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SYLLABUS SUBJECT to CHANGE This Version 8/24/14 * SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE this version 8/24/14 Tim Welsh 328 Bobet Hall [email protected] Office Hours: Friday, 3:00p-5:00p First-Year Seminar: Violence & Videogames ENGLISH T121 Term: Fall 2014 Meetings: MWF / 10:30-11:20 / Monroe Hall 528 Website: http://www.timothyjwelsh.com/courses/14ft121/ WHAT IS THE COMMON CURRICULUM? In addition to the major you will pursue at Loyola, you will take a broad range of courses in the liberal arts and sciences known as the Common Curriculum. This Common Curriculum offers you an educational experience you will not find at state institutions and other private schools. It is a large part of the “Loyola Difference”—that is, it defines what makes our university and the education you receive here distinctive. The Common Curriculum… • Includes courses taught in English and history, philosophy and religious studies, the sciences and the arts • Teaches important foundational subject matter for your major study • Gives you a broad education outside your major, preparing you for the demands of a complex world • Is grounded in the core values of our Jesuit mission and identity • Develops your understanding of human values and social justice • Develops your critical thinking, writing, and speaking skills WHAT IS A FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR? First-Year Seminars introduce you to academic inquiry and teach you to think and learn as a college student. The seminars are interdisciplinary, focusing on a single topic from several academic perspectives. While each seminar is on a different topic, they all explore the larger theme of “thinking critically, acting justly” as an introduction to study at Loyola. The seminars are required and carry three credits, just like other courses in the Common Curriculum and majors. They are a valuable first step on your path to a Loyola education. COURSE OVERVIEW Rather determine if games make players violent, this seminar investigates the historical circumstances, cultural assumptions, and social practices that make the relationship between violence and videogames a complex and essential question for the digital age. Some videogame playing required; previous experience and specialized hardware are not. 1 * SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE this version 8/24/14 LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS: 1. Critical Thinking: Students will be able to formulate questions about the subject matter and take a position that is supported with evidence. Students will show proficiency in the critical reading of texts, including discerning major arguments, salient points, and underlying assumptions and biases. 2. Written Communication: Students will be able to reflect on issues in writing. This should include formulating and defending a position in writing. 3. Oral Communication: Students will be able to reflect on issues in class discussion. This should include formulating and defending a position orally. 4. Information Literacy: Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate information and appropriately incorporate information into an assignment. 5. Compassionate Engagement with the World: Students will demonstrate the ability to recognize issues of justice and injustice inherent in a topic, and they will be able to recognize multiple sides to an issue. COURSE OBJECTIVES: STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: • Breakdown the composition of a videogame with attention to the exchanges between platform, gameplay, narrative, and culture. (FYS Learning Outcome: 1, 4) • Discuss the specific qualities of a videogame in relation to contemporary debates regarding videogaming as cultural object and cultural practice. (FYS Learning Outcome: 2, 3, 5) ASSIGNMENTS Play journal (35%) Students will keep a journal of their experiences and observations playing videogames over the course of the term. The professor will occasionally distribute prompts with specific questions to address in the next entry. A new entry is due--typed and printed--at the beginning of each class meeting. (FYS Learning Outcome: 1, 2) Discussion Posts (20%) Twice during the semester, students will write a discussion post of 250 words for the course blog. Posts should begin by developing an observation that leads into a critical question about the week’s game or reading. (FYS Learning Outcome: 1, 2, 4) Weekly Comments (15%) Students are expected to make two (2) substantive comments on the course blog every week. Substantive questions reference the active discussion and offer a new insight that moves the conversation forward. (FYS Learning Outcome: 1, 2, 4) Let’s Play Critically, video essay (30%) In groups of three or less, students will put together a 5-7-minute video essay in which they make a claim about violence and videogames and support it using examples from course texts. Videos are due December 12th. (FYS Learning Outcome: 3, 4, 5) GRADING SCALE A = 94-100 B+ = 88-90 C+ = 78-80 D+ = 68-70 F = 0-60 A- = 91-93 B = 84-87 C = 74-77 D = 61-67 B- = 81-83 C- = 71-73 2 * SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE this version 8/24/14 REQUIRED TEXTS* Alexander Galloway, Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture, University of Minnesota Press, 2007 ISBN: 0816648514 [$18] Dennaton Games, Hotline Miami. Devolver Digital, PS3, PS4, OSX, Windows, Linux, 2012, [$10] Infinity Ward, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Windows, PS3, 360, 2009 [$20] Danny LeDonne, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, Windows, 2005 [free] Lucas Pope, Papers, Please, Windows, OSX, Linux, [$13] Minority Papo y Yo, Minority, PS3, Windows, OSX, Linux, 2012 [$15] Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar Games, PS2, Xbox, Windows, OSX, PS3, 360, iOS, Android, 2004 [$15] United States Army, America’s Army, United States Army, Windows, Linux, OSX, 2013 [free] Valve, Portal, Valve, Windows, PS3, 360, OSX, Linux, Android, 2007 [$10] Yager Development, Spec Ops: The Line, 2kGames, 2012 [$30] *Links to supplemental readings and games will be made available on the course website. It is recommended that students PLAY the games listed above when at all possible. Alternatively, links to videos of gameplay will be posted to the course website. SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO ADJUSTMENT) Week01 > M (08/25): Syllabus W (08/27): Hotline Miami Hernandez and Ellison, “Can We Talk about the Joy of Violence without Sounding Like Complete Psychopaths?” [Link] F (08/29): Hotline Miami Week02 > M (09/01): No Class W (09/03): Oral Arguments, Supreme Court, Brown vs. EMA [BB] F (09/05): ETS Proficiency Profile Week03 > M (09/08): Psychological Perspective, Guest Lecture Dr. Kendall Eskine [Readings TBA] W (09/10): Super Columbine Massacre RPG! F (09/12): Super Columbine Massacre RPG! LeDonne, “ARTIST STATEMENT” [Link] Week04 > M (09/15): Joystick Warriors, documentary W (09/17): America’s Army Joystick Warriors, documentary F (09/19): America’s Army Galloway, “Social Realism” Week05 > M (09/22): Spec Ops: The Line W (09/24): Spec Ops: The Line; Sicart, The Ethics of Computer Games, “Players as Moral Beings” [BB] F (09/26): Spec Ops: The Line 3 * SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE this version 8/24/14 Week06 > M (09/29): Modern Warfare 2 W (10/01): Modern Warfare 2 F (10/03): Modern Warfare 2 Bissell, “It’s a Massacre!” [BB] Week07 > M (10/06): Modern Warfare 2 W (10/08): Modern Warfare 2 F (10/10): Modern Warfare 2 Week08 > M (10/13): No Class W (10/15): No Class F (10/17): No Class Week09 > M (10/20): Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Frasca, “Sim Sin City” [BB] W (10/22): Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Leonard, “Young, Black (& Brown)” [BB] Lott, Love and Theft, “Introduction” [BB] F (10/24): Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Week10 > M (10/27): Heppe, “Other M” Review and comments [BB] W (10/29): Feminist Frequency, Kickstarter [Link] F (10/31): Feminist Frequency, episode 1 [Link] Week11 > M (11/03): Feminist Frequency, episode 2 [Link] W (11/05): Feminist Frequency, episode 3 [Link] F (11/07): Feminist Frequency, episode 4 [Link] Week12 > M (11/10): Galloway, “Allegories of Control” W (11/12): Papers, Please F (11/14): Papers, Please Week13 > M (11/17): Wark, Gamer Theory, “Cave” [Link] W (11/19): Portal F (11/21): Portal Week14 > M (11/24): Dyer-Witheford, Cognitive Capital Contested [BB] Steinkuehler, “The Mangle of Play” [BB] W (11/26): NO CLASS F (11/28): NO CLASS Week15 > M (12/01): Papo & Yo W (12/03): Papo & Yo F (12/05): Papo & Yo Bogost, “The Reverence of Resistance” [BB] Week16 > M (12/08): Course wrap-up, evaluations. W (12/10): No Class F (12/12): VIDEO PROJECT DUE by 11am 4 * SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE this version 8/24/14 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Attendance Attendance will be recorded promptly at the start of class. Students who are not present at that time will be recorded as absent. Should a student arrive late, it is the student’s responsibility to alert the instructor of his or her presence. Missing class meetings will severely inhibit a student’s ability to succeed in this course. Students who miss more than three (3) class meetings for any reason may be referred to the Associate Dean and Academic Support Services. Assignments A prompt and rubric will be distributed online for all assignments. Failure to meet the stipulations of the prompt and rubric by the assigned date will result in a loss of credit. All feedback and grades will be distributed via Blackboard. Play Journals are due--typed and printed--at the beginning of each class meeting. They will be your ticket to class discussion. Students who arrive without a journal entry will be asked to leave and will lose credit for the journal. Late or emailed journals will not be accepted. The student responsible for the day’s online discussion question may print and submit that post as a journal entry. Discussion posts are due by 10pm the night before class. Posts that appear late or that do not meet minimum specifications of the assignment prompt will lose credit.
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