woman in front of mural

Elizabeth LaPensée

Assistant Professor; Graduate Faculty
She/Her/Hers
Office: CAS 430
Email: odamino@msu.edu
Website: http://www.elizabethlapensee.com/

Research Areas

Design Research, Indigenous Research, Indigenous Methodologies, Indigenous Methods, Game Design, Game Development, Comics, Animation

Profile

Elizabeth LaPensée, Ph.D. is an award-winning designer, writer, artist, and researcher who creates and studies Indigenous-led media such as games and comics. She is Anishinaabe with family from Bay Mills, Métis, and Irish. She is an Assistant Professor of Media & Information and Writing, Rhetoric & American Cultures at Michigan State University and a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow.

Education

Ph.D., Simon Fraser University

Representative Work

LaPensée, Elizabeth and Nichlas Emmons. “When Rivers Were Trails.” Films for the Feminist Classroom. 9.1 (2019).

LaPensée, Elizabeth. “Thunderbird Strike: Survivance in/of an Indigenous Video Game.” Video Game Art Reader. 2.1 (2018): 28-37. Print.

LaPensée, Elizabeth, Lyz Jaakola, Sharon Day, and Margaret Noodin. “Honour Water: Gameplay as a Pathway to Anishinaabe Water Teachings.” Decolonization. (2018): 114-130. Print.

LaPensée, Elizabeth. “Relationality in Indigenous Food and Medicine Games.” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities. 4.2-3. (2017): 191-200. Print.

Sample Courses Taught

AIIS 801 Indigenous Theories and Methodologies

MI 831 Theories of Games and Interaction Design

MI 400-Level Game Writing

MI 400-Level Serious Games Design

Research or Academic Affiliations

Advisory Circle Member, Indigenous Screen Office Advisory Circle 

Advisory Council Member, Science Gallery Detroit 

Social Media 

Twitter: @odaminowin