VIDEOGAMES & LEARNING

COMARTS/CURRIC 914

Video games can be powerful experiences that take us to new worlds, teach us about complex systems, and provoke a range of emotions. Games transform us while we play, and some of these changes can be hard to predict and understand. Games can disrupt our sense of self, reshape our pleasures and feelings, lead us to question deeply held values, and allow us to experience new forms of embodiment through an avatar. A growing body of research in game studies engages with this potential for expansive change by focusing on player experience from a variety of methodological perspectives, including phenomenological, feminist and queer theory, critical disability studies, learning sciences, ecocriticism, and media archeology.

COMARTS 547

An examination of the forms, practices, economies, institutions, politics, and modes of engagement that make digital games an important site of culture and power.

CURRIC 534

An introduction to tools used to design and develop video games.

THEATRE 256

Using a video games-as-performance framework, explore the history, business, and technology of video games. Study the cultural, artistic, and technological evolution of major video game consoles, handheld systems, and personal/gaming computers, as well as a look at the business, technology, and people behind the games. Contemplate video games as theatrical performance while journeying into a different segment of gaming each week and examining their cultural impact on each era.

CURRIC 576

An exploration of theories, issues, and histories within a specialized area of game design such as developing games for a particular genre, for social impact, or using novel technologies.