Matthew Farber

Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is an associate professor of educational technology at the University of Northern Colorado and the co-director of the Gaming SEL Lab. He studies how playing and making games can foster empathy, compassion, perspective-taking, and ethical decision-making. He developed game-based lessons with Tracy Fullerton for her award-winning Walden, a game EDU and has also worked with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), iThrive Games, and Games for Change. He was a contributing writer for Origin101, the official learning companion for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed film Origin. Author of several books, including Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning, and articles, Dr. Farber has been invited to the White House and has been interviewed by NPR, The Washington Post, Fast Company, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. Upcoming in March 2025 is a new book published by MIT Press and co-authored with Tracy Fullerton: The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully.

• Ed.D. New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ (2016) | Educational Technology Leadership
• M.A. New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NY (2010) | Educational Technology
• B.A. State University of New York: University at Albany, Albany, NY (1993) | U.S. History

• Associate Professor, University of Northern Colorado (2022 – Present)
• Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado (2017 – 2022)
• Social Studies Teacher, Valleyview Middle School (2008 – 2017)
• Part-time Lecturer, Rutgers University (2016 – 2017)
• Adjunct Faculty, New Jersey City University (2013 – 2017)

Dr. Farber’s research focuses on gaming as a form of multimodal literacy and how meaning-making during gameplay can cultivate social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. Games are practice spaces to play with social emotions. In some games, players collaborate to solve mutual goals. Many other games engage players in perspective-taking, where they may develop virtual empathy through taking agency of digital avatars.

Much of his work includes multiple collaborations with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), a category one research institute headquartered in New Delhi, India. Its mission—which aligns with his research agenda—is to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7: “Education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world by developing programs that promote social and emotional learning with innovative digital pedagogies that empower youth.”

Journal Articles

• Labate, H., Tyralynn, F., Singh, N. C., & Farber, M. (2024). Curriculum and Pedagogy, Including Digital Pedagogies. Mainstreaming Social and Emotional Learning in Education Systems: Policy Guide (pp. 70-90). Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000392261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54675/ORWD6913
• Farber, M., & Merchant, W. (2024).Cultivating Esportspersonship: How Scholastic Esports Coaches Perceive Facilitating Positive Youth Development. Simulation & Gaming. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10468781241299131
• Farber, M., & Erekson, J. (Spring 2023). Going beyond the page: Pairing children’s literature with video games. Children and Libraries, 21(1), 6-13.
• Farber, M., & Merchant, W. (2022). Insights from investigating early childhood ebooks on literacy, cognitive development, and social and emotional learning outcomes. E-Learning and Digital Media, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530221108538
• Mukund, V., Sharma, M., Srivatsa, A., Sharma, R., Farber, M., & Singh, N. C. (2022). Effects of a digital game-based course in building adolescents’ knowledge and social-emotional competencies. Games for Health Journal. 11(1), 1-12. DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2021.0138
• Farber, M., & Schrier, K. (2021). Beyond winning: A situational analysis of two digital autobiographical games. Games Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research. 21(4).
• Schrier, K., & Farber, M. (2021). A systematic literature review of “empathy” and “games.” Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds. 13(2), 195-214. DOI: 10.1386/jgvw_00036_
• Kang, H. J., Farber, M., & Mahovsky, K. A. (2021). Teachers’ self-reported pedagogical changes: Are we preparing teachers for online STEM education? Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 21(10), 264-277. DOI: 10.33423/jhetp.v21i10.4640
• Farber, M., Williams, M., Mellman, L., & Yu, X. (2020). Systems at play: Game design as an approach for teen self-expression. Journal of Games, Self, and Society, 2(1), 40-84. DOI: 10.1184/R1/12215417

• 2022 College of Education and Behavioral Sciences College Research Scholar Award
• 2019 Best Conference Paper at the International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events
• 2016 HistoryQuest Fellow, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
• 2016 Digital Innovator (Local), PBS LearningMedia
• 2014 Trailblazer Award, New Jersey City University
• 2012 Nominee, New Jersey Higher Education Showcase of Exemplary Practices
• 2009 Geraldine R. Dodge Educator Fellow, Earthwatch Institute