Hello.
My name is Sabine Harrer, and I am a games scholar, writer, and experimental game maker. I currently work as a lead researcher on White Play, a Hertha Firnberg project studying racial (in)equity in the European Games industry. I am also a senior lecturer at the Gotland Game Design Department of Uppsala University, Sweden.
Previously, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in game culture studies at Tampere University, Finland, and as a lecturer in cultural studies and game design at the university of Vienna, the IT University Copenhagen, and BTK Berlin.
I’ve written a book called Games and Bereavement, and I’ve made some experimental games with the Copenhagen Game Collective.
In my work, I use games as a material to think through and play with societal norms, and ask questions about desire and intimacy. For my PhD, I collaborated on Overcoming, a game that has helped me review 20th century grief literature, and Jocoi which explores pregnancy loss through game design. I’ve been co-designing games about what it’s like being a lapsed catholic, and how rocks, touch screens, and computer mice can participate in players’ erotic rituals.
I have presented on these topics internationally, at events like GDC San Francisco, Gotland Game Conference Visby, A.Maze Berlin, and DiGRA Game Studies Conference.
For more information, get in touch.