In 2026, the United States will celebrate its Semiquincentennial – the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Center for Emerging Media Design and Development’s IN250 team’s challenge is defining how Ball State can leverage its spaces, academic courses, faculty, staff and students to tell the story of Indiana’s last 250 years.
This team is composed of EMDD students Gabe Eastridge, Kennedy Edwards, Mikaylin Fulk, Zoey Green and Sydney Lundy. They are collaborating with the Ball State President’s Office and Spencer Ozbun of the Remnant Trust to begin their research on how to best tell this story and engage the Ball State and Indiana communities with this topic in a time when our country feels divided politically.
President Mearns & Dr. Kevin Maloney meeting with the team to discuss project ideas.
“Regardless of if we agree with each other about politics, this is our shared history and we should remember everything that has been done and the sacrifices that were made to create this country and our state.”
-Sydney Lundy
They have begun initial research into Indiana’s history, past methods of celebration and developed a list of potential projects that could be featured as a part of this experience. Currently, the team is focusing on creating a digital artifact that they will display during this year-long celebration and a framework through which other contributors can join in on the fun.
This group’s upcoming plans include conducting further historical and user-centered research and developing a prototype of their project that will be ready for testing by the beginning of December.
Follow EMDD social media for more updates on this project throughout the academic year!
Recently, Emerging Media Design and Development Graduate Student Ian Gonzales’s research paper: Overlapping Expectations: Studying the Genre Relationship of Ecocritical Genres was accepted by the 17th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling which will take place in Barranquilla, Colombia this December. We spoke with Ian about his research, process, co-authoring a paper with faculty member Dr. Josh Fisher, and overall EMDD journey.
Q: What exactly is your paper about?
Ian: It’s tough to describe, sometimes. So, it’s really about genre. It’s about the ways that we use genres and the way that we think about genres. [Recently,] we shifted from thinking of genres as discrete lists of features towards thinking of them as socially constructed tools…but that those developments haven’t made their way to video games and game scholarship. And so this paper is basically trying to explore and apply these concepts in the games scholarship field.
Q: So what inspired you to kind of write about and research this topic?
Ian: I was writing a paper originally for a conference here at Ball State and I coupled together some research about a game called “Horizon Zero Dawn” and then I decided that, well, you know, we already kind of have half a paper, so we might as well just continue onward and we saw an opportunity to publish with ICIDs. And so we thought that we should just write this paper together.
Ian meeting with his project mentor Dr. Josh Fisher, faculty member and professor for the EMDD program.
Q: So how does it feel to be presenting at such a well-known conference?
Ian: It seems weird because I still feel like I don’t know anything. And I think that’s how I approach a lot of life is, “I don’t know a lot.” And so it’s weird sometimes to be, you know, receiving some kind of praise for that or like some acknowledgement of that. But also it’s really nice to think that, “oh, the things that I’ve been learning or things I’ve been doing actually have legitimate meaning,” that they’re recognized by the community they need to be recognized by.
Q: What parts of EMDD or other parts of your academic journey have been the most impactful while going through this process of writing and getting published and now presenting?
Ian: What’s really nice about my EMDD cohort is you get really tight knit close relationships with lots of different students and faculty members and staff, and so, you know, the biggest influence for me, obviously, is my relationship with my mentor Josh Fisher. But also, Jenn Palilonis and Kevin Moloney helped me become a better writer and storyteller. And Tong Li gave me insight into the way that he thinks about academia and research. All those diverse opinions have all been really informative and I don’t think you get a lot of those personal relationships with people in different departments. And I think a huge mark of success for anyone in university is relationships with others.
Q: What has it been like to collaborate with people or get help from people that have previously published work?
Ian: There are many scholars who talk about academic papers as their own genre. They have their own unique purpose and task and so in their own language and their own customs and conventions and all this kind of stuff that I don’t have access to. I mean, obviously you read them, but when you’re producing it, you don’t, you don’t really know the subtleties. And so it’s been really nice to have a collaborator. A lot of what happens I think is I will write an idea and Josh will say well, but here’s how you can elevate it. Here’s how you can highlight you know the better part of this and recognize what’s really good about this piece and what needs to be left behind. I think it’s really nice to have someone who has a lot of that background and history so I can write ideas and then have them elevated to that level and also watch how that’s elevated and watch his thought process and that’s been really great.
Q: What has been your favorite part of the process? What’s been your favorite thing that you’ve learned?
