Student profile

Scott DeJong

Thesis supervisor: Mia Consalvo

Faculty

Thesis title: Playful Deception, Playful Defense: Connecting the Gap between Disinformation Practice and Information Literacy Education

Scott DeJong studies and makes games about information systems. Finalizing his PhD in Communication at Concordia University in Montreal, Scott’s work studies the tactics and strategies behind media manipulation (i.e. misinformation) and builds tools to teach, research, and build policy insights around it. His research has received numerous awards, including a Fulbright, and his design work got international recognition being played with embassies, militaries, governments, and schools around the globe.

Scott has built games looking at themes of social media systems, information pipelines, ethical AI use, and media spin, and has conducted research on class precarity in games, extremism in videogames, and polarization in Canada.

In his free time Scott is an avid baker, holds a strong appreciation for puffins, and is trying to learn pottery.

Publications, writing and/or artwork:

DeJong, S., & Iantorno, M. (2024). Game Design for a Fiverr: Precarity, Regionality, and Platform-Mediation in the Gig Economy. Media Industries, 11(1). https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/mij/article/id/3870/?trk=public_post_comment-text
DeJong, S. (2023). Playing With Fake News: State Of Fake News Video Games: The International Journal of Games and Social Impact, 1(1).
DeJong, S. & Blamey, C. (2022). Top Shelf Drinks, Bottom Line Play: Examining Representations of Class in Bartending and Mixology Games. Games and Culture.
DeJong, S., & Souza, A. B. de M. (2022). Playing Conspiracy: Framing Conspiracy Theory Analogies within Research-Creation Board Game Design. M/C Journal, 25(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2869
McKelvey, F., DeJong, S., Kowalchuck, S., & Donovan, E. (2022). Is the Alt-Right Popular in Canada? Image Sharing, Popular Culture, and Social Media. Canadian Journal of Communication, 47(4), 702–729. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjc.2022-0021
DeJong, S., Kowalchuk, S., and McKelvey, F. (2022). Who to Blame This Pandemic On: A Qualitative Study of the Politicization of COVID-19 through Political Memes in Canada. Global Media Journal, 14(1).
McKelvey, F., DeJong, S., and Frenzel, J. (2021). Memes, scenes and #ELXN2019s: How partisans make memes during elections. New Media & Society, 14614448211020690. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211020690
DeJong, S. (2020). “Generational Controls: Designing and implementing a serious intergenerational escape game that analogizes data personalization, filter bubbles and echo chambers”. Concordia University, Communications. Montreal
Lafontaine, C., Sawchuk, K., & DeJong, S. (2020). Social Justice Games: Building an Escape Room on Elder Abuse through Participatory Action Research. The Computer Games Journal, 9(2), 189–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40869-020-00105-5
Khalili-Mahani, N., De Schutter, B., Mirgholami, M., Holowka, E. M., Goodine, R., DeJong, S., McGaw, R., Meyer, S., & Sawchuk, K. (2020). For Whom the Games Toll: A Qualitative and Intergenerational Evaluation of What is Serious in Games for Older Adults. The Computer Games Journal, 9(2), 221–244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40869-020-00103-7

Social media links:

Blog: Strategem

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-dejong-204a9519b/