Note that this calendar is likely to change, as I swap readings in and out in order to accommodate the trajectory of our class interests. Major topics and deadlines will not change.
Fun, Play, and Games
Monday, August 22 (Week 1)
- Introductions
- What is fun? What is play? What are toys? What are games?
Wednesday, August 24
- Selections from Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games
Friday, August 26
- Miguel Sicart, Play Matters, chapters 1 and 2 (“Play Is” and “Playfulness”)
Childhood Toys and Games
Monday, August 29 (Week 2)
- Miguel Sicart, Play Matters, chapter 3 (“Toys)
- Michael Chabon, “To the Legoland Station”
Wednesday, August 31
- Roland Barthes, “The World of Wrestling,” “Toys,” and “Plastic” from Mythologies
- *Project 1 Assigned*
Friday, September 2
- Miguel Sicart, Play Matters, chapter 6 (“Politics”)
- First blog post due: Find an example of a game or playful situation that somehow expresses politics, either explicitly or implicitly. Write 250-400 words on your blog analyzing the game or situation through the lens that Sicart provides.
Monday, September 5 (Week 3)
- Mary Flanagan, Critical Play, chapter 3 (“Board Games”)
Wednesday, September 7
- *Project 1 Draft Due*
- In-class peer review for group 1
Friday, September 9
- In-class peer review for group 2
Monday, September 12 (Week 4)
- In-class peer review for group 3
Wednesday, September 14
- In-class revision exercises
Friday, September 16
- *Project 1 Final Draft Due*
- In-class: Virtual exploration of old toys (toys at the Deutsches Museum, Google Patent Search, Historical photographs, vintage toy catalogs)
Playful Spaces
Monday, September 19 (Week 5)
- Miguel Sicart, Play Matters, chapter 4
Wednesday, September 21
- Joe Frost and Sue Wortham, “The Evolution of American Playgrounds”
- Amanda Erickson, “The Politics of Playgrounds, A History”
- *Project 2 Assigned*
Friday, September 23
- Second blog post due: Miguel Sicart argues that play spaces “signal paths, activities, challenges, and possibilities” in ways “the space suggests but does not determine” (52). In fact, all spaces encourage certain kinds of behaviors while discouraging others. Sometimes these designs are deliberate, while other times they’re unintentional. For this post, camp out for 30 minutes in some public space on campus or nearby. Take notes about the design and layout of the space, and observe how people use the space, appropriate the space, and interact with others. You yourself should do nothing but observe and take notes. Spend your time studying the space and its impact on the people in it. Then, in a 400-word blog post (or thereabouts) consider some of these questions: how does the design of the space influence the way people interact (talk, see, and touch) with each other? Does it foster certain kinds of interaction and make other kinds more difficult? Does the layout give certain people power over other people? Or, consider your own questions and line of inquiry about the space!
Monday, September 26 (Week 6)
- Janet Dyment and Timothy O’Connell, “The impact of playground design on play choices and behaviors of pre-school children”
- Sarah Wakes and Amanda Beukes, “Height, fun and safety in the design of children’s playground equipment”
Wednesday, September 28
- Browse the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s guidelines for safe playgrounds
- Find some intriguing patents for playground devices
- Find some intriguing historical documents about playgrounds from the Internet Archive or the Digital Public Library of America
Friday, September 30
- Field Trip to Roosevelt Wilson Park
- Read about Roosevelt Wilson Park from the town site
- David Johnston, “Griffith Street: Major Town and College Projects“
Monday, October 3 (Week 7)
- Bring three copies of the first three paragraphs of your Project 2 essay to class
Wednesday, October 5
- In-class peer review of Project 2 with AC, AL, RG, SD, RM, TN, WP
- Bring three copies of your paper to share (and a separate copy to read)
- *Project 2 Draft Due*
Friday, October 7
- In-class peer review of Project 2 with GL, PH, LW, MW, LC, SL
- Bring two copies of your paper to share (and a separate copy to read)
Monday, October 10 (Week 8)
- No Class
Wednesday, October 12
Friday, October 14
- *Project 2 Final Version Due*
- Third Blog Post due: Write about a time that you got lost in a videogame, the same way we get lost inside a good novel or movie. What was the game? What about the game absorbed you so much? What was the feeling like when you “emerged” from the game? (Aim for 250-400 words)
How to Talk about Videogames
Monday, October 17 (Week 9)
- Ian Bogost, How to Talk about Videogames, Introduction and chapters 1-2
Wednesday, October 19
- How to Talk about Videogames, chapters 3-5
Friday, October 21
- Fourth Blog Post due: How other people talk about videogames? Basically: find a scholarly article about videogames that interests you, read it, and then blog about it before class. Focus on the central claim or argument of the article, what’s at stake and why it’s important, and finally, what questions in your own mind the article prompts. For sources of articles, consider browsing through Game Studies, eludamos, Loading…, DiGra Proceedings, Games and Culture, Well Played 1.0 (or 2.0 or 3.0). Be sure to include a link to the article in your post and to cite in properly.
Monday, October 24 (Week 10)
Wednesday, October 26
- How to Talk about Videogames, chapters 10 and 11
- Project 3 Announced
Friday, October 28
- Class canceled due to Fall Convocation
- But your fifth blog post is due! For this post revisit one chapter from How to Talk about Videogames and analyze it in terms outlined in the Project 3 description. What is the something Bogost is trying to get to the bottom of? How does he defamiliarize the games he’s talking about? What outside media does he introduce in order to deepen his argument?
Monday, October 31 (Week 11)
- How to Talk about Videogames group presentations
Wednesday, November 2
- How to Talk about Videogames group presentations
Friday, November 4
- Out of class exercise
Monday, November 7 (Week 12)
- Draft of Project 3 due
Wednesday, November 9
- Election Debrief
Friday, November 11
- In-class peer-review
Gone Home
Monday, November 14 (Week 13)
- Miguel Sicart, Play Matters, chapter 7 (“Architects”)
Wednesday, November 16
- Henry Jenkins, “Game Design as Narrative Architecture“
- Continue playing Gone Home
Friday, November 18
- Jamie Madigan, Why Gone Home Is So Immersive
- “The Transgression – You Can Do Better“
- Project 4 distributed
Monday, November 21 (Week 14)
- Bring one Gone Home-related article, blog post, or story to class
- Project 3 due by midnight
Wednesday, November 23
- No Class (Thanksgiving Break)
Friday, November 25
- No Class (Thanksgiving Break)
Monday, November 28 (Week 15)
- Writing workshop on Gone Home
Wednesday, November 30
- Group A in class for Gone Home workshop: MW, LC, GL, RG, TN, PH, AL
- Bring in 3 paragraphs of Gone Home paper. Each paragraph should be an analysis of a piece of evidence from the game that an unaware player might otherwise overlook. Present the evidence, contextualize it, explain its significance, and situate it against the other evidence—all in a single paragraph for each piece of evidence.
Friday, December 2
- Group B in class for Gone Home workshop: LW, AC, SL, RM, SP, WP
- Bring in 3 paragraphs of Gone Home paper. Each paragraph should be an analysis of a piece of evidence from the game that an unaware player might otherwise overlook. Present the evidence, contextualize it, explain its significance, and situate it against the other evidence—all in a single paragraph for each piece of evidence.
Monday, December 5 (Week 16)
- Draft of Project 4 due
- One-on-one meetings with Dr. Sample through Wednesday, December 7