Great Literature Great Games

Summer school has begun and Great Literature Great Games is off the ground.  I worked on the curriculum for Great Literature Great Games for about two years and was finally granted the opportunity to teach the class this summer. 

In our first class session, students explored the history of video games to establish some context for the class.  While most of the students took the course because they have an interest in games, many are too young to know the early innovations that names like Atari and Nintendo brought to the industry.  With this in mind, students learned about early video games, the video game crash of 1983, and got to play some actual consoles from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. 

As a hybrid summer class, students will be doing much of their work at home, so our sessions in the classroom will revolve around analysis of literature and games, discussion, and collaborative work.  Here's a look at our first week's assignments:

• Metagame of the Week - Metagame is a card game that encourages players to create and support verbal and written arguments.  In our class, I post the question each week and students respond in our class forum.  Check out this video to learn more...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrzwhK5Ehx4
• Video game culture, stereotypes, and perceptions
• Video games in/as art, literature, and education

Stay tuned for updates!  Students will begin exploring character development and narrative theory in literature and games in the coming weeks.  Lots of fun ahead.  

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