Over the past 47 years, the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons [D&D] has had widespread influence across games, media, and social play. In anticipation of D&D’s upcoming 50th anniversary, we are soliciting abstracts for an edited collection that will overview the game’s evolution, players, and broader sociocultural impacts throughout its first 50 years.
We hope to collect and showcase some of the diverse voices and experiences within the broader D&D community (e.g., academics and non-academics, developers/designers, players, educators, historians, streamers, practitioners, gaming club/store organisers, and artists—to name a few), and encourage all to submit abstracts. Key areas of interest are (but are not limited to): studies of the game itself, D&D players and related communities, broader sociocultural impacts and value of the game, and reflections on D&D’s past, present, and future.
Submissions may take one of the following general formats and accessible writing is encouraged:
- Scholarly research written for an interdisciplinary and public audience.
- Q&A style interviews with significant figures in the D&D community (past and present, and both locally and/or globally).
- Reflective/speculative essays about what D&D, its player base/community, and related fields of academic inquiry, can inspire to achieve in the oncoming years.
Abstracts of 300-800 words are due by Thursday 8th April 2021 at 11:59 pm (Anywhere on Earth) and should be submitted to dndbookproject@gmail.com. Your abstract should include:
- 3-5 key words that summarise your proposed chapter
- A brief description of your proposed chapter
- [And, if appropriate] A brief description or outline of the research methods and/or theoretical foundations that underpin your research
Key dates
- Abstract Submissions Due: 8th April 2021
- Acceptance Notifications Sent Out: 29th April 2021
- Online Workshop for Contributors: (tentatively) May 2021
- Full Chapters (3000-6000 words) Due: 15th August 2021
All academic chapters will be subject to double blind peer review. For further details, please visit our website at https://dnd.gamescholarship.org/. If you have any questions or queries, please email us at dndbookproject@gmail.com
We understand that everyone is facing unprecedented circumstances now and that some contributors’ lives are/will be more disrupted than others. If you want to submit an abstract but need more time, please send through an email to dndbookproject@gmail.com and we can work together to set an abstract deadline that is achievable for you.
Cheers,
Pre, Marcus, and José