Difference between revisions of "Game Culture Syllabus"

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=36-1100 Game Culture=
 
 
Columbia College Chicago
 
Interactive Arts and Media Department
 
iam.colum.edu
 
==Course Information==
 
 
36-1100: Game Culture
 
Class meets at 623 S. Wabash in room 423
 
Studio Labs are available in both 623 S. Wabash and 624 S. Michigan Ave. buildings
 
 
==Required texts and materials==
 
===Required Texts===
 
Gaming As Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity And Experience in Fantasy Games (Paperback)
 
by J. Patrick Williams (Editor), Sean Q. Hendricks (Editor), W. Keith Winkler (Editor); ISBN: 0786424362
 
 
Everything Bad is Good For You by Stephen Johnson; ISBN: 1573223077
 
 
===Recommended Texts===
 
The Video Game Theory Reader by Wolf and Perron; ISBN: 0415965799
 
 
===Supplies/Materials===
 
You will need access to a computer to complete your assignments and homework. There are two
 
computer studios available for those registered in this class. Information about these will be given
 
on the first day of class.
 
 
You will also be required to buy and play one game from a list posted on the course website.
 
 
===Bibliography, supplemental and suggested readings (partial list)===
 
From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games, edited by Justine Cassell and Henry
 
Jenkins
 
 
The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology edited by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
 
 
Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity, and Experience in Fantasy Games, edited by J.
 
Patrick Williams, Sean Q. Hendricks, and W. Keith Winkler.
 
 
Gender Inclusive Game Design: Expanding the Market by Sheri Graner Ray
 
 
Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds by Jesper Juul
 
 
Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace by Janet H. Murray
 
 
Learning by Doing by Clark Aldrich
 
 
The Medium of the Video Game by Mark Wolf
 
 
Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture by T. L. Taylor
 
 
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
 
 
Shared Fantasy: Role-playing Games as Social Worlds by Cary Alan Fine
 
 
Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games by Edward Castronova
 
 
What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Gee
 
 
Wired-Up: Young People and the Electronic Media, Sue Howard, Ed.
 
 
==Course fee==
 
$75.00
 
==Content introduction==
 
Culture matters. It tells Hillary Clinton to legislate Grand Theft Auto. It tells you not to camp with
 
that bazooka or to hog the driver's seat. It tells players that Lara Croft and Bloodrayne are good
 
models of femininity. Culture gives us cues about how to interpret the world.
 
 
As gamers, you're already part of a vibrant culture machine; as game designers, you'll take the
 
wheel, determining where that machine goes (and whether it runs over anyone in the process).
 
This class will give you an atlas with which to navigate the game culture landscape and the skills
 
to choose the best path through it.
 
 
Throughout the semester, we will use critical tools to explore game culture and your place in it. By
 
the time we're done, you will have begun crafting a sophisticated understanding of games as they
 
relate to larger spheres of culture; you will find yourself thinking about why games do what they do,
 
and how they relate to social issues. This course provides the building blocks for a lifetime of
 
critical engagement in video game culture; you will not only leave this course with a map of the
 
gaming landscape, but with the tools to enter uncharted territory and draw future maps yourself.
 
This course will complicate your thinking about games. Each week, we will engage with texts about
 
games—we will write, think, and talk about game culture. Of course, we will play games as well.
 
 
Note: This course was originally developed by Dr. Brendan Riley (http://www.curragh-labs.org)
 
 
==Course description==
 
Given the increasing popularity of games within today's culture there is little question that it is
 
necessary to analysis how games are impacted by social and ideological forces and influence
 
them in turn. Questions like "Why do we play?" and "How do we play differently?" are explored, with
 
many others, as students are guided through topics such as role-playing and identity, ethics, group
 
behavior, competition, gender, race, and aesthetics in modern (and historical) games.
 
 
This course examines computer games from a cultural perspective. We will explore how the
 
prevailing culture and values affect game design, popularity, and experience; we'll also examine
 
how games affect those areas of culture. Other issues discussed in a theoretical context include
 
role-playing and identity, ethics, group behavior, competition, politics, gender, race, and
 
aesthetics.
 