Ian: I really love reading articles. I think it’s really interesting. I like putting ideas together. I think of it like a big old puzzle. And so it’s interesting to see disparate traditions of information and try to find a way to connect them. I think the best part honestly was getting it to a point of submission and understanding you get an initial score and then you get to have a small rebuttal period or a revision period. It was nice to get those, those initial scores and have someone say. “I accept this paper.” That makes me feel really nice that I’m accepted in that.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Ian often volunteers at Muncie Civic Theatre and is seen above as ‘Gomez Addams’ in their recent production of The Addams Family.
Q: What advice would you have to either potential EMDD students or first-year students who might want to take the route of research with the hopes of publication?
Ian: I think the easiest thing is just finding something that you’re really passionate about. You know EMDD isn’t a game scholarship program, right? It’s about lots of interactive and digital narratives more broadly. But I was passionate about video games and knew a lot about video games. I knew a lot about game culture and so I was able to convert that passion into a meaningful purpose through EMDD. I think it was about just finding something you like and then finding a professor that’s willing to be engaged with you. I don’t know if Josh was ever truly interested in genre studies before but via the course of this, I think he’s really learned a lot so that we could have meaningful conversations and that he could help me elevate my work. And that’s really great. I think finding something you’re passionate about and finding someone that’s willing to join you on your journey is great and what EMDD is all about.
We want to thank Ian for taking time to share about his journey while completing this project. We wish him luck at the ICIDS Conference in December!
The Center for Emerging Media Design and Development includes a diverse group of designers and storytellers from around the world. We embrace the differences and similarities in our individual experiences to develop more inclusive ideas and create solutions that are representative of the culture we have created within our program. During Black History Month, EMDD recognizes diverse storytellers and designers and their contributions to various forms of communication.
Mariam Braimah
“Since I joined to date, the black community at Netflix has grown. I’ve seen so many new designers join our team that are black or of African descent which is awesome to see. They’re learning how to become a more inclusive company.”
– Mariam Braimah
Photo from LinkedIn
Mariam Braimah is a Product Designer at Netflix and founder of the Kimoyo Fellowship, a design education program teaching the skills necessary to become a UI/UX designer at Nigeria’s leading tech companies. She serves as CEO of Kimoyo Insights, a user-testing platform that allows companies to receive meaningful feedback across the African continent.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
“I’ve been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died…clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates.”
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, and The Water Dancer. Named one of the most influential books of the decade by CNN, his Between The World And Me won the National Book Award in 2015. He has also written several series for Marvel Comics, including Black Panther and Captain America.
Jocelyn Bioh
“My goal is always, first, to entertain,” Bioh said. “I think second is to have people walking away, feeling like they now have a different understanding of either a culture, a person, a country—they now have a more unique perspective on that thing than they had walking in.”
– Jocelyn Bioh
Photo by Joshua Bright for the New York Times
Ghanaian-American actress and playwright Jocelyn Bioh is known for her thought-provoking works that delve into themes of identity and culture. A Broadway performer and writer, she was in the original cast ofThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. She received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, The Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for New American Playwright, and the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award for her work School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.
Tosh Juma
“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”
– Tim Brown
Photo from Ideo.org
Tosh Juma is the Managing Director for IDEO.org Nairobi. He oversees the company’s Kenyan design team and focuses on designing products, services, and brands that address emerging global development and humanitarian challenges. He is the Founder of the Nairobi Design Institute. NDI’s mission is to drive the future of innovation and impact in Africa through the power of design education—his vision and mission impact design worldwide.
The Downtown AR stories team will be using augmented reality to tell the stories of historical buildings in Downtown Muncie that no longer exist. There are now parking lots in the places where these buildings once stood. The team narrowed in on four key locations, each with its own story to tell. After meeting with a representative from DWNTWN Muncie, and developing a user journey, the team took a trip Downtown. Seeing the locations in person helped them identify possible usability and even safety issues they needed to consider. They also explored the possibility of using projection mapping.
The team decided to focus on one story which would serve as the foundation for how the other stories would be developed. They started with the story on the Indiana Union Traction and developed a low-fidelity prototype for how the story would work on Figma. After a series of tests among their team, a mid-fidelity prototype of the story was developed. The team brought in external people this time to test the story flow on Figma using the Wizard of Oz method.
The team is working on the project in three distinct phases; content, development, and marketing. The content team has developed a script for the first story and has tested it. They worked with other departments like the Department of Theatre and Dance and have recruited actors for all the stories they will be developing. The actor who will be playing George Rolland (the main character in the first story) has been taken through a script reading and will be filmed on Friday, December 2nd. The team will also be working with a costume shop director to provide costumes for our actors to make the story look more authentic since they all take place in the early 19th and 20th centuries. The development team is working to move the story into an augmented reality software called 8th wall. The marketing team is working on designing signages that users can read and scan to experience the stories.
