Week One / Class One
Let’s talk about video games a bit. And let’s introduce the first project.
I will do this by asking something(s) that has nothing to do with the first project. A series of questions. A poll. Which of the following are sports:
- football
- chess
- baseball
- golf
- hockey
- figure skating
- basketball
- diving
- olympic wrestling
- cheerleading
- professional wrestling
- billiards
- marathon running
- long jump
- speed skating
- skateboarding
- cross country skiing
- competitive eating
- soccer
- boxing
- synchronized swimming
- NASCAR
- ballroom dancing
- darts
- snowboarding
- darts
After you have answered these questions, I will ask you to form into teams of 3. Each team will have to compare answers, identifying which questions:
- they all identify as a sport
- 2/3 identify as a sport
- they all identify as a non-sport
The group must then write a definition of what constitutes a sport that encompasses all of #1 and all of number #2. The definition should also make clear what isn’t a sport (not which things are sports, but which qualities preclude something from being classified as a sport).
These definitions should be posted to Blackboard.
Then I will explain what on Earth this has to do with the first project.
Homework:
- Read Ebert’s two columns on whether video games are art. The first column from April 16th 2010. The second column from July 1, 2010.
- In both pieces, pay particular attention to Ebert’s criteria for what constitutes art. This will be a pivotal part of your first assignment.
- Interested parties might also check out Ebert’s review of the video game Cosmology of Kyoto in a 1994 issue of Wired Magazine. It is very short, and might help flush out Ebert’s definition of art.
- Set up a Twitter Account. Change your profile pic to something having to do with games. Read my basic introduction to Twitter. Be nice
- On Twitter, follow me @Oisin16. Write a tweet identifying two games we could consider art with the hash tag #enc3435; these need not be games you have already played. Do some internet research into games and art if you need to.
