Who is Dr. Spencer Striker?

Spencer Striker, PhD, is Professor of Digital Media Design at Northwestern University in Qatar (promoted to Full Professor in 2025; Associate Professor 2019–2025). He is a creator, producer, and design director whose career spans studio production, venture-backed Silicon Valley startups (Founding Creative Director of Galxyz Inc. and Producer/PM at Kno Inc.), and higher education. He has secured more than $1 million in competitive funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Science Foundation (NSF I-Corps), Doha Film Institute (DFI), Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), QRDI, Buffett Institute, IAS Global South, HBKU Innovation Center, and the Gates Foundation, and won Webby, Anthem, QS Reimagine Education Gold, Davey Gold, Horizon Interactive Best of Category, and w3 awards.

What is Al-Khwarizmi: Father of Algebra & the Algorithm (2026)?

Al-Khwarizmi: Father of Algebra & the Algorithm (2026; originally developed as Legacy of Light: The House of Wisdom) is an AI-animated historical docudrama series (30 short episodes and a 45-minute cinematic edition released free on YouTube) created, written, produced, and directed by Dr. Spencer Striker. Supported by a $30,000 Doha Film Institute (DFI) Web Series Grant, it was selected for the Qumra 2026 Series Lab (covered by Deadline) and nominated for the 2026 QS Reimagine Education Awards in Immersive Experiential Learning. It traces 9th-century scholar Al-Khwarizmi from Central Asia to Baghdad's House of Wisdom and connects the Islamic Golden Age to modern computing and artificial intelligence.

What is Chaos Corp: Troll Farm Simulator and what awards has it won?

Chaos Corp: Troll Farm Simulator (2025) is a free iOS and Android satirical media-literacy strategy game created, produced, and directed by Dr. Spencer Striker. Funded by the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South ($25,000) and the Northwestern Provost's Office, it launched at Web Summit Qatar 2025. Players run a disinformation agency manipulating a fictional Philippine election using deepfakes, bot campaigns, and astroturfing to expose the machinery of digital deception. It won the 2025 QS Reimagine Education Gold Award (Nurturing Values and Ethics), the 2025 Anthem Silver Medal (Responsible Technology: Education or Literacy Platform), and the 2025 w3 Silver Award (Best Mobile Games). A sequel, Chaos Corp 2: Serpent of House Sung, is in development with support from the Buffett Institute and AIM-LAB.

What is Rendered by Robots: AI & the Future of Design Education?

Rendered by Robots: AI & the Future of Design Education (2025–2026) is an eight-part video and podcast interview series created and hosted by Dr. Spencer Striker, funded by Northwestern University's Alumnae Award for Curriculum Innovation ($12,500) and AIM-LAB. Across more than eight hours of conversations with leading thinkers—including MIT Media Lab's Nataliya Kosmyna ('Your Brain on ChatGPT'), NYU's Clay Shirky, New York Magazine's James Walsh, The Atlantic's Lila Shroff, Northwestern Medill's Jeremy Gilbert, Marc Watkins, Olivio Sarikas, and John Gibbs—the series examines how generative AI is transforming creative education, authorship, learning, and assessment.

What is History Adventures: World of Characters and Global Pandemics?

History Adventures: World of Characters (2017–present) is a cross-platform interactive history series created by Dr. Spencer Striker and developed in partnership with Northwestern's Center for Talent Development. It includes Empires & Interconnections (1450–1750) (2024 Anthem Award Winner for Best Literacy Platform, 2023 Viddy Gold, Horizon Interactive Gold), Revolutions & Industrialization (1750–1900) (Horizon Interactive Gold), Generation Revolution (2024; funded by a $30,000 NEH Digital Projects for the Public Discovery grant), and the Global Pandemics series: Plague of Athens VR (Meta Quest, Steam VR, Pico; funded by $80,000 in QNRF/UREP grants; 2024 Reimagine Education Bronze and 2024 Davey Gold), Black Death Interactive ('Forty Days'; 2024 Horizon Interactive Best of Category), and Plague of Athens Chromebook (2022 Reimagine Education Middle East Gold, 2023 Anthem Bronze).

What STEM and AI-literacy learning games has Dr. Spencer Striker created?

Dr. Spencer Striker's STEM and AI-literacy learning games include Dr. Sara: Disease Detective (2021; iOS and Android epidemiology visual novel funded by a $27,000 HBKU Rapid Response Grant, with over 50,000 organic global downloads and Google Play Teacher Approved recognition), Blue Apprentice at Galxyz Inc. (where he served as Founding Creative Director from 2013–2015, supported by a $4M Series A from Relay Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective), and four funded games in development (2026–present): CLIP (bilingual English/Arabic AI-literacy game) and 50% P(DOOM) (screenlife AI-literacy game) supported by a shared $41,000 QRDI LiLEC grant, Chaos Corp 2: Serpent of House Sung ($5,000 Buffett Institute grant + $8,000 AIM-LAB support), and Dr. Sara 2: Zero-G Protocol ($5,000 NU-Q Dean's Merit-Based Faculty Supplementary Support Fund).

