Activity: Discuss course philosophy;
introduce ourselves to one
another;
syllabus review;
text review;
activity discussion;
sample writing
introduction to blogs;
Homework due: None.
Activity: Lecture: How do semiotics work?
(for more info, see Semiotics for Beginners.)
Semiotics exercise.
First discussion panel (Brendan!).
Semiotic Domains discussion
Choose games.
Assign discussion panels.
Homework due:
Read "Speaking of Games" (GDR)
Read "Nature and Significance of Play" by Huizinga (GDR)
Read "Chapter 2: Semiotic Domains" by James Gee (WVGH)
Sign up for a blog at imamp.colum.edu
Email Brendan
Blog a response to these two readings
Activity: Discuss readings.
How do play and semiotics interact?
Homework due:
Read "Play and Ambiguity" and "Unwritten Rules" from GDR
Reading response: respond to these readings
Game Journal: first game journal entry.
GameCultureWatch: blog an entry about your assigned 'beat.'
Activity: Discussion 1:
Bateson
Discuss Gee.
Game analysis project assigned.
Homework due:
Read "Player and Character" and "A Theory of Play and Fantasy" by Bateson (GDR)
Read Gee, Chapter 3: Learning and Identity
Personal blog: respond to these readings; second game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog another entry about your assigned 'beat.'
Activity: Discuss readings and ideas of "theory."
Discussion 2: Mateas and Stern
Homework due:
Read "Games and Narratives," "Interaction and Narrative" by Mateas and Stern, and "Game Design as Narrative Architecture" by Henry Jenkins
Personal blog: respond to this reading; third game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog another entry about your assigned 'beat'
Activity: Talk about theorizing games as structure and the
relationship to theorizing games as texts.
Discussion 3: Fine
Homework due:
Read "Cultural Representation", "Bow, Nigger" by always_black, and "Frames and Games" by Gary Alan Fine (GDR)
Personal blog: respond to these readings; fourth game journal entry and GameCultureWatch posts due also.
Game analysis outline/proposal due
Activity: Discuss this central split in game theory. How does it
affect the strategy of "reading" games?
Discussion 4: Jenkins
Activity: Identifying cultural models
Homework due:.
Read "Complete Freedom of Movement" by Henry Jenkins (GDR)
Read Gee, Chapter 6: Cultural Models
Personal blog: respond to these readings; fifth game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog your first entry about your new 'beat'
Game analysis rough draft due
NO FACE-TO-FACE CLASS THIS WEEK
Activity:
Online discussion of Johnson.
Assignment: Read the questions posted by discussion group. Post thoughtful replies to two of them. One of your replies should be posted on a thread with the fewest responses (thus, by the end, we will have close to an even number on all the threads).
Homework due:
Everything Bad is Good For You (pages 1-62) by Stephen Johnson
Personal blog: respond to this reading; sixth game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog about your 'beat'
Game analysis final draft due by email
Spring break (26 Mar)
Activity:
Discussion 5: Castronova
Economy debates
Homework due:
Read "Game Economies" and "Virtual Worlds" by Edward Castronova (GDR)
Read "The Unreal Estate Boom" by Julian Dibbell (online at Wired)
Personal blog: respond to this reading; seventh game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog about your beat
Activity: How does being online change our notions of our own
identity?
Talk: panopticon
Discussion 6: Gee
Multiple Selves activity
Homework due:
Gee, Chapter 4: Situated Meaning
Read Johnson, skim "television" (63-116), read 116-136
Personal blog: respond to this reading; seventh game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog about your beat
Activity: Players rights and Game mechanics
Discussion 7: Bartle
New beats assigned
Homework due:
Read "Hears, Clubs, Diamons, Spades" by Richard Bartle and "Declaring the Rights of Players" by Raph Koster (GDR)
Personal blog: respond to this reading; eighth game journal entry
Game Culture Watch: blog about your 'beat'
Game analysis revisions due
Activity:
How do our interactions with one another change our
understanding of culture and the world? How do these worlds encroach
on us?
Discussion 8: Gee
Show, discuss final project grading rubric
Homework due:
Read "Shoot Club" by Tom Chick (GDR)
Read Gee, Chapter 7: The Social Mind and Conclusion
Personal blog: respond to this reading; ninth game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog about your beat
Activity:
General discussion of how games fit in our culture, what people think about them and what they are.
Discussion 9: Turkle
Homework due:
Read Turkle, selections (OASIS handouts)
Community reading TBA
Final Project outline or pre-proposal due.
Personal blog: respond to this reading; tenth game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog about your beat
Activity: A discussion of game design, ethics, and current events.
Discussion 10: Johnson
Extra credit presentations
Conversation about projects/progress
Course evaluations! Whoo!
Homework due:
Johnson, remainder of Everything Bad is Good for You
Final Project rough draft due.
Personal blog: respond to this reading; eleventh game journal entry
GameCultureWatch: blog about your beat
Activity: Share final projects; final discussion; course reflection
and chit-chat.
Homework:
Final Projects due.
Final GameCultureWatch post.
