Katharine Fortin is an Associate Professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, at Utrecht Law School. Her research and teaching focuses on armed conflict, security, armed groups, human rights and international law. She is passionate about looking beyond law in her work, and she is the co-founder of the podcast series Beyond Compliance: In Conversation, which she co-hosts with Florian Weigand where they have conversations across the disciplines on the issues relating to the work done by the Beyond Compliance Consortium: Building Evidence on Restraint by Armed Actors. For more information about her scholarly work, see here.

Q: Why am I excited about this game?

I’ve watched the prototypes of this game being play-tested by countless students and researchers in different settings, sparking interesting conversations, learning-moments and fun discussions about interdisciplinarity – so I’m very excited that it’s now available for others to enjoy! I’m a big believer that games are a powerful learning tool. They teach the players new skills and knowledge by stealth – in a way that sticks. They also turn the traditional classroom on its head, providing a space for even the quietest student to participate. I find this really important! One of the best things about this game is that the players end up learning as much about their own discipline – as about other disciplines! With its focus on research questions, it provides insights into (i) how different disciplines see the world (ii) what different disciplines find important/possible to study and (iii) the methods different disciplines use. The conversation will flow in different ways depending on the level of the group and goals of the facilitator, providing learning, focused discussion and/or a space to network and get to know each other!

Tessa Diphoorn & Katharine Fortin are also co-coordinators of the interdisciplinary minor ‘Re-Imagining Security’ that includes courses from four different faculties. To learn more about their experiences and ideas on this minor, check this videoclip.