Simone Downie
Assistant Professor of Game Design and Animation
Wonsook Kim School of Art

Office
CVA Center For The Visual Arts 202a
Office Phone
Email
- 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
390.001Directed Projects/Seminar In Arts Technology
217.001Animation: Drawing and Stop Motion
490.011Directed Projects In Creative Technology
390.008Directed Projects/Seminar In Arts Technology
351.001Game Design I
359.001Games and Society
287.003Independent Study
380.006Selected Topics In Arts Technology
481.006Selected Topics in Creative Technologies
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
Service Initiative Award
Office of the Provost, Illinois State University
2024
Conference Proceeding
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)