With the impending climate crisis and its short-term repercussions becoming more ‘tangible’ every year, popular media and especially games are increasingly moving into the center of attention. Whether these so-called ‘ecogames’ can provide new spaces to experiment with alternative forms of sustainable practices and communal organization, or simply reproduce ecomodernist fantasies, both digital and analogue games as well as the player cultures emerging around them are tuned in to many of the pressing environmental concerns we face today.
The summer course builds on and contributes to a growing body of scholarship that explores this phenomenon, and aims to situate it within the broader field of environmental humanities as well as, more specifically, green media studies, to complement existing research traditions that focus e.g. on environmental cinema, documentaries, or television. For that purpose, it brings together a diverse group of European ecogame researchers from universities in Warsaw (Poland), Manchester (UK), Cologne and Bochum (Germany), Aalborg/Copenhagen (Denmark), Maribor (Slovenia), Olomouc (Czech Republic) and Utrecht (Netherlands).
We explore key concepts and methodologies derived from previous ecogames research, combining the expertise of lecturers working at Utrecht University – both at the Center for Games and Play and the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development – with guest lecturers – both on site and virtually via MS Teams – from our partner institutions in other European countries and beyond. Participants will analyze representations of ecological and/or environmental transformations in games, employ creative metagaming practices to enrich climate communication/education, and critically engage with the multifaceted role (and carbon footprint) of the digital and analogue games industries in the process.
In collaboration with the focus area Game Research and the strategic theme Pathways to Sustainability at Utrecht University, we are planning to make small scholarships available and/or offer tuition fee waivers to financially support applicants with e.g. higher-than-normal travel costs or other disadvantageous circumstances. For a first overview of the contents of the summer school, please refer to the tentative schedule below; while the program itself is more or less fixed, details like workshop titles or timeslots may still be subject to change. The first draft of the day-to-day program, including abstracts and literature references, is planned to be published in May 2022.
Target audience
The core audience of this course are students on Master/Research Master level, primarily in the fields of media and culture studies as well as sustainability studies (other disciplinary perspectives are of course very welcome); the course is also highly suitable for PhD candidates with a dissertation projects related to sustainability and/or media as ecogames research constitutes an important emerging research area, and the program demonstrates various conceptual as well as methodological frameworks to approach it.
Moreover, the course addresses practitioners in various societal sectors (education, policy, NGOs, PR etc.) working on issues related to sustainability and resilient communities, who are interested in learning about how games and gaming can support their professional practices and goals.
Study load
On each of the five days we will organise 2-3 interconnected core workshops that relate to the theme of the day, subdivided into plenary and working group sessions. This will be accompanied by supplementary formats such as practice-oriented tutorials and optional social activities. For most workshops, you are expected to read one preparatory texts; some also involve the use of digital tools, yet do not require any previous knowledge or technical background.
Course fee: €300
Application
For this course you are required to upload the following documents when applying:
- Motivation Letter
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.