Call: “Video Games as Ecomedia: Nature, Technology, and Play” (Chapter proposals)

Call for Chapter Proposals

Video Games as Ecomedia: Nature, Technology, and Play
Editor: Melissa Bianchi, Nova Southeastern University

Deadline for abstracts: October 1, 2023

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Video games have been increasingly recognized as valuable tools for environmental storytelling and ecological simulation. In response, scholars have examined the ways specific video games depict nature, the environmental implications of game design and development, and the use of games for education and activism. Notably, Alenda Chang (2019) makes a compelling case for the study of games as ecomedia because these cultural artifacts continue to extend and challenge long traditions of environmental representations. To further investigate the rich intersection between game studies and ecocriticism then, this project seeks contributions that attend to how video games inspire players to take action and create new ways of thinking about our relation to the natural world. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

  • Video game representations of nature, the environment, and various ecologies
  • Ecological and environmental problems addressed in unexpected ways through games
  • The use of gameplay, mechanics, and/or design elements to engage ecocritical themes
  • Eco-fiction (eco-horror, cli-fi, etc.) in video games
  • Critical perspectives on the human, non-human, and/or posthuman in video games
  • The relationship between video games and the Anthropocene
  • The potential of video games to promote environmental awareness and action

The collection, tentatively titled “Video Games as Ecomedia,” is under consideration for contract with a publisher.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Interested authors are invited to submit abstracts of no more than 500 words with an author biography of 100 words to the editor at mb2007@nova.edu by October 1, 2023. Full manuscripts at 8000 words maximum, including references, will be required by April 1, 2024.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Deadline for abstracts: October 1, 2023
Notification of acceptance: November 1, 2023
Submission of full manuscript: April 1, 2024

REFERENCES:

Chang, Alenda Y. 2019. Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

MORE INFORMATION:

Melissa Bianchi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts
Halmos College of Arts and Sciences
Nova Southeastern University
mb2007@nova.edu |  nova.edu


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