Digital Studies Center

Join us in ModLab (Fine Arts 215) on March 11 at 12:15 when Professor Jillian Sayre leads us in a Well Played session of Call of Duty: Black Ops.

In a recent installment of his “Clueless Gamer” segment, Conan O’Brien played Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. During that segment, O’Brien expresses puzzlement at a moment in the game when his player character is at a funeral and he is prompted to press a button to “pay respects.” During this Well Played session, we’ll return to Black Ops (2010), a game in which the player is prompted not to “pay respects” but rather to torture an interrogation subject.

We will play through this section of the game and discuss how and why games require interaction in moments that are not actually changeable through the player’s action. How can we think about this forced participation in the torture scene as an overlap of procedure and narrative in the game?

SmartenFit: Extending the Academic Argument into Software

Dr. Charlotte Markey, author of Smart People Don’t Diet, will visit the Digital Studies Center on March 12th, from 12:15-1:30. Markey will discuss the development of SmartenFit, the app that accompanies her book. She will be joined by Lorie Sousa (via Skype) who helped develop the app. Learn about the process of making an application and what it means to extend an academic argument into a piece of software.

The Digital Studies Center welcomes you to come and play with Twine. Join us in ModLab (Fine Arts 215) on February 18 as Michael Russo, graduate student in the English Department, leads a hands-on Twine workshop.

Twine is an open-source tool that can be used for creating and teaching interactive, nonlinear stories. Our workshop is geared towards beginners and experts alike. You don’t need to know how to write code to start creating and sharing electronic fiction. Still you can extend your stories with variables, conditional logic, images, CSS, and JavaScript when you’re ready.

Whether you’re interested in creating a story of your own or you’re simply curious about the process of creating an electronic nonlinear narrative, the DSC encourages your attendance. We will have the software running on our own machines and will also teach you how to install it on your own computer (if you want to keep tinkering afterwards).

Keep an eye on the DSC Calendar for announcements about future events.

Each semester, the Digital Studies Center hosts a series of Well Played events during which students, faculty, and staff discuss and play videogames. These events are based on the ETC Press Journal, Well Played, and they encourage close readings of game mechanics and narratives. Well Played sessions are free form, collaborative, and interactive. All are welcome to attend, regardless of expertise or familiarity with videogames. All attendees are invited to join in by both playing and discussing games.

Join us in ModLab (Fine Arts 215) on February 11 at 12:15 for a Well Played session about Propentine’s, With Those We Love Alive, which pulls the player’s body into the game space. The game is free, and you are welcome to bring your own computer to play it, but the DSC will also have it running on its own machines. You may also want to bring headphones, and you will need, as the game’s opening screen tells us, “a pen or sharpie nearby, something that can write on skin.”

Follow the DSC Calendar for announcements about future events.