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Kursusnavn (dansk):Advanced Topics in Game Studies 
Kursusnavn (engelsk):Advanced Topics in Game Studies 
Semester:Efterår 2018 
Udbydes under:cand.it., spil (games) 
Omfang i ECTS:7,50 
Kursussprog:Engelsk 
Kursushjemmeside:https://learnit.itu.dk 
Min. antal deltagere:15 
Forventet antal deltagere:
Maks. antal deltagere:40 
Formelle forudsætninger:Students are expected to have a grounding in the theoretical humanities and/or social sciences.

This course builds on Games & Culture. If the prospective student has not taken this course, but feel qualified for other reasons, please contact the course manager before applying. 
Læringsmål:After successful completion of the course the student is expected to:

- Be able to analyze digital games in a thorough and coherent manner, utilizing theories and methods engaged with in the course as a suite of analytical tools.

- Engage critically with the academic literature in the field of Game Studies.

- Refine and develop existing theories to better suit specific applied analysis.

- Research a given topic independently in order to produce a paper that is good enough for submission to an international journal or conference. 
Fagligt indhold:Games and play are an increasingly important genre of entertainment, marketing, expression and art. The seminar follows two interwoven threads: game analysis and theoretical topics in game research.

The seminar will be run weekly, with presentations from both students and teachers, presenting and discussing a central game studies text or a text (work in progress) of their own. The seminar will also feature intensive supervision and mentoring of the students' research plans and eventually the term paper.

The course covers central topics that addresses these issues including:

Games, mediation and textuality
Player Involvement
Narrative
Aesthetics
Ethics
Persuasive Games
Politics and ideologies of Games
The students' own research interests are encouraged and welcomed.

The course includes both a theoretical and a practical approach including hands-on gaming sessions which take the theory and apply it to specific games. 
Læringsaktiviteter:

4 weeks of teaching consisting of seminar presentations and discussions, hands-on analysis exercises, student presentations, reading groups and a final writing project.

The course will be run like a reading group, seminar and paper presentation workshop, where everyone will be expected to participate actively in presenting their work in progress and comment on the other presentations. During the 14 weeks students will present their term paper ideas, receive feedback and suggestions, and refine their idea into a scientific paper with a research question, methodology, literature review and analysis.

The exercises will consist of playing games and taking notes about the gameplay experience and the game analyses. We will focus on 3-4 relevant games (to be determined by the participants).

As inspiration for the term paper we will have lectures from the local teachers and other ITU researchers, as well as visiting scholars and especially invited international researchers. Students will also receive individual supervision and guidance during the entire process. In this way, research practices will be learned through the practical experience of doing actual research in an actual research environment. 

Obligatoriske aktivititer:Der er ingen obligatoriske aktiviteter. Vær venlig KUN at ændre denne tekst når der er obligatoriske aktiviteter. / There are no mandatory activities. Please, change this text ONLY when there are mandatory activities. 
Eksamensform og -beskrivelse:C: Skriftlige arbejder uden mundtlig eksamen., (7-scale, external exam)

The term paper is an essay on the level of a publishable academic journal article. It has to be based on a good-sized literature review, contain an original research question and a solid argument, and use (i.e. critically engage, not simply list) a substantial number of sources (15-20).
Its length should be between 4000 and 6000 words.