SIGN 26038/ ENGL 12320/ MAAD 12320/CMST 25945/GNSE 22320

Instructors: Patrick Jagoda and Ashlyn Sparrow
CAs: Ziyi Lin, Jiyoon Kim, and Hanu Shahdadpuri

Course Meeting Time: Monday and Wednesday 1:30pm-2:50pm
Course Location: Harper Memorial Library 140
TA Section 1: Jiyoon Kim: Friday 9:30am-10:20am (WGL)
TA Section 2: Ziyi Lin: Thursday 2:00pm-4:00pm (WGL)
TA Section 3: Hanu Shahdadpuri: Friday 11:30am-12:20 (WGL)

Patrick Jagoda Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm or by appointment (Weston Game Studio)
Ashlyn Sparrow Office Hours: Monday 3-5pm or by appointment (Weston Game Studio)
Ziyi Lin Office Hours: Friday 12:30 – 2:30pm or by appointment (Weston Game Studio)
Jiyoon Kim Office Hours: Wednesday 12:00pm – 1:20pm or by appointment (Weston Game Studio)
Hanu Shahdadpuri Office Hours: Tuesday 2:00pm – 4:00pm or by appointment (Weston Game Studio)
Office hours may additionally be available by appointment or via Zoom for all instructors and Course Assistants.

Since the 1960s, games have blossomed into the world’s most profitable artistic and cultural form. This course attends to key concepts that help us interpret video games, including issues of choice, control, agency, uncertainty, difficulty, and failure. While the quarter is organized by formal qualities of games, particular games have been selected to invite thought about historical, cultural, and sociopolitical dimensions of games. Readings by theorists will help us think about the field of videogame studies. In addition to weekly reading and analytical exercises (designed to practice different modes of writing and creative development), students will also compose video essays and participate in a collaborative creative group project. This is a 2025-2026 Signature Course in the College.

MATERIALS TO PURCHASE OR ACCESS

Most game should be available for multiple platforms (PC/Mac via Steam or on various consoles). Unless otherwise specified, you should feel free to play on the platform of your choice (differences among consoles may add depth to our group discussions). All other readings are available online or on our class Canvas page or via links on this course website. Many games will also be available for free.

COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS

Discord: We will use Discord for ongoing conversations with both shared channels for informal conversations about games and private channels for communication with the instructor and TAs. For all course related questions, you should contact me or the TAs via Discord INSTEAD of email.

Course Website: We will use the course Wix website to access the syllabus (with links) and to post blog entries. The blog will be publicly available.

Canvas: We will only use Canvas to access PDFs of shared course readings. You will have to log into Canvas, using your CNetID.

GRADING 

• Attendance, Preparation, and Discussion in Class and Section: 15%
• Blog Posts (5 Entries): 15%
• Midterm Critical Play Video Essay (8 minutes): 25%
• Game Game Design Document (10+ pages in small groups): 10%
• Final Critical Play Video Essay: Abstract (300-400 words) and Video (15 minutes): 35%

CLASS EXPECTATIONS

• We only meet for a few weeks, and have limited time to cover some dense readings and deep games, so please arrive on time for each seminar session.
• Much of this course depends on thinking together as a group, and building on material from several fields. Missing more than one class without a prearranged absence will immediately entail a grade reduction.
• Assignments and papers are due for the day they appear on the syllabus.
• Bring your annotated PDFs to class or print out readings to have proximity to them.
• Always feel free to ask questions either in class or during office hours (seriously).
• We are committed to meeting the needs of all students. To arrange class-related accommodations, please see Student Disability Services prior to scheduling a meeting with us: http://disabilities.uchicago.edu/accommodations

GENERATIVE AI USAGE POLICY

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a quickly evolving category of technologies that can be incorporated into artistic practice. The University of Chicago now offers access to a beta version of PhoenixAI (note: this option is kept within the UChicago environment and not shared with third-party vendors or used to train AI models). There are also other more broadly used versions of such technology that are either available or soon will be. These can generate text (e.g., Chat GPT and/or PhoenixAI), images (e.g., Midjourney), or video (e.g., Sora).

We are not opposed to incorporating AI into your brainstorming or practice if there are good reasons to do so and you clearly cite your usage. There is no reason to withhold your sources, whether they provide you with content or tools for creating your original work. So, feel free to experiment and play with these AI technologies, but also identify where and how you are doing so (even if it is often easy to spot these cases).

At the same time, bear in mind that there are live debates about whether generative AI are ethical, given the fact that their datasets include artworks that are not credited or compensated despite contributing to a final image. As such, many contend that generative AI tools infringe on a copyright owner’s exclusive rights when they create derivative texts, audio, or images. As with any other emergent complexities in our quickly changing world, this is one that you should grapple with actively, whatever your ultimate decision.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM

It is your responsibility to ensure that all of your written work conforms to the University’s standards of academic honesty.

Plagiarism is not only copying others’ work; any improperly documented use of ideas can constitute plagiarism. Please consult the discussion of plagiarism and academic honesty in Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success. It is crucial that you are familiar with these standards, and it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with them. If these standards are in any way unclear to you, please consult with us.

Any undocumented use of another person’s ideas constitutes plagiarism. This includes copying another text word for word. It also includes summarizing and paraphrasing a source without citation, or presenting as your own an argument that you heard elsewhere. Please note as well that copying non-copyrighted material (such as Wikipedia) also constitutes plagiarism. Academic dishonesty includes buying papers online, outsourcing your academic work to someone else (paid or unpaid), and submitting the same paper to more than one course. This is not an exhaustive list of the acts that constitute academic dishonesty and plagiarism. If you are uncertain about how or whether to cite your sources, please contact us.

Academic dishonesty is a very serious offense, even if it is unintentional. Any form of plagiarism may result in immediate failure of this course and disciplinary action.