Games, Play, and Selfhood: Immersive Media and Extended Realities

Catalog description

Interdisciplinary study of history, theory, criticism, practice of immersive and interactive media, with emphasis on virtual worlds, games, and extended reality. Cross-cultural interpretative frameworks, intersectional theories, comparative approaches across East/West and Global South. Critical examination of the metaverse and playable, interactive environments as analog, historic, and contemporary phenomena. Online selfhood, avatar identities, and digital cultures. Ludology versus narratology, hyperreality, agency, aesthetics. Theories of space, place, memory, gamification, participatory media. Applications in museums, cultural heritage, art, journalism, theater, and popular media. Hands-on testing and digital authoring. Blogs, critical research paper, final projects.