Make time to check out these excellent GDC 2015 Advocacy talks

Today Game Developers Conference 2015 officials are excited to highlight another great set of sessions in the Advocacy track that you'll want to check out.

Quick reminder: for the second year running, GDC organizers have made all Advocacy track talks open to all GDC attendees, regardless of what type of pass they purchase.

You can find the full lineup of awesome advocacy-centric talks at GDC 2015 via the Advocacy track session list.

First, don't miss Revelation Interactive CEO Dennis Mathews and game designer/educator Derek Manns discussing characterization in video games (both protagonists and antagonists) as it pertains to blacks and minorities in the "Black Characters in Games: Debunking the Stereotype" roundtable session.

Also, Well-known parenting educator and author Rosalind Wiseman is teaming up with game industry personality Ashly Burch to tackle a challenging topic at GDC: How do young people feel about modern video games?

The pair have been working with high schoolers nationwide to get insight into how they feel about women's representation in games, what games they find most engaging or inspiring, and what they'd like to see from games in the future; they'll share all that data and some useful insights in their "Curiosity, Courage, and Camouflage: Revealing the Gaming Habits of Teen Girls" presentation.

Game industry technologist and former Senior Advisor for Digital Media, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Mark DeLoura will speak about how developers might unshackle games from expectations of what they have to be or not be in "A View From the White House: Games Beyond Entertainment." Check it out if you're interested in harnessing games' unique features to help teach our children complex subjects, to motivate each other to become healthier, and to conduct scientific research collectively.

Finally, Russ Pitts (president of the Take This charity) will deliver a talk on depression-proofing your studio and game development practices as part of the Advocacy track of talks. During his session, self-evidently titled "Depression-Proof Your Studio Culture: A "How-to" for Mental Wellness," Pitts will address the prevalence of mental health issues and learn effective ways to address them at the line and employer levels of game development.

A list of all announced talks is available in the online GDC 2015 Session Scheduler, where you can begin to build your conference week and later export it to the up-to-the-minute GDC Mobile App, coming soon.

Also, conference officials look forward to announcing more GDC 2015 sessions spanning a diverse array of game industry issues in the months ahead.

For now, don't miss the opportunity to save money by registering early -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is January 21, 2015. GDC 2015 itself will take place March 2-6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

For more information on GDC 2015, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

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