Video Games and Cultural Analysis
Version 3.0
Spring 2013
Tuesday/Thursday 1:30pm - 2:45pm
Note: Email is checked during the office hours given above. Any
email sent outside these times is not guaranteed to be answered as quickly. If
you need any help in the class, please make sure that they are addressed in
class or during office hours.
Course Overall Goal
(“ Game
Criticism, Why We Need It, and Why Reviews Aren't It”) is an essay. It is an
essay in the form of a criticism; the critique is that of the failure of our
writers about games to take a critical and analytical view
of the works they write about, and of their failure to make a clear distinction between "review"
and "criticism," which are, in fact, very different beasts. It is, if
you will, a critique of game criticism.
- Greg
Costikyan ,
Game Designer and Critic
This class is designed to answer a gap in the field of game
critique and design: game criticism from the point of view of the gamer rather
than designer. I have selected readings and games that will give you the tools
to more critically analyze video games by introducing you to several critical
works across disciplines and teaching you how to use these works in your
analysis.
Course Objectives
Goal/What
you will learn
|
Activity/How you will learn
|
To introduce you to a range of literary and
philosophical methodologies for analysis of video games
|
Have
you read a wide variety of short works
and excerpts alongside playing
short video games that reflect themes in those works
|
To encourage the use of cultural and philosophical
writings as tools for game development and analysis
|
use
the readings to analyze games and begin thinking about ways to improve
current trends in the industry
|
To enable you to enhance your critical thinking and
textual analysis skills
|
Smaller
reader response papers for each reading/gaming pairing
|
To facilitate the improvement of your writing
skills, particularly in the area of the argumentative essay
|
A
professional academic conference paper with an argument or proposal for
game incorporating themes from the readings
|
To enhance your appreciation of aesthetic strategies
and techniques in the form of the video game
|
class
presentation on major canonical video game works and/or communities
|
Major Texts Overview
Note: See Schedule on the class blog for complete list and
due dates.
Readings
Jean-Paul Sartre: Excerpts from Nausea
and a Selection from Existentialism and Human Emotions
Michel Foucault: “Panopticism” from the book Discipline and Punish
Roland Barthes: “Death of the Author”
James Paul Gee: “Video Games and Embodiment”
Susan Bordo: Excerpts from Beauty
Rediscovers the Male Body
Kenji Yoshino: Excerpts from Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil
Rights
Henry Jenkins: Excerpts from Convergence
Culture and “Mr. Jenkins Goes to Washington”
Takashi Murakami: Excerpts from Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture
Azuma Hiroki: “The Animalization of Otaku Culture”
Francis Fukiyama: Excerpts from Our Post Human Future
Videos
Several Episodes of Extra Credits
“Double
Fine Adventure: Ron Gilbert's Words of Wisdom to Tim Schafer”
Tough Guise
Takashi Murikami’s “Superflat Monogram”
Jesse Schell’s ‘Design Outside the Box’
Games
The Stanley Parable
Tim
Schafer’s Host Master and the Conquest of Humor
Various Works by La MollenIndustria
A Closed World
Edmund McMillen’s Time Fcuk and the demo of The Binding
of Isaac
Slender
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley
SaGa
Various Newgrounds.com Games
**A longer game of your choice**
Additional Works
More games/readings may be added according to class discussion and
current events.
Grading Overview
Note: See Grading on the class
blog for due dates and rubrics.
Grades
at a Glance
Classwork: 40%
Throughout the semester you will complete shorter assignments both
in class and online. Classwork is divided into two main categories:
Class
Participation and Attendance (10% of Total Grade)
You are
responsible for keeping up with the games and readings and contributing to
class discussion. Points are earned for meaningful participation in class;
points are deducted for disruptive behavior.
-Included in
this grade are quizzes that serve to make sure that you are reading/playing on
schedule and to take attendance
Attendance: You are expected to come to class on a
regular basis. After two days or one week’s worth of unexplained absences your
grade may be penalized.
