Page 63 - SYU Prospectus

General Education

games—from the notions of games and play, to the economic aspects of the industry and the
effects of digital gaming on mind and body. We will then consider gaming as simulation—
popular genres (RPG, RTS, FPS, etc.) and their appeal will thus be clarified. The final block is
devoted to interactivity—How do digital avatars relate to 'real life' law, culture, and politics? Is
online participation in, viewing, or even re/programming of games useful beyond play?
Questions like these will significantly expand the notion of interactivity and offer entry to general
issues in media studies as well as opportunities to reflect on our relationship with increasingly
sophisticated technology.
Structured in this way, we will review major advances in video game history, investigate
game content as well as spaces, reflect on gaming experience and critically relate them to each
other so as to see this new medium as a network of intertextual flows, cross-cultural community
and part of globalised exchange.

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