In this course we explore video games and interactive media as cultural artifacts of learning, storytelling, creative expression, identity exploration, and digital production. We will combine video games, online games, virtual and augmented reality, social media, animation, art, and introductory robotics with critical and cultural theoretical frameworks emphasizing digital labor, gender, identity, and philosophies of play, gaming, and embodiment. Conceptual development, communication studies research, visual data, and qualitative methods will intersect with the artistic, cultural, and technological techniques and assignments in this course.
Our main focus in this course will be to investigate the contextualization of video and online games, cybercultures, and globalization in relation to technology and creativity. Theoretical frameworks and methods will be used to explore and create research about how video games are created, marketed, played, altered, hacked, and discussed. Students will be expected to do critical reading of the texts introduced in class as well as participate in experiential learning assignments.
- Teacher: Erica Knotts