 
==Course rationale==
 
Game Culture brings textual and critical theory to bear on video games, examining how games
 
function in (and with) culture. You will learn to think about games in new ways, both as isolated
 
objects of study and as a dominant force in today's media market. At the end of this course, you
 
will have a deeper understanding of how games work and what they say, knowledge that will be
 
especially useful to game design majors, who will bring these ideas back to their design projects.
 
==Prerequisites==
 
36-1000, Media Theory and Design 1
 
 
52-1152, English Composition 2
 
 
==Goals and objectives==
 
1. Learn the role of play in human activity.
 
 
2. Learn the ethical responsibilities of game developers.
 
 
3. Learn that games are always highly symbolic rituals that grow out of and reflect existing cultural
 
preferences and knowledge bases.
 
 
4. Learn the semiotics of embedded messages in games.
 
 
5. Understand "virtual worlds" as new media and social construct.
 
 
==Grading policy and evaluation procedures==
 
===Credit hours===
 
3 credit hours
 
===Grading scale===
 
All students begin the semester with 0 points. Points are accumulated
 
throughout the semester as assignments are completed. Final grades
 
are based on a 100 point scale (see chart above).
 
No incomplete grades.
 
===Requirements and assignments===
 
====In-class work: 15%====
 
Throughout the term, we will do a variety of exercises in class. Some of these are short writings,
 
thought experiments, games, and discussions. These in-class exercises are essential to our
 
collaborative exploration of game culture. As long as you participate fully in them, you will usually
 
get full credit. In-class work may not be made up (so if you miss class, you miss this work).
 
====Discussion Sessions: 15%====
 
Each week, you will be assigned a reading for the course. Aside from the reading responses you
 
will write (see below), several of you will be assigned to lead the class discussion for that week's
 
reading. When a group leads a discussion, they should say a few introductory remarks (no longer
 
than five minutes) to orient the discussion, and should distribute a handout to the class. Each
 
group is responsible for leading two discussions.
 
====Blog: 40%====
 
You will be responsible for maintaining a blog (at the IAM Blog - http://imamp.colum.edu/wordpress/). Each week you will generally have several blog posts: Game Culture Watch, Game Journal, and Reading Responses.
 
 
=====Blog: Game Culture Watch: 10%=====
 
Each month, you will be assigned a game culture blog from the class list to monitor. Your job will
 
be to post information and commentary to the class blog, Game Culture Watch at least once per
 
week; I encourage you to post more-good blogs are good because they're updated and visited
 
often. Posts can vary, but you should post some commentary and conversation. A good target is
 
100-200 words of your own, plus some text quoted from another blog.
 
 
=====Blog: Game Journal: 10%=====
 
As part of this course, you will select a video game to complete. Each week, you should post at
 
least one entry on your personal blog about your experience playing the game. These journal
 
entries can explore your joys, frustrations, problems, tricks, or just observations. Ideally, you will
 
begin drawing connections between the games and the texts we're reading in class. While your
 
contributions may vary drastically, you should aim to write 200-300 words per week about your
 
game. Note: you should be finished with your game somewhere around the 10 week mark. After
 
that time, you may write more entries about your game, but they will not affect your "game journal"
 
grade. If you finish your game early, you may select another game from the list to play, or you may
 
re-play and/or elaborate on your experiences playing your assigned game.
 
 
=====Blog: Reading Responses: 20%=====
 
For each reading, you will be given a short writing assignment. These writings are meant to focus
 
your thinking about the reading and help you begin to draw connections between the text and
 
other work we've done in the course. Your response should be posted on your personal blog before
 
the beginning of class.
 