Media Kits

Resources for journalists, educators, and event organizers covering Spencer Striker Digital Learning. Each product below includes a description, press images, and downloadable assets. For interviews or additional materials, use the contact link below.

Spencer Striker, PhD

Digital Learning Designer and Producer

Professor of Digital Media Design at Northwestern University in Qatar. Builder of award-winning games, interactive stories, and VR experiences used by learners worldwide. Twenty years on the applied side of games and learning.

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Chaos Corp character art: Gabriela Santos, in black and white, on a city street at night

Chaos Corp | Troll Farm Simulator

A satirical mobile game that casts players as the mastermind of a troll farm manipulating a Philippine election, teaching how disinformation spreads by letting players run the operation themselves. Anthem Awards Silver, Responsible Technology (Education or Literacy Platform). Free on iOS and Android.

Media Literacy Game, 2025

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 Interactive History Learning App, 2023

Empires & Interconnections

Interactive stories of global connection, imperialism, and cultural exchange across the early modern world, 1450 to 1750. Best Literacy Platform, 2024 Anthem Awards. Available on Apple Books, iPad, and Android tablet.

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Dr. Sara | Disease Detective

A mobile game that puts players in the role of the world's greatest disease detective, teaching epidemiology and critical thinking through hands-on outbreak investigation. Free on iOS and Android.

Public Health Game, 2021

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Plague of Athens | VR

A full VR learning experience set inside ancient Athens during the plague of 429 BCE, confronting players with the ethical dilemmas of a physician in a city in crisis. Available on Meta Quest, Steam VR, and Pico. Reimagine Education Bronze Medal, Best Immersive Experience.

Immersive VR Experience, 2023

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Revolutions & Industrialization

Interactive History Learning Experience, 2020

A cross-platform experience exploring global revolution and industrialization from 1750 to 1900, told through the lives of characters at history's hinge points. Gold winner, Mobile Apps for Education, Horizon Interactive Awards.

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Plague of Athens | Chromebook

Browser-Based Learning Experience, 2022

A classroom-ready edition built for Chromebooks, following Nikos, a physician during the Plague of Athens, through cutting-edge web animation and interactive storytelling. Anthem Award Bronze Medalist. Free in any browser.

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Black Death IMDB Poster - Spencer Striker PhD - grim reaper version

Black Death Interactive

The story of Giana, a baker's daughter in Venice during the Black Death, facing the era's cruelest dilemma: flee to safety or stay and care for her sick father. Available on iPad and the web. Horizon Interactive Awards, Best of Category.

Interactive Narrative, 2024

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Rendered by Robots

Podcast, 2026

An eight-part interview series on education in the age of AI, featuring leading voices on how artificial intelligence is reshaping teaching, learning, and creative work. Available on all platforms.

Playlist on YouTube

Dr. Sara 2: Zero-G Protocol

Public Health Game, In Production, Coming 2026

The next Dr. Sara case, currently in final development, taking the outbreak investigation into orbit. Preview access available for media and educators.

Media Kit (coming soon)

Chaos Corp 2: Serpent of House Sung

Media Literacy Game, In Production, Coming 2026

The sequel moves the series into the world of a corrupt Korean chaebol, with a new visual style and story built on the same award-winning framework. Currently in production.

Media Kit

Al-Khwarizmi: Father of Algebra and the Algorithm

An Original Docudrama
Released 2026

A landmark AI-animated docudrama celebrating Al-Khwarizmi and the Islamic Golden Age, produced in partnership with the Doha Film Institute. Released free on YouTube as 30 short episodes and a complete cinematic edition.

Media Kit (coming soon)

CLIP

AI Literacy Game, In Development

A cheerful AI tutor becomes a little too helpful. An English- and Arabic-language learning game about trust, privacy, and independent judgment.

Media Kit
(coming soon)

50% P(DOOM)

AI Literacy Game, In Development

A teenager becomes the acting CEO of an AI company. A Screenlife learning game about AI, human judgment, and decisions with consequences.

Media Kit
(coming soon)

Media Kits

Spencer Striker, PhD

Chaos Corp | Troll Farm Simulator

Empires & Interconnections

Dr. Sara | Disease Detective

Plague of Athens | VR

Revolutions & Industrialization

Plague of Athens | Chromebook

Black Death Interactive

Rendered by Robots

Dr. Sara 2: Zero-G Protocol

Chaos Corp 2: Serpent of House Sung

Al-Khwarizmi: Father of Algebra and the Algorithm

CLIP

50% P(DOOM)

Spencer Striker Digital Learning creates award-winning games, interactive stories, VR experiences, and podcasts that make learning immersive, relevant, and alive. Every product is grant-funded and free for anyone to use, in any setting.

Media Kits | Contact