Propositions from a Critical Play Perspective
If games always hold within them cultural beliefs, norms, and human values, how are designers to tackle the vexing responsibility of designing digital games? In this talk, Flanagan examines the topics of games and values, games and art, the history of technology and games, and motivation. How does art practice inform designing for values? What pitfalls might designers face when making games for social change? Flanagan takes the audience through a number of propositions that uncover strengths and weakness of games as a medium for social change and revolutionary play.
Known for her theories on playculture, activist design, and critical play, Flanagan has achieved international acclaim for her novel interdisciplinary games, artwork, and theoretical writing, her commitment to theory/practice research, and contributions to social justice design arenas. She is particularly interested in issues of equity and authorship in technological environments, and reworking commonly understood paradigms to provide collective strategies for social change. This talk draws primarily on her work in the Values at Play project and in her 2009 book, Critical Play (MIT Press). Flanagan is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities at Dartmouth College.
http://www.maryflanagan.com/
http://www.tiltfactor.org/
