What’s it all about?
Play has always been an important part of the human experience. In the modern world, we have manufactured many ways to indulge our love of play and the learning it brings. One of these ways is through digital games. This class will provide a history of our relationship with digital games and provide some context as to why we like them so much as a species.
What will we cover?
The class will cover an introduction to the concept and benefits of play and a brief history of games. This will be followed by a detailed overview of the development of digital games as both an industry and a site of individual and cultural growth.
Who will be teaching?
Laura M Crawford is a lecturer in Games and Interactivity at Swinburne University of Technology. She is also a consultant and PhD candidate in the area of attraction to screen violence. She publishes in this area, and speaks frequently at conferences nationally and internationally on this topic. She is heavily involved in Melbourne’s games community, speaking at and facilitating events and discussions pertaining to violence in games, independent game design and social issues within the industry. Her favourite game remains Impossible Mission II. Eight year old would have Laura approved of this, though she also wore leg warmers so there’s no accounting for taste.