Write a scholarly 6-8 page paper or literature review discussing an artists’ movement, a mode of play, a game, or an aspect of play/games of your choosing.
Create a critical media-rich project exploring a topic of your choosing (e.g. video essay, zine, poster, website, etc.)
The projects/papers should provide background and context to your chosen topic and engage a critical framework or lens discussed in class. Projects will be evaluated on their clarity, critical engagement, and intellectual playfulness. Projects should include at least 6 citations; at least 4 should be external sources (not provided in class).
Submit a 2-4 sentence proposal with your topic idea (separate the proposal and the project itself-the proposal put it in the first paragraph, and then start with the project)
If it helps, here are some prompts and examples to consider:
Choose a social issue or cause and examine how artists and/or game designers have commented on, critiqued, or discussed the issue/cause through art, play, and games. How do they invite reflection on or critique the social issue? What tactics do they use? How have games as cultural objects participated in shaping our understandings of that issue? What is the larger history or context? Discuss 2-3 projects or perspectives that explore this intersection and compare their approaches.
E.g. Feminism + representation/role of women in game; Climate change + representations of/relationships to nature in games; the role of guns + violence in games
Artist focus: pick an artist or artist movement (perhaps one discussed in class, or not) and examine the role of play and games in their work. What are the main themes or ideas of their work? What playful actions do they take, invite, facilitate? To what ends? What is the broader cultural/historical context? How do they use play and playful gestures to critique their context, make unexpected meanings, create new insights? Choose 3-4 pieces, works, or games to discuss and compare their approaches.
Pick one aspect of a specific game to explore in more detail. E.g. Minecraft and collaboration; horror games and the role of first-player POV; the role of failure in Dark Souls;
How have games been used or discussed in non-traditional or emerging “play” contexts? You might look into the development of educational games as a genre and enterprise; games in health and rehabilitation contexts; games and the military industrial complex; games and mental health; sporting events and their socio-cultural and political impacts; games, avatars, and parasocial relationships…Analyze 3-4 specific examples to discuss and compare their approaches.
