[Mediaculturehipsters] Fwd: UPDATE: Video Games and the Alien / Other (3/1/06; 4/7/06-4/8/06)

[jennifer buscher]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: zach whalen <zwhalen at english.ufl.edu>
> Date: February 1, 2006 10:59:09 PM PST
> To: cfp at english.upenn.edu
> Subject: UPDATE: Video Games and the Alien / Other (3/1/06;  
> 4/7/06-4/8/06)
>
>
> [UPDATED: extended deadline, additional submissions track, new  
> website]
>
> *CFP : Videogames and the Alien / Other*
> Second Annual University of Florida Game Studies Conference
> Gainesville, FL
> April 7-8, 2006
>
> http://www.alien.gameology.org
>
> The University of Florida's Game Studies Group and the College of
> Liberal Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the 2006 UF Game
> StudiesConference: "Video Games and the Alien/Other," which will be  
> held
> in Gainesville,Florida, on April 7-8 2006.
>
> *Guest Speaker*
> Lee Sheldon, author of Character Development and Storytelling for  
> Games
> whose writing credits include Agatha Christie: And then there were  
> none
> [The Adventure Company], Uru: Ages beyond Myst [Cyan], The Riddle of
> Master Lu, and Dark Side of the Moon.
>
> This conference explores the figure of the Alien and the Other and the
> various functions it serves within video games. Since the original  
> Space
> Invaders, video games have incorporated representations of  
> difference in
> a variety of ways--specifically, the figure of the Alien features
> prominently as an enemy or source of conflict. This interdisciplinary
> conference invites both critical and practical works that engage the
> implications of this theme of alterity in video games and related
> electronic media.
>
> We invite presentations that explore the theme of difference in video
> games either through theoretical examinations of particular works  
> or new
> media creations which represent the Alien artistically,  
> programmatically
> and/or digitally.
>
> Accordingly, we offer two tracks for submissions:
>
> Theory: Academic papers critically analyzing a specific function of
> video games or new media in the context of the Alien.
>
> Praxis: Performances, installations, or demonstrations which  
> communicate
> an idea related to the topic through the creation of digital media
> artifacts. These presentations should also be accompanied by a short
> oral explication of the central ideas and intellectual context.
> Submissions should include a sample of the work (e.g. a screenshot) if
> possible.
>
> Presenters should focus their submissions on one of several key  
> themes:
>
>     * Player-Characters and the function of the outsider
>     * Gaming cultures and subcultures
>     * Portraying gender, race, religion and the avatar
>     * Monstrosity, bodies and avatars
>     * Otherness and online societies (e.g. MMORPG's)
>     * Xenophobia and alterity in representations of "enemies."
>     * Designing the Alien/Other through AI and NPCs
>     * Video game villains and anti-heroes
>
> Possible topics include but are not limited to:
>
>     * The Other and the industry -- the role of independent game  
> developers.
>     * Localization and the alleged erasure of cultural difference
> through video games.
>     * Marketing and approaching new demographics.
>     * Becoming the Other in online role-playing communities.
>     * Colonialism and Orientalism within historical simulations.
>     * The representation (or lack) of religious pluralism in video  
> games.
>     * Representations of race, gender, and/or sexual preference in  
> games.
>     * The Evolution of the Alien/Other in games.
>     * Becoming Other -- choosing a moral path in KOTOR or Black and  
> White.
>     * Subversive game play.
>     * Psychoanalysis, video games and the other/Other.
>     * Becoming Alien/Other in online games.
>     * Alien/Other and the differences inherent in console or interface
> configurations.
>     * Close studies of specific Alien/Others and tropes of Alien/ 
> Otherness.
>
> Abstract submissions should be approximately 250-500 words in length.
> Presentations will be 15 minutes with 5 minutes of question and  
> answer.
> The deadline for abstract submissions is Wednesday, March 1, 2006. We
> accept abstracts in electronic form (preferred) or print.
>
> If possible, please submit proposals through our online system:
> http://www.alien.gameology.org/submission.php.
>
> Alternatively, send hard copies to:
> Zach Whalen
> Department of English
> Univ. of Florida
> 4008 Turlington Hall
> P.O. Box 117310
> Gainesville, FL 32611-7310
>
> OR
> zwhalen at english.ufl.edu
>
>          ==========================================================
>               From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
>                         CFP at english.upenn.edu
>                          Full Information at
>                      http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
>          or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj at english.upenn.edu
>          ==========================================================

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