Susana Ruiz

Susana Ruiz is a media artist and scholar working in the intersections between art, journalism, game design, documentary and ethics. In partnership with mtvU and a team of passionate and socially conscious students, Susana developed DARFUR IS DYING, a pioneering game for social change, which received critical acclaim from experts, won numerous awards, and helped garner the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ prestigious Governors Award. The game was said to be one of the best representations of life in Darfur by Pulitzer Prize winner New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and was presented in Capitol Hill to members of the U.S. Congress. Her follow up project in collaboration with the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children – FINDING ZOE – addresses gender stereotyping and teen dating abuse, and won the Ashoka Changemakers and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s global competition Why Games Matter: A Prescription for Improving Health and Health Care. Susana has presented at numerous media and game festivals as well as academic conferences, and has been interviewed by major news venues including The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, NPR’s Morning Edition, NPR’s All Things Considered, CNN, and ABC World News. She received a BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and an MFA from the University of Southern California, where she is currently a doctoral student. She is the co-founder of the game design collective Take Action Games, which seeks to address critical social issues via innovative gameplay.