Interactive Game Design Research Fellow 

Role: The last decade has witnessed a shift in cross border migration and displacement globally with children consistently making up more than 50%.  In situations of crisis and conflict, a child’s vulnerability to experiences of violence and adversity increases significantly and they become less resilient to the stresses they experience. They are exposed to unsafe environments and are at higher risk of violence and abuse, being recruited by armed groups, losing their parents and family members, being subjected to sexual violence, trafficking and other harmful practices. Their support network, including their families and communities, are weakened and access to education, health and social services is disrupted. These children are denied their basic rights to survival, development and participation.

The IRC’s approach to child protection is rooted in three core beliefs:

• Girls and boys are entitled to grow up in an environment that is free from violence, that upholds their rights and supports achievement of their full potential;
• Girls and boys have the right to be active participants in their own protection and development;
• Families, communities, and governments play a fundamental role in caring for, supporting, and protecting children.

The fellow will support the development of an innovative game aimed at empowering children in humanitarian settings along migration routes. The purpose of the game is to raise awareness about risks along the migration route (risk identification), ways to access support services, and build healthy relationships. Working at the intersection of migration studies, humanitarian protection, and interactive storytelling, the fellow will contribute to research that shapes a narrative-driven game teaching risk awareness and resilience skills. This role combines ethnographic research methods, narrative development, and human-centered design principles to ensure the game authentically reflects children’s lived experiences while effectively delivering critical safety information.

Potential deliverables: 

• Review and analyze similar educational games and their feasibility and enablers for effectiveness in humanitarian settings
• Develop a data collection plan for ethical story collection from children and youth along migration routes
• Create a framework for translating real experiences into age-appropriate game scenarios
• If data collection method determined appropriate by the fellow is possible within the term, collaborate with the T4P Global Practice Lead and Child Protection Global Practice Lead to develop guidance for enumerators
• If data collection is possible within the term, analyze collected narratives highlighting key themes, risks, and support mechanisms
• Contribute to game design document, including storyline recommendations and interaction concepts

Potential travel involved: No travel will be involved for this position.

Desired Skills:

• Graduate-level research experience in migration studies, international development, education, or related field
• Strong qualitative research skills, particularly in conducting sensitive interviews with vulnerable populations
• Experience with or understanding of participatory research methods
• Knowledge of child protection principles and trauma-informed approaches
• Strong analytical and synthesis abilities
• Experience with or interest in game design, interactive storytelling, or educational technology
• Cross-cultural communication skills
• Project management experience
• Understanding of humanitarian contexts and migration dynamics
• Experience working with children and youth (preferred)
• Background in narrative development, creative writing, or storytelling (preferred)

Requirements: Students must be a matriculated graduate or Ph.D. student at The New School. Fellows are hired as Research Associates by The New School.

Work Environment: This fellowship will work with the Airbel Impact Lab based in the IRC’s HQ in New York City. While this fellowship is remote, all Fellows must be physically located in the US.

Fellowship Length: This fellowship carries a maximum of 20 hours/week during the Summer 2025 semester (May 17, 2025 – August 24, 2025). Continuation into Fall 2025 is potentially available.

How to apply: The deadline to apply is March 17, 2025. Please submit one PDF document containing a cover letter, CV/resume, and two work samples (writing and/or design portfolio – 5 pages maximum per sample) to Catherine McGahan, McGahanC@newschool.edu.

Interviews will be conducted in mid-March via Zoom.

Team: Airbel Impact Lab, Research and Innovation at the IRC. The Airbel Impact Lab designs, tests, and scales life-changing cost-effective solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. By applying the IRC’s deep technical expertise and field experience with a range of skills from the behavioral sciences, human-centered design, research, and multi-disciplinary problem-solving in humanitarian contexts, we work to develop breakthrough solutions that combine creativity and rigor, openness and expertise, and a desire to think afresh with the experience of a large-scale implementing organization. Within Airbel, the Best Use of Resources team provides analysis and decision-making support to improve the cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of IRC programs.

This project would bring together two teams, Technology for Programs and Child Protection:

Technology for Programs supports the Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) department to utilize a diverse set of technological solutions that aim to leverage technology to enhance, enable, drive and scale the access to and impact of programs that help people affected by humanitarian crises survive, recover and rebuild. The CRRD department encompasses humanitarian programs in over 40 countries and five technical units the drive our global practices and innovations in economic recovery and development, education, governance, health, and violence prevention and response.

The Violence, Prevention and Response Unit focuses on programs to supports programming that prevents violence against women, children and other vulnerable groups and responds to it when it does occur. The IRC has been working for nearly 30 years on programming focused on preventing and responding to violence against the most vulnerable groups in conflict contexts. A few of our flagship, high-impact programs include those designed around violence prevention, service delivery and economic empowerment. This project would focus on the unit’s work in child protection.