After recording the actor, the team plans to create a 2D video to be placed on the 8th wall. They will continue to work on the script and storyline for the other stories. They have already started drafting the script for the next story. They will also meet with a project partner, Cheryl, who is a representative from DWNTWN Muncie to update her on the progress of the project.
Recently, Dr. Kevin Moloney traveled into his past as he traversed the Santa Fe Trail. Moloney has familial ties to the trail. His great-great-grandfather, Dario Gallegos, bought and sold goods in the mid-1800s. An avid cyclist, Moloney moved along the trail via car and bike. He took the time to discuss his trip with Colorado Public Radio’s interview show, Colorado Matters.
Biking the trail allowed Moloney to reflect on his surroundings and the trail’s history. He cycled a portion of the trail in each state he traveled through, “I made a point of hopping on my bike, I’d pull over the car and find a nice stretch of the trail.” Researching his history and connecting to the ecology of the trail created a special experience for Moloney. “As a native westerner it was really particular exciting to sort of roll into the country where what you hear are red-winged black birds and meadowlarks and other bird songs that really inhabit my memories of the west.”
While many think of historic trails such as the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails as highways for travelers looking to settle the west, their place in providing resources and trade for residents should not be overlooked. A part of Moloney’s family history is the story of providing supplies and goods to the people of San Luis.
Dario Gallegos
Dario Gallegos was born near Taos, New Mexico in 1830. Moving into northern Colorado in 1851, he lead the establishment of the San Luis de Culebra settlement and started the first store in the San Luis Valley.
Dario Gallegos circa 1870, photo provided by the Latino History Project, and the R & R Market, now the San Luis People’s Market, built in 1857 photo from Google Maps..
Bringing items into San Luis from Missouri via covered wagon, Gallegos opened the R & R Market in San Luis, Colorado, in 1857. With items such as coffee, matches, chocolate, salt, and textiles, the store was one of the only sources of goods in the area.
Nineteen years before Colorado statehood, Gallegos looked to answer a question still faced today: How do we solve a food desert problem in a remote little town? His answer was the R & R Market which has recently been turned into a co-op and renamed the San Luis People’s Market.
The Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a route developed by William Becknell, a Missouri trader, in 1821. For nearly 60 years, the trail served as a commercial highway for both American and Mexican traders, connecting Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Franklin, Missouri.
The trail has served as a trade route, a path for settlers heading west, and a road for military conquest. Although the need for the Santa Fe Trail diminished by the 1880s due to the advent of commercial railroads, its lasting legacy is the mixing of diverse cultures and ideas represented by its native children.
MATCH POINT TEAM JOINS UCLA-MVB IN ATLANTA FOR YOUTH CLINICS, MATCHES AT MOREHOUSE & FORT VALLEY STATE
Written by: Dexter Ohaeri, Sarah Alison, Bridget-Anne Burke, Leo Herrera
The Match Point team joined the UCLA Men’s Volleyball team in Atlanta March 21-27 for a series of youth and coaching clinics and matches against Morehouse College and Fort Valley State University. The trip supported production for the upcoming Match Point documentary sequel that will chronicle the inaugural season for six new men’s volleyball programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), two of which are in Georgia. The new HBCU teams comprise the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, also new to men’s volleyball in 2022. The addition of the SIAC is part of a national effort to increase opportunities for minority athletes.
UCLA traveled to Atlanta in support of a nationwide campaign led by First Point Volleyball Foundation with specific foundational goals to improve men’s collegiate volleyball roster and scholarship opportunities, to increase opportunities for boys to learn the game and develop their skills in club, middle school, and high school programs, and to provide boys from low-income communities the opportunity to play and learn the game.
Youth and Coaching Clinics
The week kicked off on Tuesday, March 22 with players and coaching clinics at Lakepoint Sports Complex near Atlanta. More than 150 girls and boys, coaches, and parents attended the event during which UCLA coaches and players led drills and shared knowledge about the game.
School Visits
On Wednesday, March 23, the team visited Howard Middle School – a former high school where Martin Luther King attended – and Hope-Hill Elementary School to expose a new generation to the game. “The kids were great,” said UCLA Head Coach John Speraw. They were enthusiastic, engaged, and curious. Our players were wonderful ambassadors for the sport and UCLA. They are role models who will inspire future generations of volleyball players.”
As the UCLA players began the exhibitions, students screamed with excitement. After watching them play, students at both schools were eager to join the UCLA team on the court. The players took their time to show students how to set, pass and hit. The true joy on the students’ faces brought energy and enthusiasm to the UCLA players.
Many students asked questions of the players like: “Who is the tallest?” “Who hits the hardest?” “Who is the best player?” “Who is the worst player?” and “Why did you want to play volleyball?” The sessions ended with high-fives and hugs.
