Gaming Cultures:: Spring 2006: LIT 4930
Conferences are by appointment or during office hours.
Office hours: Turlington 4357, Wednesday 10:30am-12:30pm
Office phone: 392-6650x278
Course Section: 6638
Class meets: MWF period 3 (9:35-10:25am) in LIT 233
Email:
ltaylor@nwe.ufl.edu
Gaming Cultures: Class Overview
This course will focus on video games as textual and literary artifacts. In particular, we will study recent video games as part of a longer history of games and gaming—including word games, puzzles, board games, card games, computer, console, portable, and mobile games. The course will emphasize both critical analysis and production. We will conduct close readings of games to study how games both draw upon and represent culture and cultural artifacts, including film, comics, and literature. Throughout the course, we will address theoretical and historical issues such as: what kinds of cultural work do games perform? What is the function of seriality for games? How does the placement of games as "for children" affect their use, reception, and canonicity? What different narrative possibilities and limitations enable and constrain game designers, especially in relation to technological innovation? How does the form of the interface/artifact affect reception (gaming interfaces, emulation, platform differences)?
Requirements include several writing experiments and projects, including weekly blog posts on games and group-project development of a game proposal. This class will be very hands-on. No prior gaming experience and no game systems are required. Please email me for further information.