🎮 VISM 2003 - Introduction to Game Studies (Fall 2024)
In-person undergraduate lecture, OCAD University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 2024
A second-year undergraduate in-person lecture (~90 students) focused on introducing the field of game studies to students. Assessment methods included weekly discussion boards, a project proposal, a prerecorded research presentation, a research project (zine, game prototype, podcast, or video/written essay), and a take-home exam.
Course Summary: Games studies views games as complex objects, mapping the game ‘object’, the player ‘subject’ and the critical dialogue that delimits game space. This course explores games as cultural artifacts, arising from diverse cultural histories, landscapes and geographies, impacting and impacted by sub-cultures. Students will learn to analyse the mechanics, aesthetics and practices of games via varied analytical approaches addressing their textual, performative, socio-cultural, design and political contexts. As well, the course introduces students to tools and techniques to analyze the cultural impact of the videogame.
Click here to download a PDF copy of the course’s syllabus.