In this season of gathering and gaming, we want to share with you the first part of a series created by faculty and staff. Dr. Jermaine Ma, Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Paul Steinke, Vice President of Alumni & Community Relations, and Dr. Paul Hoard, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology, began a conversation around their shared passions for psychology and board games. They wove a discussion around the game of Turncoats that they played while simultaneously reflecting on what is being stirred in and between each other. The conversation covered topics of shame, woundedness, nested realities, community, belonging and more through the medium of board games. They explored questions: What may be revealed in our play? How are we drawn together or pushed apart as we engage each other in games?

Watch the video and connect with this conversation, the first part of a new project that will explore the intersection of psychology, theology, and the art form of board games through some of the unique lenses of analysis and critique at The Seattle School.

For further exploration, take a look at Paul Hoard & Paul Steinke’s writings in Board Games as Liturgy: The Thin Space of Play published in Christ & Cascadia.