Tax-funded college project HERadventure tackles gender and environmental issues

Spelman College has completed development on a taxpayer-funded computer game tackling environmental problems and gender issues, reports Daily Caller.

The college, an historically black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, Ga., received a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to create the game, with the criteria of building an interactive experience featuring a black female protagonist. The game, HERadventure, features main character HER visiting Earth to determine what on the planet is causing the disturbances on her home world. She finds that the "auras" of women are diminishing, and in order to bolster them HER must combat issues including negative self-esteem, depression, gender equality and climate change to set things right.

Spelman film production professor Dr. Ayoka Chenzira, who headed development on HERadventure, told Daily Caller the storyline was crafted by thinking critically about how issues that affect women, such as eating disorders and gender discrimination, affect the planet.

"What we do on Earth impacts the universe — not just pollution destroying the ozone layer, for example, but our thoughts and how we organize gender roles and social systems also have impact," she said.

However, some think the game is a waste of taxpayers' money. Pennsylvania Republican representative Joe Pitts criticized the game when it was first announced last April, saying the state should not be spending tax dollars on state-sponsored artistic projects while the federal government is in deficit.

Spelman plans to released HERadventure on International Women's Day, March 8.