Critical Video Game Studies

This course serves as a gateway into the study of video games from an analytical humanities perspective. Because reception, design, and, ultimately, interpretation are intimately entwined in gaming culture today, students will also engage the popular and corporate discourses surrounding gaming, particularly as they address issues of social justice, gender, race, and sexuality. Over the course of the semester, students will fine-tune interpretive skills that have been developed in other humanities courses for the unique challenges presented by video games and other interactive texts.