Games Studies
2009 PCA/ACA National Conference
The Game Studies area of the Popular Culture Association and the American Culture Association National Conference (formerly the Digital Games area) invites proposals for papers and panels on games and game studies for the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference to be held Wednesday, April 8, through Saturday, April 11, 2009, at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel, New Orleans, LA.
The organizers seek proposals covering all aspects of gaming, gaming culture and game studies. Proposals can address any game medium (computer, social, console, tabletop, etc) and all theoretical and methodological approaches are welcome.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
- representation or performance of race, class, gender and sexuality in games
- gaming culture, game specific cultures, and multicultural and cross-cultural issues
- game development, design, authorship and other industry issues
- game advertising, reviews, packaging, promotion, integrated marketing and other commercial concerns
- political and legal entailments such as regulation, censorship, intellectual property
- ludology, textual criticism, media ecology, narratology, etc as paradigms for games studies
- player generated content in MUDs and MMORPGs, Mods, maps and machinima
- game genres, platforms, consoles, console wars and connections to other media
- serious games for education, business, healthcare, (military) training, etc.
- space and place in games, play spaces, virtual/physical communities, mobile gaming and localization
- digital literacy, discourse practices, social norms and norming, the politics of play
- public discourse/controversy over violence, militarism, sex, criminality, racism, etc in games
So that there will be ample time for discussion, each individual paper presentation should be designed to last approximately fifteen minutes (there will be four presentations per session with time for Q&A).
For individual paper submissions, your 250-word (maximum) abstract must be received by November 30, 2008. At the top of your proposal, please include the title of the paper, your name (and the name of any co-presenters), affiliation, mailing address, and e-mail address. This information will be used in the program and to mail your conference materials. At the end of your abstract, please include a list of 3 to 5 keywords.
The Game Studies area of the Popular Culture Association and the American Culture Association National Conference also invites complete panel submissions, which may take the form of debates, dialogs, roundtable discussions, thematic panels, (or other format,) and be designed to last approximately eighty minutes. For complete panel submissions, please submit a 250-word panel abstract, as well as 100-word abstracts for each individual presentation. Be sure to include the
proposed title of the panel, the organizer’s name, affiliation, mailing address, and email, and include this information for all panelists. Panel submissions must be received by November 30, 2008.
Technology for use during presentations may be limited. More information about the conference can be found at http://www.pcaaca.org/
Please also note that presenters will be required to join either the Popular Culture Association or the American Culture Association prior to attending the conference, as well as pay a registration fee for the conference.
Please email all paper and panel proposals to digitalgames.pcaaca@gmail.com.
Questions and concerns can be addressed to one of the area chairs listed below.
Katie Whitlock,
Theatre Department,
California State University
Chico
klwhitlock@csuchico.edu
Gerald Voorhees,
Nido Qubien School of Communication,
High Point University
gvoorhee@highpoint.edu
Joshua Call
Department of English,
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
jcall2@bigred.unl.edu
Tony Avruch,
American Culture Studies Program,
Bowling Green State University
avruch.pca@gmail.com