 
====Game Analysis Article: 15%====
 
The game analysis project draws on the skills explored in the first and second levels of the course,
 
using interpretation and semiotics to explore the messages hidden in texts. Your game analysis
 
will examine a game for its socio-cultural contexts, offering detailed explanations of the game and
 
highlighting its messages. Your project will suggest how the game functions within its cultural
 
milieu and how the game might be changed or revised to fit its milieu better. (You will receive more
 
detailed instructions and a grading guide when this project is assigned.)
 
====Game Culture Article: 15%====
 
The game culture article asks you apply the knowledge you've discovered in the course to describe
 
a controversial topic, then to devise and articulate a solution or innovation in response. A list of
 
general topics will be handed out – if you wish to use a different topic you must have it approved
 
by your instructor. You will use the texts we've read thus far to explain your solution's relationship
 
to major cultural issues and to games on the market.
 
If you have taken the Game Idea Development course, or if you have a game proposal previously
 
developed, you can alternatively submit a proposal that indicates how your game relates to major
 
cultural issues and to the topics covered in the course.
 
Standards and proportions used:
 
The assignment sheet for each project includes a rubric (grading guide) that gives the specific
 
expectations for that project. Successful projects engage thoughtfully in the assigned endeavor,
 
demonstrate careful consideration of the course texts, follow all the specific requirements, use
 
careful grammar and syntax, and follow proper citation rules. Each project receives written
 
feedback and students are given opportunities to revise.
 
Smaller assignments play a significant role in this course as well. They provide opportunities for
 
students to demonstrate their understanding of course texts and their thinking about the topics at
 
hand. Because small assignments assess both engagement and preparedness, they are not
 
accepted late. Students who plan to succeed in this course must plan to keep up with the day-today
 
work and participate fully in class.
 
==Classroom policies==
 
===Academic Integrity===
 
It is expected that students will turn in their own work and maintain honest academic practices.
 
Failure to do so may result in a failing grade.
 
All students are expected to be familiar with (and follow) the CCC Student Code of Conduct. If you
 
haven't read it, you can download a copy here:
 
http://www.colum.edu/student-affairs/PDFs/The_Student_Code_of_Conduct.pdf
 
 
The Student Handbook states: "Academic Honesty is a cherished principle in the life of the College
 
community. Students are expected to adhere to this principle by understanding the nature of
 
plagiarism, and by not plagiarizing materials, by refraining from the use of unauthorized aids on
 
tests and examinations, by turning in assignments which are products of their own efforts and
 
research, and by refusing to give or receive information on tests and examinations. Persons who
 
violate these principles of simple honesty risk embarrassment, course failure, or disciplinary
 
action."
 
 
In this course, there are several ways students might violate college rules regarding academic
 
integrity:
 
#Multiple submissions-all the work you do for this course should be original work unless I specifically say otherwise. You should not turn in anything written or used in another course. I am open to proposals for dual-purpose work, but you must ask me about it.
 
#Improper citation-use of someone else's work, ideas, data, or statements without adequately noting where the work comes from. Plagiarism-deceptive use of someone else's work, ideas, data, or statements in order to pass such work off as one's own. Students suspected of violating these policies will meet with the instructor to discuss the matter. If the student has indeed violated the policy, the instructor will impose an appropriate penalty up to and including failure for the course. Students who plagiarize work will receive an F for the course.
 
 
I take academic integrity very seriously, and am deeply insulted by cheating. Do not plagiarize work
 
for this class.
 
 
==Attendance policy (departmental policy)==
 
Three absences and you FAIL- NO EXCEPTIONS. If an absence cannot be avoided, it must be
 
discussed with your instructor ahead of time. Medical and other emergency leave of absences
 
follow a different policy. Please contact your instructor if such a situation arises.
 
===Absences===
 
Two absences (even “excused” absences) may result in a failing grade.
 
===Tardiness===
 
Two late arrivals equal one absence. You are expected to be in class on time; attendance is taken
 
at the beginning of class.
 
==Late work and makeup assignments==
 
Assignments and projects turned in after the date due will be marked down one grade for each
 
week late (the time between classes will be counted as a week).
 
