Day 1 of THATCamp OHIO 2018! I am presenting a short workshop on teaching (with) digital games, an abridged version of a workshop that I have done at other institutions. It usually earns good feedback from participants. Here is the description again:
“#WeNeedDiverseGames: Close Playing Gender, Sexuality, and Race in Games”:
In Gaming (2006), Alexander Galloway argues, “Video games render social realities into playable form” and “play is a symbolic action for larger issues in culture.” As gaming communities and the gaming industry attempt to address the need for diversity and inclusion in games, how might we understand how the algorithmic underpinnings of programming and game design allow for and problematically constrain and recuperate queerness and difference? Or how might we unpack the ways characters of color are often rendered as either lighter-skinned protagonists or darker-skinned enemies? Central to this workshop is the definition and demonstration of close playing or critical ways of analyzing, engaging, and even teaching games to address gender, sexuality, and race in digital games.
Here is the Prezi for today’s presentation:
And here is a link to the 2018 THATCamp Ohio handout (PDF).