University of Wyoming Studies Video Games 81
krou writes "The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting story about how the University of Wyoming's English Department is helping fund a collective called the Learning Games Initiative to study video games. Jason Thompson, an assistant professor at UW who is part of the group, explains that 'it's a group of people [who] do research on games, do development on games, and keep an archive of games printed matter such as manuals, ... systems, all of it. We really look at games as cultural artifacts; things that reveal theology, things that reveal power. Things that should be studied in the academy.' The English Department has been very open-minded with the project, because they understand that gaming can educate people, and that 'we can expand our notion of what text and study is; the idea that it might be fun doesn't necessarily preclude its study.' Thompson believes that it's important for academia to study gaming, because games could be used in the future as a type of textbook: 'if games can teach, then as teachers shouldn't we understand what kind of teaching's going on?'"
A great excuse... (Score:2, Funny)
... for those who want to play games and love analyzing the shit out of games.
An academic discipline full of fanboys, I can't wait!
Re:Wonderfully insightful (Score:4, Funny)
I have found, overall, that the majority of resistance to change comes from older people. The younger you are, the easier it is to adapt your thinking because you haven't been conditioned to "how things should be" yet. A perfect example is this onion I wear on my belt.
Now, get off my patch of yellowed, mostly dead vegetation, you damned kids...and take your stoner dog with you.