==Harassment==
 
In order to succeed in class, every student has to be willing to be open, honest, and involved. At
 
the same time, we must have respect for one another's ideas, beliefs and statements. Therefore,
 
each student is expected to participate in a reasonable, respectful manner in class—we can
 
disagree and discuss, but we need to do so in a way that is not offensive or uncomfortable. Failure
 
to do this, or disruptive behavior in class, will not be tolerated, and will result in disciplinary action.
 
==Complaints==
 
Complaints about the class and/or grades should be addressed to the instructor, either
 
before/after class, or during office hours (or another scheduled appointment). If whatever issues
 
you have cannot be resolved, you should then follow up with your academic counselor or with the
 
coordinator for the Game Design major or the chair of the Interactive Arts and Media Department.
 
Conaway Center Statement
 
Students with disabilities are requested to present their Columbia accommodation letters to their
 
instructor at the beginning of the semester so that accommodations can be arranged in a timely
 
manner by the College, the department or the faculty member, as appropriate. Students with
 
disabilities who do not have accommodation letters should visit the office of Services for Students
 
with Disabilities in room 520 of the Congress building (312.344.8134/V or 312.360.0767/TTY). It
 
is incumbent upon the student to know their responsibilities in this regard.
 
==Academic Calendar==
 
===Fall Semester 2006===
 
Classes Begin Tuesday, September 5, 2006
 
 
Thanksgiving Holiday Thursday, November 23 - Sunday, November 26, 2005
 
 
Semester Ends Saturday, December 16, 2006
 
 
Holiday Break Monday, December 18, 2006 - Monday, January 1, 2007
 
 
==Course calendar==
 
Week Date Topic Articles Discussion Topic
 
# Introduction to Course
 
# Game Analysis and Semiotics
 
# Ludology vs. Narratology
 
# Theory of the Game
 
# Identity and Culture
 
# Identity and Culture
 
# Gender and Race in Games
 
# Social Worlds
 
# Social Worlds
 
# Violence in Games
 
# Violence in Games
 
# Games and Learning
 
# Games and Learning
 
# Future of Games
 
# Final Discussion
 
 
==Weekly Descriptions==
 
===Week 1: Introduction to the Course===
 
Topics Introductions and Course Overview
 
What is Game Culture?
 
In-class Assignments Group discussion and activity
 
Initial blog post and set-up
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. "Semiotic Domains" by James Gee (WVGHTTU)
 
2. Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson, pages 1-14
 
3. The Video Game as a Medium by Mark J. P. Wolf
 
Blogging:
 
On your blog, post a response to the readings answering the following two questions for each
 
reading:
 
1. Write two or three sentences describing the main idea of each reading.
 
2. Choose one sentence that sparks your interest. Write a paragraph pondering the
 
idea you chose. If you can link it to thinking about a game, all the better.
 
Other:
 
Email your instructor (use an email address that you check regularly) with two paragraphs
 
describing your favorite game, and why that game is your favorite.
 
===Week 2: Game Analysis and Semiotics===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Email to instructor
 
Topics Semiotics and Game Analysis
 
In-class Assignments Semiotics exercise
 
Discussion panel sign up
 
Culture Watch “beat” sign up
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Semiotics for Beginners (Sections 1, 2, 4, 7)
 
2. "Abstraction in the Video Game" by Mark Wolf
 
3. "Simulation vs. Narrative" by Gonzalo Frasca (VGTR)
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
Other:
 
Start playing the game you chose
 
===Week 3: Ludology vs. Narratology ===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion "Abstraction in the Video Game" by Mark Wolf
 
Topics Ludology and Narratology: Discuss this central split in game theory. How does it
 
affect the strategy of "reading" games?
 
