Kellee Santiago visited Miami University for a lecture on “Experiences in the Gaming Industry” on Wednesday, February 18. The event was sponsored by MEGA, the Strategy Gaming Club, and Lean In, and moderated by Dr. De Schutter.

Kellee received her MFA in 2006 at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media program. It was there she cultivated her belief that games can simultaneously be both deeply engaging and wildly entertaining, and her dream to show this to the rest of the world. This led to the creation of multiple award-winning games (flOw, Flower, Journey), appointed Chair of the IndieCade Festival Awards jury, and becoming a partner with Indie Fund to help others realize their dreams.

Kellee has spoken at universities and conferences around the world on game design, production, and entrepreneurship, and most famously engaged film critic Roger Ebert in a discussion on video games as art with her TEDxUSC talk on the subject. Named by Variety magazine as one of the Top 10 Innovators to Watch, one of The Ten Most Influential Women in Games of the Decade on Kotaku.com, and a TED Fellow in 2010 she continues to push the boundaries of what games can do as a medium and art form.