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Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts

Simone Downie

Assistant Professor of Game Design and Animation
Schl of Creative Technologies
Office
CVA Center For The Visual Arts 202a
Office Phone
(309) 438-7203office
phone
Email
asdowni@ilstu.eduemail
Website
https://www.simonedownie.com/website
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Biography

Simone Downie teaches and researches at the epicenter of art, gameplay, and interactivity. She is interested in how these worlds can blend together to create hands-on experiences that foster motivation, storytelling, and social bonding.

Current Courses

ART 217.001 Animation: Drawing and Stop Motion

CTK 490.011 Directed Projects In Creative Technology

CTK 390.008 Directed Projects/Seminar In Arts Technology

CTK 351.001 Game Design I

CTK 431.001 Game Design I

CTK 251.001 Introduction to Digital Animation

ART 217.002 Animation: Drawing and Stop Motion

CTK 490.007 Directed Projects In Creative Technology

CTK 390.004 Directed Projects/Seminar In Arts Technology

CTK 351.001 Game Design I

CTK 431.001 Game Design I

CTK 359.001 Games and Society

CTK 459.001 Games and Society

Teaching Interests & Areas


Game design, design thinking, traditional animation, 2D art

MFA Design

The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

BA Film and Media Arts

University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah

BA English

University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah

University Service Initiative Award

Office of the Provost, Illinois State University
2025

College Service Initiative Award

Office of the Provost, Illinois State University
2024

Conference Proceeding

Kalantari, M., Downie, S., & Hashemi, A. (2025). Empathy and Communication: Developing a Mobile Game to Enhance Social Support for Young Adult Cancer Patients. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 247-263). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Downie, S. (2021). Murder on Mansion Hill: Encouraging Collaborative Group Storytelling to Improve Motivational Aspects of Literacy Using Gameplay and Arts-Based Techniques. In International Conference on Entertainment Computing (pp. 46-61). Springer, Cham.

Journal Article

Downie, S., & Proulx, S. (2022). Investigating the role of gamification in public libraries’ literacy-centered youth programming. International Journal of Play, 11(4), 382-404.

Presentations

Collaboration with AI Through Teaching and Practice in Creative Technologies. AI & the Humanities: An Interdisciplinary Symposium. Illinois State University. (2025)
Creative Technologies - The Keynote. High School Research Symposium. (2023)
Beyond the Text: Motivating Learners to Explore Multimodal Narrative Through Gameplay. Hayes Graduate Forum. Council of Graduate Students. (2022)
Murder on Mansion Hill, A Collaborative Storytelling Game. International Conference on Entertainment Computing. IFIP. (2021)

Grants & Contracts

A Novel Adventure: Re-Engaging Hesitant Readers Through Collaborative, Multi-Sensory Gameplay. WKCFA College Research Committee. Illinois State University. (2024)
Building Community to Support Student Success in The School of Creative Technologies. Provost Innovation Enhancement Grant. Illinois State University. (2024)
Building Community to Support Student Success in The School of Creative Technologies. Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2024)