In-class Assignments Abstraction assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. "Space in the Video Game" by Mark Wolf
 
2. Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson, pages 15-41
 
3. "Gametime" by Patrick Crogan (VGTR)
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 4: Theory of the game===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion "Gametime: History, Narrative, and Temporality in Combat Flight Simulator 2" by Patrick
 
Crogan (VGTR)
 
Topics Theorizing games and space in the video game
 
In-class Assignments Gametime assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson, pages 42-63
 
2. "As we become machines" by Martti Lahti (VGTR)
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 5: Identity and Culture===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion "As we become machines" by Martti Lahti (VGTR)
 
Topics Identity and Culture
 
In-class Assignments Identity assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. "Fair Play: Violence, Gender, and Race in Video Games" by Christina Glaubke et al.
 
2. "It’s a Queer World After All: Studying The Sims and Sexuality" by Mia Consalvo
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 6: Identity and Culture===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion "It’s a Queer World After All: Studying The Sims and Sexuality" by Mia Consalvo
 
Topics Identity and Culture
 
In-class Assignments Fair Play group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Online Gaming and the Interactional Self by Florence Chee, et al
 
2. Evolution of Female Characters in Computer Games by Sheri Graner Ray
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 7: Examining Gender and Race in Games===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion Online Gaming and the Interactional Self by Florence Chee
 
Topics Gender and race in games, discuss Game Analysis Article assignment
 
In-class Assignments Gender and Race group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. "The Social Mind" by James Gee (WVGHTTU)
 
2. "Hyperidentities: Pomo identity in … MMOs" by Miroslaw Filiciak (VGTR)
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 8: Social worlds ===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion "Hyperidentities: Pomo identity in … MMOs" by Miroslaw Filiciak (VGTR)
 
Topics How do our interactions with one another change our understanding of culture and the
 
world? How do these worlds encroach on us?
 
In-class Assignments Social worlds group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. The Business and Culture of Gaming by W. Keith Winkler
 
2. Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier
 
by Edward Castronova
 
3. Born with Silver|Gold|Mithril|Thorium spoons in their mouths by EricNickell (blog
 
post at Terra Nova) and the comments
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 9: Social worlds===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier by
 
Edward Castronova
 
-and-
 
Born with Silver|Gold|Mithril|Thorium spoons in their mouths by EricNickell (blog post at
 
Terra Nova) and the comments
 
Topics “Meta-gaming”, games as jobs (figuratively and financially), and the culture of “work” in
 
games
 
In-class Assignments Social worlds group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. "A Rape in Cyberspace" by Julian Dibbel
 
2. "Cultural Models" by James Gee
 
3. Declaring the Rights of Players
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 10: Violence in games===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Discussion "A Rape in Cyberspace" by Julian Dibbel
 
Topics Cultural Models and Violence in Games
 
In-class Assignments Cultural Models group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson, pages 63-103
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Game journal blog entry
 
Beat entry
 
Other:
 
Complete Game Analysis Article
 
===Week 11: Violence in games===
 
Due Game Analysis Article
 
Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Topics Violence in Games, discuss Game Culture Article assignment
 
In-class Assignments Violence in Games group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson, pages 104-156
 
2. Excerpt from “Simulations and the Future of Learning” by Clark Aldrich
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 12: Games and Learning===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Topics Games and Learning: Discuss various ways of understanding how games work in our
 
brains. What's the relationship between medium and message? Short
 
McLuhan introduction/review.
 
In-class Assignments Games and Learning group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson, pages 157-199
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Beat entry
 
===Week 13: Games and Learning===
 
Due Game Culture Article
 
Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Topics Violence in Games
 
In-class Assignments Violence in Games group assignment
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Choose three of the Game Culture articles from classmates and read them.
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
Beat entry (last beat entry)
 
===Week 14: Future of Games===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Topics Where are games going? What is on the technological and conceptual horizon?
 
Homework Reading:
 
1. Choose three different Game Culture articles (than you read last week) from
 
classmates and read them.
 
Blogging:
 
Response to readings (see website)
 
===Week 15: Final Class===
 
Due Assigned readings
 
Blog posts
 
Topics Article Discussions
 
 
==Disclaimer statement==
 
This syllabus is subject to change.
 

Revision as of 00:05, 20 December 2006