"Professors at Play" PlayBook
This webinar introduces participants to the core principles of Playful Pedagogy, a pedagogical framework and toolbox that promotes the intentional use of play to enhance learning, engagement, and community in higher-education settings. Led by co-founder Dr. Lisa Forbes, the webinar provides developmental-science educators with an evidence-informed overview of what “play” can look like in adult learning environments and how it supports more flexible, creative, engaged, and joyful forms of learning.
The webinar also offers practical, adaptable strategies for incorporating low-stakes play into college classrooms without sacrificing academic rigor. Dr. Forbes will share examples from the Professors at Play community, including playful prompts, reflective activities, creative assessments, and structures that encourage connection. She will help us learn how to integrate these approaches in ways that align with our course content and personal teaching styles.
By the end of the webinar, participants will gain a clearer understanding of the pedagogical value of play and leave with concrete ideas for experimenting with playful learning in their own developmental science courses.
Presenter: Dr. Lisa Forbes
Lisa Forbes, Ph.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Counseling Program at the University of Colorado Denver. She earned her master’s degree in clinical counseling and her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision with an emphasis in Couples and Family Therapy from the University of Northern Colorado. At CU Denver, she teaches counseling techniques, practicum, internship, group counseling, counseling children and adolescents and their parents, and introduction to play therapy.
Dr. Forbes is also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) with clinical experience working with abused children and adolescents, survivors of domestic violence, and adults, adolescents, and older adults in inpatient psychiatric settings. She currently maintains a small play-therapy practice serving children ages 3 to 8.
She is the co-founder of Professors at Play, a global faculty network that invites educators to explore the transformative and subversive power of play in higher education. Through community, resources, and events (e.g., “Playposiums”), Professors at Play challenges traditional academic norms to foster more engaged, inclusive, meaningful, and transgressive learning.
Dr. Forbes’s publications on teaching, learning, and play include "The Professors at Play PlayBook," "The Professors at Play Online PlayBook," "The Professors at Play Artificial Intelligence PlayBook," a journal article on the process of play in learning, and a children’s book called "Only Kids and Play Can Save the World."
At CU Denver, Dr. Forbes also serves as Associate Director of ThinqStudio, a faculty-led community focused on inclusive, innovative approaches to learning and teaching in higher education.
