A MITH Digital Dialogue

Tuesday, February 26, 12:30-1:45

MITH Conference Room, McKeldin Library B0135

“Play and Pedagogy: Videogames and Writing Instruction”

by DOUGLAS EYMAN

Podcast now available!

Games and gaming as social experiences are starting to be explored in depth through a variety of collections and special journal issues, but relatively little has been published about games and writing instruction specifically (whereas much has been recently published on games and learning in general, and on gaming and literacy). This presentation examines the role of computer gaming in composition pedagogy, positioning games as objects of critique that are available for use in writing classes, and as locations of production for multimedia/multimodal texts. Using the example of massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), Dr. Eyman will present a five-part ecological framework for situating game activities as specific genres of production that can be used in writing classes.

DOUGLAS EYMAN is an assistant professor of English at George Mason University; he received his PhD in Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing from Michigan State University in 2007. Eyman is Senior Editor of the journal _Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy_ and is the list and review editor of the H-Net discussion list H-DigiRhet. His level 70 troll rogue can often be seen adventuring through the Shadowmoon Valley on the _World of Warcraft_ Aggramar server.

Coming up @MITH 3/4: Bernard Frischer (Virginia), “Making Culture Virtual: Recent 3D Modeling Projects at the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities”

MITH’s complete Spring Speakers Schedule will be posted very soon.

All talks free and open to the public!

Contact: Neil Fraistat, Director, MITH (www.mith.umd.edu, mith@umd.edu, 5-8927).