syllabus

Syllabus: Fundamentals of Game Design

“GAM 226 provides students with a practical foundation in game design with a focus on concept development, design decomposition, and prototyping. Using game design theory, analysis, physical prototyping, playtesting, and iteration students learn how to translate game ideas,
themes, and metaphors into gameplay and player experiences. Students will further be exposed to the basics of effective game idea communication.” – Syllabus [PDF]

Syllabi: Teaching with & about Games

“Courses cover game development and design, but also treat games as a topic in fields such as computer science, history, media studies, and rhetoric. In other words, video games are not just an economic force (they make lots of money and so we should teach students to make them) nor are they only a psychological force (games teach people violence and so we need to study policy to limit them); they are also a cultural and creative force, and courses are cropping up that attend to games in this particular framework…This special issue of the Syllabus Journal, then, offers a multi-disciplinary approach to video game studies.” – Issue Overview

Syllabus: Video Game Law

“Video games create virtual worlds that players physically interact with. In so doing video games upset the traditional media apple cart. The gamer becomes the controller of a responsive virtual world, rather than simply a passive “receiver” of images and sound…The creation, dissemination and enjoyment of interactive entertainment is governed by a multi-dimensional grid of international and domestic laws relating to intellectual property, communications, contracts, torts, privacy, obscenity, antitrust and freedom of expression…” – Syllabus

Queer Game Studies 101

“To help promote a conscientious community of scholarship around Queer Game Studies, we offer this “101” — a handy introduction to the field as it stands in mid-2016. Whether you are embarking on Queer Game Studies research yourself, putting together a syllabus, or looking for a presenter or contributor to speak about queerness and games, we hope you’ll look into this outstanding work.” – Queer Game Studies 101

Syllabus: Games for Health

“CS798 Games for Health is a graduate reading seminar and game design course that will review the current major applications of games in healthcare. Readings will cover the major fields in healthcare where games are being used. Case studies will survey a representative set of current health-related games, from best-practices to examples indicating just how far this application area has yet to develop. ” – Syllabus

Syllabus: Gender & Sexuality in Video Games

“Feminism and queer representation have taken center stage in recent debates about the future of video games. However, gender, sexuality, and identity have long been important to how we experience games and to games themselves. In this course, students will learn about issues of gender and sexuality in video games, game communities, the games industry, and their own media-making practices…” – Syllabus

Syllabus: Games & Culture

“This course examines the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of digital games. Topics include the socio-technical aspects of digital gaming, embodiment and space, communities, spectatorship and performance, gender, race, sexuality, e-sports and sports games, and the politics and economics of production processes, including co-creation and intellectual property.” – Syllabus [PDF]