Studying politics in worlds that never were and worlds that cannot be, to better understand where we are now.
I research interpersonal trust and emergent political processes through cyber-based interaction, speculative fiction analysis, and through tabletop, networked, and live-action gaming as natural experiments. I have over two decades of experience designing, executing, and assessing training exercises and wargames, from small-group tabletop discussions to multi-day exercises engaging 5,000+ participants.
I earned a PhD in political science from The University of Iowa in 2012 and retired from the military in 2019 after 25 years of service as a Lieutenant Colonel, Associate Professor of Political Science, and International Relations Division Chief at the United States Air Force Academy. My full CV is available here.
In addition to being an Instructor of Political Science at Colorado State University, I also teach at Cherry Hill Seminary, am the Director of the Professional and Educational Gaming Division for roleplaying game company Mobius Worlds Publishing, and consult organizations using gaming techniques. In short, I’m a professional gaming nerd and love every minute of it!
I “earned” the military callsign (or, nickname) Pigeon back in 1997 for having pet pigeons, to include a bird (Heathcliff) I’ve had since 1996. The “dove enthusiast” I purchased Heathcliff from said he was 13-years old at the time! I might have to put Heathcliff in my will.
Want to design a game? I created the below handout for fellow Colorado State University faculty. I use the game design checklist for every game, exercise, and scenario I run and it works like a charm! The handout also includes recommended readings, software solutions, and a broad selection of games to improve your mechanics repertoire. Feel free to share… and keep me in mind if you need a Game Master. 🙂