gamestate » CCTP http://www.gamestate.org all games are serious games (but some games are more serious than others) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:47:05 +0000 en hourly 1 CCTP-628: Interactivity, Immersion, and Play http://www.gamestate.org/2009/03/cctp-628-interactivity-immersion-and-play/ http://www.gamestate.org/2009/03/cctp-628-interactivity-immersion-and-play/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:08:54 +0000 Garrison http://www.gamestate.org/?p=577 Here’s a course description for the new graduate course I’ll offer next fall at Georgetown. Frankly, the course is a work–in–progress, and so the semester is still a bit blurry. Still, I’m excited about the early drafts of a syllabus, which will draw on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, robotic vacuums, gospel choirs, Aristotle, horror films, Star Trek fans, and Grand Theft Auto IV (among others).

Fall 2009 Garrison LeMasters
CCTP-628 Interactivity Immersion + Play

Is interactivity a property of the medium, or a perception of the user? How do the affordances of immersive technologies resituate our experience of the world? Is play an inherently innovative or derivative activity?

Interactivity, Immersion, and Play are three of the most widely-cited, but poorly understood, affordances of “new media.” With an emphasis on video games, simulative technologies, and “2.0” narrativity, this synthetic course will consider these three interrelated concepts from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including the historical, philosophical, rhetorical, technical, and aesthetic. We will weigh theory against praxis, supplementing scholarly and philosophical texts with weekly case studies of interactive technologies, immersive environments, and playful design.

During the semester, students will write and publish a work of interactive fiction (IF) using Inform, a natural-language design system.

The course will culminate in the public presentation of experimental interactive installations designed and built by the students.

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