The Feeling Games symposium will be held on Friday, September 25, 2015 from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Cherry Room of Galvin Library. Feeling Games is a symposium on the intersections of games and emotions hosted at the Illinois Institute of Technology by the Department of Humanities, the Humanities and Technology Lab (HaT Lab), and Galvin Library with additional sponsorship from the Lewis College of Human Sciences, the College of Science, the Department of Computer Science, and the Department of Psychology. It was organized by Carly A. Kocurek with assistance from Michael De Anda.

Feeling Games is a one-day event intended to spark cross-disciplinary conversations about the intersections of games and emotions. How, for example, do game designers work with players’ emotional responses? How might we understand gaming communities through the lens of affect? Are empathy games a genre, and, if so, what defines this genre? In short, how are we to make sense of the diverse emotional experiences to be had in and around games?

Schedule

9:30-10 a.m. Registration and Coffee

10-10:15 a.m. Welcome Address

10:15 a.m.-noon First Panel

• “Hold My Hand: Japanese Amae, Omoiyari, and Empathy Building in Games,” Jennifer deWinter, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• “All the Feels: Confronting Toxic Gamer Culture and What it Means to ‘Play’ a ‘Game,’” Adrienne Massanari, University of Illinois Chicago
• “‘I’m sure your woman-arms will be able to lift it:’ Queer Interface and the Legibility of Power and Privilege in Anna Anthropy’s Realistic Female First-Person Shooter,” Whitney Pow, Northwestern University
• “Navigating Failed Performances in Digital Play Spaces: The Emotional Cost of Conflict,” J. Talmadge Wright, Loyola University-Chicago

noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break

1-2:45 p.m. Second Panel

• “Beyond Screens and Spectacle: Ethnographic Reflections on Game Culture,” Florence Chee, Loyola University-Chicago
• “Time Out: Affectivity & Temporal Manipulation in Games,” Chris Hanson, Syracuse University
• “Experimental Games: Affect Theory and Non-Sovereign Play,” Patrick Jagoda, University of Chicago
• “‘People Add Stress in My Games’: How Emotions in Socially Networked Games Drive Gameplay Decisions,” Stephanie Vie, University of Central Florida

2:45-3:15 p.m. Coffee Break

3:15-5 p.m. Game Design Roundtable

Featuring

• Janell Baxter, Columbia College Chicago
• Bill Guschwan, Columbia College Chicago
• Arlen Moller, Illinois Institute of Technology
• Doris C. Rusch, DePaul University
• Ashlyn Sparrow, Game Changer Chicago Design Lab