Albert Einstein wrote, “Play is the highest form of research.” In Play, a one-day conference, explores play as the principle of innovation and experimentation that underwrites gaming, performance, and other cultural, social, and aesthetic activities. Key questions In Play poses include: How can the study of computer gaming, in line with studies of other cultural forms and productions, contribute to culture studies in the academy? How have embodied performance and play historically enabled possibilities for both freedom and domination, for the making as well as unmaking of societies? How does a focus on play complicate recent scholarship on the global history of experimental art forms?
In Play invites proposals for posters and demonstrations—conceived as tabletop presentations involving any type of media—that investigate the question of play. We especially encourage digital projects that supplement or link to posters, as well as mixed media presentations, performances, games (both digital and tabletop) and research projects. Undergraduate, graduate, and faculty proposals are welcome. Potential interventions in play might include:
Play in literature and literature as play
Playing with gender, sexuality, race, class, or (dis)ability
Mathematical, technological, and scientific discoveries
Adaptations
New Media
Gaming and game theory
Rule-breaking
Playing and Pedagogy
Subversion
Theater and performance
Artistic experiments
Game designs and prototypes, whether digital or tabletop
Posters and demonstrations will be set up as the centerpiece of the conference for the duration of the event as well as, where possible, for at least a week beforehand.
Prizes will be awarded to student projects.
Please submit 500-word proposals or descriptions to [email protected] by 12/15/2015.
Please include poster title, full name, affiliation, contact information, and brief biography (250 words). Please inform us if you require technological accommodation. Any questions should be directed to [email protected].
Plenary speakers for In Play include:
Patrick Jagoda, University of Chicago
Anastatia Salter, University of Central Florida
Julius Fleming, Jr., University of Maryland
C. Riley Snorton, Cornell University
McKenzie Wark, The New School
For more information, visit our website: http://english.umd.edu/InPlay or follow us on Twitter @InPlayUMD.
