Introduction: Entertainment-Education Behind the Scenes

Entertainment-education (EE) initiatives use stories and media as a tool to change the world. Recent review articles summarizing EE have highlighted ongoing questions and challenges within the field, particularly in our rapidly changing media landscape. Our goal in this volume is to invite leaders in the field to struggle with these questions and suggest possible answers. In this introductory chapter, we outline the basis for the following questions: What are the boundaries of EE, and how much do they need to focus on narrative drama versus other forms of storytelling? How do academic theories in the EE field relate to theories of change that practitioners can apply in the field? In the new media landscape with multiple screens, how can EE reach audiences and keep them engaged? What works and what doesn’t work in the field of entertainment-education?