Initial Response
(30% of Total Grade)
For each
reading assignment you will turn in a one page response to the games, texts,
and/or videos. This amounts to about one per week until the Mock Conference
starts (see below).
You will turn
one copy in digitally and bring one physical copy to class for use in
classwork.
Note: Your
response doubles as your attendance for Tuesday. Failure to turn in this
response tells me that you did not do the readings and therefore counts as an
absence for the day.
Final Project: 60%
By the end of the semester you will create a conference-level
paper that can be submitted to academic conferences. This final project will be
submitted in three parts:
Abstract
(10% of Total Grade)
Before you
are allowed to present at an academic conference you submit a summary abstract
to a Call For Papers (CFP). You will receive a mock CFP midway through the
semester and write an abstract to that CFP including a bibliography of 5-10
works you will use in the final conference paper.
You will not be able to give a
presentation without completing the abstract.
Mock
Conference Presentation (10% of Total Grade)
The last few
weeks of class will be dedicated to a mock conference in which students will present
a 10 minute rough draft of their final conference paper. Each day after the 3
or 4 students give their presentations, students in the audience will be given
the chance to ask questions that the presenters must answer intelligently.
Mock
Conference Participation (10% of Total Grade)
When a
student is not presenting, you will be taking notes and asking intelligent
questions at the end of the presentation. Each day, you will turn in a printed
worksheet with your day’s notes for participation credit.
Final
Paper (30% of Total Grade)
The final
paper will be a 20 minute (8-10 page) conference-level paper analyzing a game
or games and/or community of your choice and incorporating at least one class
reading and 5-10 outside sources.
Class Rules
Late Work
Absolutely
no late work will be accepted unless under extreme and well-documented
circumstances.
Class Discussion
Students
are to remain respectful during class discussions at all times. Insults, hate
speech, and other such inappropriate comments as defined in the Student
Handbook will not be tolerated and, if persisted in after admonition by the
teacher, will be grounds for removal from the class. This includes, but is not
limited to: slurs, risqué jokes, and slang.
Copyright
This
course may contain copyright protected materials such as audio or video clips,
images, text materials, etc. These items are being used with regard to the Fair
Use doctrine in order to enhance the learning environment. Please do not copy,
duplicate, download or distribute these items. The use of these materials is
strictly reserved for this online classroom environment and your use only. All
copyright materials are credited to the copyright holder.
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism
and cheating of any kind on an examination, quiz, or assignment will result at
least in an "F" for that assignment (and may, depending on the
severity of the case, lead to an "F" for the entire course) and may
be subject to appropriate referral to the Office of Student
Conduct for further action. See the UCF Golden Rule for
further information. I will assume for this course that you will adhere to the
academic creed of this University and will maintain the highest standards of
academic integrity. In other words, don't cheat by giving answers to others or
taking them from anyone else. I will also adhere to the highest standards of
academic integrity, so please do not ask me to change (or expect me to change)
your grade illegitimately or to bend or break rules for one person that will
not apply to everyone.
Disability Statement
UCF
is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with
disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request.
Students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course must contact
the professor at the beginning of the semester to discuss needed
accommodations. No accommodations will be provided until the student has met
with the professor to request accommodations. Students who need accommodations
must be registered with Student Disability Services, Student Resource Center
Room 132, phone (407) 823-2371.
Third-Party Software and FERPA
During
this course you might have the opportunity to use public online services and/or
software applications sometimes called third-party software such as a blog or
wiki. While some of these could be required assignments, you need not make
any personally identifying information on a public site. Do not post or provide
any private information about yourself or your classmates. Where appropriate
you may use a pseudonym or nickname. Some written assignments posted publicly
may require personal reflection/comments, but the assignments will not require
you to disclose any personally identity-sensitive information. If you have any
concerns about this, please contact your instructor.
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