Admission requirements
Game Studies Minor students get priority. If there are seats left, we will also welcome participants from outside the Minor.
Description
The course 'Beyond Games' provides a comprehensive examination of the intricate connections between games and broader media landscapes. The game is structured around a series of guest lectures, with experts drawn from various disciplines within the Humanities. Students will explore how games interact with and influence other forms of media and play, such as cinema, gamification, and digital industries. Through these multi-facated perspectives and contemporary trends, you will gain insight into how games shape and are shaped by various media, fostering a deeper understanding of their cultural and societal impact.
This course not only offers conceptual, cross-disciplinary exploration but also practical skill development. Students will cultivate the ability to analyze games in a broader context, enhancing their critical thinking capabilities. Moreover, they will engage in hands-on experience with multimedia production, in particular by creating video essays and podcasts based on the themes of the lectures. The latter is a team undertaking. By exploring course themes through creative projects, you will refine your analytical, communicative, and collaborative skills, preparing you to navigate the widly diverse landscape of and beyond games.
Course objectives
Examine Interconnectedness: Explore the intricate relationships between games and diverse media forms, investigating how they influence and interact with each other in cultural, artistic, commercial, and other social contexts.
Analyze Cross-Media Impact: Develop the ability to critically analyze and articulate the ways in which games intersect with literature, cinema, and other forms of media, discerning their mutual influences and broader cultural implications.
Contextualize games: Trace the evolution of games and their interaction with other media, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of interactive entertainment within a broader media landscape.
Apply Multimedia Production Skills: Acquire practical skills in multimedia content creation, including crafting persuasive video essays and engaging podcasts that effectively communicate critical insights about games and their connections to wider media.
Work collaboratively: Engage in team-based work, refining the collaborative and worflow skills essential for cohesively communicating and the technical workflow to create a game podcast segment.
Enhance Critical Thinking: Develop advanced critical thinking abilities, enabling the analysis of games in a multifaceted context, considering their impact on cultural narratives, social dynamics, and the broader play and media landscape.
Synthesize and Cultivate Insights: Synthesize knowledge gained from guest lectures, scholarly readings, and discussions to construct well-informed perspectives on the complex interactions between games and various media, contributing to informed dialogues within the field of game studies and beyond.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture & Practical
Assessment method
Assessment
Video Essay
Podcast
Weighing
Video Essay: 60%
Podcast: 40%
Resit
Resit for both video essays and podcasts are possible.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The reading list will be distributed through Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact Dr. W.L. Crist III.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
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