Workshop on Cultures in Game/worlds
Call for Participation
at the Cultural Studies Association Conference in Chicago, Illinois
24th-26th March
Location: Building S, Room 1306
Hour: March 26th, 9 am and later if scheduling allows
RSVP March 5, 2011
We call the virtual environments that constitute the topic of this workshop “game/worlds.” Game/worlds are 3d virtual environments developed for play and other entertainment, social interaction, cultural exploration, and virtual design/exchange. These worlds have captured the attention of researchers from around the world from a variety of disciplines. This workshop aims to improve the understanding of game/worlds as environments for cultural studies and cultural analyses. It will bring researchers together to collaborate and discuss diverse topics related to the unique problems of researching in game/worlds. We will pursue a schedule integrating workshop participants where they will discuss their work and interests related to four different topics: research methods for game/worlds, histories of game/worlds, cultures of game/worlds, and ethics of research in game/worlds. Some questions for consideration include: How can we better enable cultural studies in this sphere? How can we better enable research? How do we engage these arenas as ethical researchers?
We will encourage researchers to submit papers in progress or related research, and short biographies to jeremy@tmttlt.com, which will be selected and distributed amongst participants before the workshop. First invitations will be offered to those who provide full papers for consideration.
These papers have two purposes: first, to provide a common platform for understanding our research; second, submitted papers may be considered for publication in an edited volume being produced in relation to the workshop or possibly in a peer reviewed publication derived from the workshop (these are currently under discussion).
Subsequent invitation will be made based upon research and biography. If you are interested in participating, please send an email containing your information to jeremy@tmttlt.com
This workshop is organized by Jeremy Hunsinger, Center for Digital Discourse and Culture – Virginia Tech and Adrienne Massanari, School of Communication – Loyola University Chicago, with the help of Mark Chen, Institute for Science and Math Education – University of Washington (not attending).