The Critical Gaming Initiative (CGI)
This project aims at establishing a space for discussion, analysis and critique of games and gaming. It is aimed at our undergraduate student population within and around the CultureNet program. The initiative encourages students to reflect upon and engage with the social, textual, cultural, and political processes and complexities surrounding gaming, beyond the existence of games as mere “entertainment” artifacts.
“Gaming” in this initiative includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- interactive storytelling
- simulation and simulated worlds (e.g., The Sims, Second Life, Cloud Party, etc.)
- the so-called gamification of culture and society
- the influence of gaming and the gaming industry upon other media formats and vice versa (i.e., literature, cinema, etc.)
- the use of games as teaching and learning tools in educational and pedagogical contexts
- the harnessing of games and gaming as tools of social change
Each term the CultureNet program sponsors a series of speakers and guest bloggers who will address one or more of the issues above. Our hope is that these talks/writing will be an opportunity to relate the given topic to contemporary developments in the new academic field that has come to be called “Game Studies”.
Further Reading
Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research.
Ruiz, S., Stokes, B., & Watson, J. (June 22, 2012). Mobile and Locative Games in the “Civic Tripod:” Activism, Art and Learning. International Journal of Learning and Media, MIT Press, Volume 3, Issue 3. doi:10.1162/IJLM_a_00078 Retrieved from: http://civictripod.com/cite-versions
