catastrophes and then relating them to documented historical disasters. In pursuit of this goal, we designed a semi-collaborative game for three to six players with a suggested age rating of 10+, ideal for teaching individuals of middle school and above about the impacts of environmental disasters. We aimed to have players learn in an immersive format, disarming hesitancies about environmental impacts by subverting the common narrative—instead of attempting to prevent environmental disasters, the goal of the game is for players to work collaboratively to cause as many environmental disasters as possible.
Included in
Environmental Public Health Commons, Health Policy Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons
How to Kill a Human: Creating an Immersive Learning Game
How to Kill a Human is an experiment in teaching through gameplay. The environmental crisis facing the planet, though denied by many, is a collection of well-documented historical environmental catastrophes. The purpose of this project was to design a method of relating the impacts of environmental systems on human health, highlighting the dangers of ill planned human tampering, by presenting hypothetical environmental catastrophes and then relating them to documented historical disasters. In pursuit of this goal, we designed a semi-collaborative game for three to six players with a suggested age rating of 10+, ideal for teaching individuals of middle school and above about the impacts of environmental disasters. We aimed to have players learn in an immersive format, disarming hesitancies about environmental impacts by subverting the common narrative—instead of attempting to prevent environmental disasters, the goal of the game is for players to work collaboratively to cause as many environmental disasters as possible.