Research Blogging for the Rhetoric of Gaming
This quarter, I'm teaching a first year course called the Rhetoric of Gaming. Below you can see my students hard at work in the classroom.
While it may look like they are just playing, in fact these students were performing a group rhetorical analysis of gameplay and game design focused in on educational gaming. We have also been looking at persuasive gaming, advergaming, video game marketing, and virtual worlds/play. In fact, we are also gearing up for a possible Second Life encounter with students from Egypt, where we can mix our interest in intercultural communication with questions of identity, avatar construction, and virtual communities.
Currently, my students are embarking on their own full-length research projects. As one of the first stages in their projects, they were asked to post a blog entry on the CCR blog in which they identify their topic and then describe and analyze one source that they feel will be important for their research.
Their blog posts are listed below -- they would welcome your feedback on their ideas!
- Virtual worlds/gaming and their relation to the 9/11 attacks
- women and violence in video games (Grand Theft Auto)
- Cheating and Hacking in Video Games
- Avatars in MMOs
- Starcraft & the Korean Economy
- Movies based on video games
- Homosexuality in video games
- Evolution of hardware and software for video gaming
- Gaming emulators
- Machinima
- Sexism in World of Warcraft
- Educational video games
- Racism in video games
- Casual and professional gamers
- Profitability in the Gaming Industry
As you can see, they are approaching the issue of gaming from multiple perspectives -- from the technological, to the economic, and the cultural. We're very excited to post on the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric blog to get an international point of view on these issues.
Comments
You and your class rock! This is a great example of an instructor giving a rigorous assignment with tons of leeway for students to think with creative, critical, and reflective lenses. This is also the kind of assignment that could so easily be modified for all different kinds of learners at all ages. You've inspired me!
Posted by: Dan Gilbert | April 30, 2009 06:46 PM
The main difference between games and movies is its interactivity. Animated movies, after all, are simply meant to be experienced in movie theaters, while video games require the involvement of the player to make characters and sequences in the television screen move. However, this is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Posted by: manette xbox 360 | October 5, 2009 08:21 PM
The main difference between games and movies is its interactivity. Animated movies, after all, are simply meant to be experienced in movie theaters, while video games require the involvement of the player to make characters and sequences in the television screen move. However, this is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Posted by: manette xbox 360 | October 5, 2009 08:21 PM