The department of Game Design at Uppsala University, campus Gotland
Category: Guest Lectures
We use our ever-growing network to lure speakers from the game- & movie industry, academia and independent scene to the island. Unfortunately we’re very poor with keeping this category up to date; including the Gotland Game Conference we average 1 guest lecture every 14th day! Some of these are recorded – check the youtube channel. If you wish to speak with Sweden’s strongest game design students (or their staff), contact Ulf!
Posted on - Comments Off on Online seminar on industry pathways in games CategoriesBlog, Guest Lectures
Welcome to join this seminar organized by Svenska spelforskarrådet (Council of Swedish Games Researchers) to learn more about pathways to the game industry.
When: Wednesday April 10, 13.00-14.30 Where:Zoom What: Information about industry careers in games
The Swedish and international game industry is growing and more people study games and game development. We now see vocational training in game development as well as bachelor study programmes in different academic areas (IT, humanities, media, media technologies, game design…).
In this seminar we aim to explore different ways to join the game industry. A panel of experts will discuss questions such as: what kind of competencies are attractive? What do game studios look for when they hire? What can you do to optimize your chances of finding a job? What are the possible careers in the game industry today?
At this seminar, you will get a deeper understanding of these questions and others, as well as an excellent opportunity to ask representatives from education and industry about their thoughts on the topic of pursuing a career in the game industry.
The panel consists of:
Marcus Toftedahl (Moderator, Game dev business coach), Science Park Skövde
Sahar Asadi, Director of AI Labs at King
Martin Annander (Freelance Game Developer), Playtank Sweden
Mea Nilimaa (Head of Business Development), G.Round
Diego Navarro (PhD Student/Adjunct Lecturer), Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH)
Ran Zhang (Bonny) (Senior lecturer), Högskolan i Skövde
Posted on - Comments Off on Play and Growth: Connecting Games to Developmental Psychology CategoriesBlog, Guest Lectures
Link will be provided to registrants on the day of the event. Make sure to sign in with the same name you used to register.
Description:
During this lecture, we will present a timeline from birth, to the adolescent gamer, and to playful adults, examining how the environment and biological conditions influence development and play. We will use pieces from our research repertoire, which includes both methodological and theoretical points, to build a platform for understanding the developmental perspective. An overarching theme is how psychological processes interact with different environments, such as various cultures or digital environments, and how we work in practice to understand development through measurement and analysis. We will describe the ways in which we seek to understand how different game players (with different traits and experiences) interact with various game mechanics, and are in turn affected by game experiences. Such game experiences throughout development can affect learning, expertise, prosocial behavior, and more.
Presenters bio:
Pär Nyström is an associate professor at Uppsala Child and Baby Lab in the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University. His research areas include the development of perceptual, cognitive, and social abilities during infancy, as well as in older children and teenagers. The research questions encompass both neuropsychiatry and fundamental research on how culture and the environment impact development. Pär has extensive experience with various methods, such as eye-tracking, EEG, motion capture, and other quantitative methods. He has also developed software for data collection in inaccessible environments and for creating transparent analysis workflows. An overarching interest is the transition between “average” and “extreme” and how this zone is influenced by categorical cutoffs in different environments.
Joshua Juvrud is an assistant professor at the Department of Game Design at Uppsala University. His work is focused at the intersection of two fields: in developmental psychology, he seeks to understand how children learn about the world through studying the social cognitive processes involved in development. In games research, he explores individual differences in game players across all ages, and the interaction between human psychology, play, and the design of games. Joshua has extensive experience in psychophysiological and quantitative measures in these areas, including eye-tracking, pupilometry, galvanic skin response, and heart rate.
This series is hosted by the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The series explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Posted on - Comments Off on Playing with Perspective: Metareflection and Immersion in Embodied Role-playing CategoriesGuest Lectures
Join us for our next lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series: “Playing with Perspective: Metareflection and Immersion in Embodied Role-playing” by Hilda Levin!
When: February 21, 2023, 7 – 8:30 PM Central European Time (CET)
In embodied role-playing, players may immerse themselves into a shared fiction, or metareflect to see the fiction in context with reality. Through theories on self-reflexive art and practical larp design examples, this lecture will look into how we might use metareflection to create diverse and transformative role-playing experiences.
Presenter bio:
Hilda Levin (b. 1987) is a Swedish larper living in Norway. She has a Master’s in Dramaturgy and wrote her thesis on metareflection in embodied role-playing. She works with theatre productions and emerging playwrights, and has taken part in organizing the Oslo Pride cultural program in 2018, 2019 and 2023.
Join us for our next lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series: “Forgotten Gems: Early Role-playing Game Theory” by J. Tuomas Harviainen!
When: Tuesday, January 24, 7-8:30pm Central European Time (CET) Where: Online on Zoom
Description: In this lecture, professor Harviainen presents forgotten gems and early classics of role-playing theory, such as the first attempts at explaining what we now call bleed, or forays into interaction types in larps. Join us to hear what was contained in zines, the first Knutepunkt books, and German manuals for methodological game mastering, as well as what we can still learn from them.
Presenter bio: J. Tuomas Harviainen is Professor of Information Studies and Interactive Media at Tampere University, Finland, and former editor of the game journals International Journal of Role-Playing and Simulation & Gaming.
This series is hosted by the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The series explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
