This document appears to be Rhett Bradbury's thesis proposal for a project on reimagining political leadership development using concepts from gaming. The proposal discusses applying the gaming concept of "leveling up" through accomplishments to gain new responsibilities and skills. Bradbury plans to research examples of young leaders "leveling up" in civic activities to develop a proposal for an Institute of New Leadership focused on new conceptions of leadership development. The outline includes sections on observations, research, theories, social media and gaming influences on politics, and presenting results.

1. RHETT BRADBURY
Thesis 1, Fall 2012
Prof. Tom Klinkowstein
Pratt Institute

3. Leadership
Organizing a group of people
to achieve a common goal.
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

4. Leadership through History
16th c. England, King Henry VIII
Autocratic
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

5. Leadership through History
6th c. Athens
Democratic
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

6. Leadership through History
18th c. United States
Democratic Representation
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

7. Leadership through History
21st c. via the Internet
Emergent
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

9. W H AT ?

10. HYPOTHESIS (1/3)
The thesis presented asserts that
the aspirational gaming term,
“leveling up”, meaning to acquire
additional power and responsibility
through the accomplishment of
specific quests, may be applied to
re-imagining the fostering of
political leadership.
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

11. HYPOTHESIS (2/3)
Leveling up suggests heroic, almost
superhuman abilities as an appropriate
description of the efforts needed to
resolve elusively complex societal
problems typically encountered in the
political arena.
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

12. HYPOTHESIS (3/3)
In contrast to current methods of
ascertaining political power, which
are confused and indistinct, this
thesis will show the ability of an
activity based progression system
to forward political leadership and
facilitate predictive and dynamic
social problem solving.
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

13. LEVELING UP?
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

15. “Real-time data and quantitative
benchmarks are the reason why
gamers get consistently better at
virtually any game they play.”
Jane McGonigal
Director of Game R&D at the Institute for the Future
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

18. RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

19. [WH]Barack Obama
Lvl. 72 US President
XP: 395,061/600,000
CURRENT ISSUES Intellect 7.8/10
DISCUSSION BOARD
COMPLETED TASKS Integrity 6.5/10
SOCIAL MEDIA
TEAM MEMBERS Dedication 8/10
BIOGRAPHY
Magnaminity 6/10
Openness 7.2/10
Creativity 5/10
Fairness 6.3/10
Assertiveness 7.1/10
TEAM [WH]
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

20. PROJECT PROPOSAL
Utilize data mining to document activities
of leaders under 30 engaging in examples
of “leveling up”.
This to create a candidate abstract for
an “Institute of New Leadership” –a non-
profit developing new conceptions of
leadership in civic service.
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

21. THESIS OUTLINE
1. Personal Observations
2. Ethnographic Research
3. Political Theories
4. Social Power of New Media
5. Gaming/Gaming for Social Good
6. Politics+New Media+Gaming
7. Thesis Project
8. Project Results
9. Conlusions
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012

22. SOURCE LIST
Social Power of the Internet & New Media
The Penguin and the Leviathan Yochai Benkler
Cognitive Surplus Clay Shirky
Here Comes Everybody Clay Shirky
Game Design/Gaming for Social Good
Rules of Play Katie Salen & Eriz Zimmerman
Reality is Broken Jane McGonigal
Leadership & Politics
Digital Media and Democracy Megan Boler
Politics for Dummies Ann DeLaney
The Leaderless Revolution Carne Ross
Cybering Democracy Diana Saco
RHETT BRADBURY////THESIS ONE////PROF. TOM KLINKOWSTEIN////PRATT GRAD COMMD////FALL 2012