Fall 2014 registration begins Monday, March 31st. There are many exciting developments planned for Fall 2014; one of them is the arrival of the new Digital Studies Center director, Dr. James Brown, Jr., who joins us from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In Fall 2014, Dr. Brown will teach 50:350:225:01 Videogames and Literature, which will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
This class will examine the relationship between literature and videogames by looking at a range of artifacts: novels about videogames, works of interactive fiction, electronic literature, and modern digital games that take on certain literary qualities. The goal of the class is not necessarily to equate videogames with novels or poems but to instead consider how videogames intersect with and complicate the category of “literature.” Students will read novels, play games, and make games. No technical expertise is required, and students will learn how to make games with the Twine platform. Possible texts for this class include Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss, You by Austin Grossman. Possible games include: Thomas Was Alone, Braid, Portal, and Dear Esther.
This course will satisfy the literature general education requirement.