Mila Zhu
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  • Academic Otaku
  • Culinary Canvas Series
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Ludic Scholarship:
Games, Learning, and Innovative Pedagogy


​Editor: 
Mila Zhu

This series focuses on the intersection of gamification, ludology, pedagogy, and innovative methodological thinking, offering a space for cutting-edge scholarship that bridges game-based approaches with educational theory and practice. Ludic Scholarship highlights gamified learning and emergent methodologies that challenge traditional research frameworks, encouraging transformative approaches to teaching, learning, meaning-making, and the construction of knowledge.

The series invites contributions that explore how game mechanics, narrative structures, and immersive environments are reshaping learning practices across disciplines. From theoretical explorations of ludic strategies to applied case studies of gamified pedagogy, Ludic Scholarship emphasizes creativity and academic rigor, inviting works that challenge established conventions. Targeting educators, researchers, and curriculum scholars, this series supports interdisciplinary collaborations and post-qualitative approaches that investigate the dynamic role of games and play in 21st-century education.

Vol. 2 
The StrataPlay MethodologyA Lorekeeper’s Game Design in Postqualitative Inquiry
by Mila Zhu (Author)
©2026TextbookX, 134 Pages

Summary
This book presents StrataPlay, an innovative post-qualitative methodology that blends academic inquiry with playful, narrative-driven gameplay. Grounded in posthumanism, post-qualitative research, and psychoanalytic theories, the book guides readers through a series of game-like challenges designed to explore fluid, fragmented identities, the intersections of power and autonomy, and the absurdities of modern academia. Each chapter invites readers to step into immersive worlds where they confront complex philosophical questions through narrative and metaphor. By offering an interactive approach to knowledge creation, this book pushes boundaries and encourages a dynamic and ever-evolving relationship between theory, identity, and storytelling.
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Vol. 1
Freedom to PlayA Ludic Language Pedagogy Primer
by Jonathan deHaan (Author)James York (Author)
©2025TextbookXXXII, 600 Pages


Summary
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This book empowers language and literacy teachers and researchers by framing teaching as the use of S.P.A.C.E. within constraints to create "playgrounds" where everyone can engage. It enhances readers’ ludic, language, and pedagogical literacies, encouraging them to play, learn, apply, and seek more. Drawing from decades of successful teaching and research, the book balances theory, research, and practice while critiquing gamification and game-based learning—advocating instead for genuine ludic approaches. It includes two rigorous courses to help readers design lesson plans and evaluate their teaching. Playful elements such as memes, jokes, anecdotes, and reflections on both successes and failures make the book engaging and relatable. With a humanistic approach that prioritizes teachers and students over technology, the book is also inclusive, offering ludic language pedagogy examples for diverse contexts. Additionally, it bridges the research-practice divide and integrates support from a dedicated community.
Copyright © 2026 Mila Zhu. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission may result in hauntings, dissonance, and an unexpected shift to Locrian mode.

  • About
  • unsilenced
  • Academic Otaku
  • Culinary Canvas Series
  • Ludic Scholarship Series