General provisions

The course is part of the Master's Programme in Game Design, 120 Credits.

Entry requirements

Bachelor's degree with in-depth subject study in a main field of study specialising in games or gaming and knowledge of English corresponding to English 6.

Learning outcomes

Upon completing the course, students will be able to:

• Give an account of and reflect upon the most central issues of the current societal discussion around digital games and their effects
• Analyze the political economy on games as a part of the cultural industries and its impact on game design, potentially including the students' own designs
• Take a reflexive stance towards their own design practice that enables them to analyse and improve their own work
• Formulate a research question, collect scientific sources, compare different research perspectives, and argue for the student's normative perspective
• Discuss and evaluate conceptualization of human beings as players, creators, workers, customers, citizens, and the consequences of these conceptualizations for the understanding of digital games in society

Content

This course analyses digital games as a part of contemporary society. It examines how games are a product of the political economy in cultural industries and how they in turn shape the culture and society that sustain these industries. It problematises the conceptualization of human beings as players, creators, workers, customers, citizens, of people and the consequences of these conceptualizations on the understanding of digital games in society.

Instruction

The course consists of lectures, mandatory seminars and workshops.

Assessment

The course grades are Pass with distinction, Pass, or Fail. Assessment is of active participation in seminars and workshops and a final written assignment.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.