Summer School "Beyond the Lock: Innovative Approaches to Escape Rooms in Education, Culture, and Organizational Development"

14.03.2024

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming Summer School 2024 at the University for Continuing Education Krems, themed around the multifaceted world of escape rooms. This event aims to explore escape rooms from three perspectives: Education, Cultural Mediation, Organizational Development. We invite game designers, cultural experts, educators and museum educators, organizational developers, researchers, and enthusiasts to contribute and share their insights, experiences, and research in this growing field.

Escape Rooms?

Escape rooms, as interactive and immersive experiences, have gained significant popularity worldwide. Originating as live-action team-based games, they offer an engaging blend of storytelling, puzzle-solving, and teamwork. Participants in escape rooms are challenged to uncover clues, solve puzzles, and complete tasks within a set time frame, typically with the ultimate goal of ‘escaping’ the room. This unique form of entertainment and reflection has evolved from various influences, including live-action role-playing, point-and-click adventure games, puzzle hunts, interactive theater, and museum education programs. It appeals to a broad demographic, transcending age, gender, and cultural boundaries, making it not only a popular leisure activity, but also an excellent tool for educational purposes, cultural experiences, and organizational team building. The adaptability of escape rooms allows them to be tailored for various themes and narratives, offering endless possibilities for creativity and innovation. Their growth reflects a desire for more engaging, hands-on, and social forms of entertainment and mediation, making them a fascinating subject for exploration in our Summer School 2024.

The Summer School is organized by the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies of the University for Continuing Education Krems in cooperation with in scope GmbH.

Call for Contributions

At the Summer School, we would like to shed light on the topic from different perspectives with a mix of presentations, workshops, play or game prototyping sessions and informal discussions and exchange.

Participants are invited to submit their contributions in one of the following formats:

Workshop (30 - 90 minutes): Engage participants with interactive activities, a play or game prototyping session or discussions on a specific topic.
Scientific Presentation (~30 minutes): Share and discuss your research findings.
Project Presentation (~30 minutes): Present an escape room project or your experience as an escape room designer or from a player's perspective, not necessarily backed by scientific evaluation.
Poster Presentation (5-minute presentation, open discussion within a poster session): Showcase your ideas or projects through a concise and visually engaging poster.

Publication Options

For each presentation format, you can opt for one of the following publication choices:

Presentation Only: Your abstract will be featured on the Summer School website, with no additional publication.
Scientific Short Paper (3-5 pages): Ideal for concise, yet impactful scientific findings.
Scientific Full Paper (6-12 pages): A more comprehensive exposition of your research.
Project/Experience/Position Short Paper (3-5 pages): Share insights from projects, experiences, or viewpoints in a brief format.
Project/Experience/Position Full Paper (6-12 pages): A detailed exploration of your projects, experiences, or perspectives.

The contributions to the Summer School 2024 will be part of the annual journal "DAC - Digital Journal for Arts and Cultural Studies | Digitales Journal für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften", published by the University of Krems Press.

Review Process

Scientific Papers: Will undergo a peer-review process.
Project/Experience/Position Papers: Will be reviewed by the editors (Chairs).

Important Dates

Abstract Submission Deadline: April 15, 2024
Acceptance Notification: April 30, 2024
Event Dates: July 3-5, 2024
First Draft of Paper Submission: August 1, 2024
Iterative Review Process Completion: October 1, 2024
Publication Date: December 2024

Submission Guidelines

Please submit your abstract via the linked form by April 15, 2024 and follow the guidelines below:

Prepare an abstract summarizing your contribution.
Choose your preferred presentation format and publication option.
Ensure that your contribution aligns with one of the three thematic areas, or explicitly state, why another area is of great interest to the audience.
Follow the specified format and length for your chosen publication option.

We look forward to your valuable contributions, which will undoubtedly enrich our understanding and application of escape rooms in various fields. Join us in this exciting endeavor to delve into the world of escape rooms from multiple perspectives!

Abstract Submission Form

Participation

Please register using the linked form if you want to participate in our summer school. Registration deadline: 15 June 2024

Participation is free of charge and limited to 40 people.

Participation is also possible without submitting a contribution to the programme. However, we strongly encourage you to actively participate in the programme and look forward to a lively exchange and discussion.

During the Summer School we are planning play sessions for the Escape Room "Der Traum der Archivarin" at the Archives of Contemporary Arts. You can indicate during registration whether you are interested participating a play session (only possible in German).

Participant Registration Form