HBCU practices
“Go Tigers!” is splashed high above the court at Forbes Arena, a gym that is decked out in Morehouse’s classic maroon colors. Morehouse hosted the Bruins’ staff and team several times leading up to a match between the two teams on Friday, with both using the space to practice throughout the week. On March 23, Speraw and UCLA Assistant Coach John Hawks headed back to Forbes Arena to lead a practice for the Morehouse men’s volleyball team with Morehouse head coach Emory Lightfoot. For senior Collin Cecepcion, a Los Angeles native who in high school remembers watching and studying Speraw, it was an exciting full-circle moment. “To be able to be taught by him is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be taught by an LA legend,” Cecepcion said.
The next day, UCLA headed south of Atlanta for a joint practice with Fort Valley State University. “I love giving back to the game that’s given me so much,” Speraw said about leading practices with both Morehouse and Fort Valley State players.
HBCU matches
After the Morehouse match, Speraw applauded the players, Morehouse staff and crowd. “Morehouse didn’t win tonight, but I look forward to the day they win their first match on this court,” he said. It will be a great day for all of us, a great day for Morehouse, and a great day for volleyball.”
Although Morehouse lost the match, they still made a number of plays that erupted the crowd in excitement. Early in the first set, Cecepcion blocked UCLA hitters for a point that wowed fans.. UCLA won the match 25-8, 25-9, and 25-5. On Saturday, March 26, UCLA played at Fort Valley State and won 25-8, 25-10, 25-11…
Welcome to Mythcast from the students at the Center for Emerging Media Design & Development at Ball State University. List for a murmur from under the pandemic blanket-fort recording studio to hear how our process went…
How might we train a demodog? This adolescent form of a demogorgon from Stranger Things storyworld proves to be a compelling (and troublesome) challenge for students at the Center for Emerging Media Design & Development. Listen to how they apply design thinking and usability research to (hypothetically, anyway) train one! They get some important help from zoo keepers and wolf-dog owners.
I remember sitting in bed the night before my grad program’s orientation and my first day of class. I was so nervous, wondering what to expect since I am the first person in my family to get their Master’s. To my surprise, when I walked in the EMDD lab and sat down in the classroom, I was greeted by smiling faces of faculty and individuals who would be in my cohort. Suddenly, I felt my body’s nervous tension ease and I began to feel at home in that classroom.
Despite my uncertainty in the beginning, my first year in EMDD was far more incredible than anything I could have imagined prior to entering the program. During my first semester, I was improved my research and analysis skills through collaborative and individual work. I had done research prior to being an EMDD student, but was able to further expand these skills through design thinking and usability testing—both things I had never done before. I was then able to take this knowledge into my second semester when creating a transmedia production design and examining virtual reality/augmented reality research. In my second semester, I also expanded my design knowledge through the collaborative creation of a four-part museum exhibition—physical exhibit, virtual reality experience, touchscreen experience, and a live actor experience— about something in relation to Indiana History.
My first year in EMDD was vigorous, but I survived and thrived through it with some helpful resources.
Peers in My Cohort: Over the course of my first year in EMDD, I was able to build strong professional relationships and friendships with my fellow peers in my cohort. This allowed for all of us to really lean on each other if we were struggling or confused with something. For example, I come from a writing background and not a design background. So, if I need guidance with design tools I would ask individuals in the program who come from design backgrounds for help. In return, when the individuals from design backgrounds struggled with writing, I would help them copyedit. This type of support and collaboration allowed us to grow closer as a cohort, while benefiting all of us.
Faculty:If I was ever struggling or feeling confused about the work we were doing, the EMDD faculty were always there to provide guidance. Something I learned over the past year was to not be afraid to ask for help or clarification. It is better to ask then do things blindly.
Now that my first year of EMDD is over, and I have gained all of these skills, I am looking forward to the experiences my year two project and creative project will bring. I feel so lucky to be part of a cohort and have faculty as supportive as what I have in EMDD.
Eileen Porzuczek
Eileen Porzuczek is a second-year EMDD graduate student. She received her BA in English.
What is IN250? In 2026, the United States will celebrate its Semiquincentennial – the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Center for Emerging
Recently, Emerging Media Design and Development Graduate Student Ian Gonzales’s research paper: Overlapping Expectations: Studying the Genre Relationship of Ecocritical Genres was accepted by the
Edwine Pierre Louis lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and is a graduate student in the Emerging Media Design and Development low-res program. EMDD low-res students attend
Dr. Tong Li’s EMDD 650 course, Interactive Media Design and Development, has spent the beginning of this semester working with Erica Oliver at Ball State’s
