First-Year Seminar (110-6-20)
Topic
The Japanese Role-Playing Game
Instructors
Thomas Martin Gaubatz
847/491-2766
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-345
Office Hours: varies by quarter, please contact instructor
Meeting Info
University Library 3322: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
AY 22-23 How do video games tell stories, and what kind of stories do they tell? How do the formal elements of the game experience shape the stories that they tell and the meanings that they convey? What historical contexts make those stories meaningful, and what is the significance of historical shifts in game form? In this class, we answer these questions through a study of the Japanese Role-Playing Game—the JRPG. We approach the JRPG as a genre, under the premises that cultural genres represent the formal crystallization of a set of cultural meanings, that individual works express particular meanings through manipulation of the details of form, that the evolution of form reflects historical shifts in cultural meanings, and that interpretation of an individual work thus demands knowledge of genre conventions, careful attention to the nuances of form, and rich historical contextualization. To study this genre, we begin by building skills of formal description and analysis, with attention to how scholars in different disciplines have attempted to theorize various formal elements. We then situate this genre in its historical context—the social and cultural crises facing Japan at the end of the 20th century—and examine the evolution and permutation of the form as it has been adapted to different narrative concerns between the late 90s and the present day. Though our focus is on the JRPG, the skills and modes of thinking that we develop—formal description and analysis, historical contextualization and interpretation, theoretical framing, critical evaluation—form the basis of humanistic study at the college level.
Teaching Method
Discussion
Evaluation Method
Attendance (10%), participation (10%), game journal (5%), online forum (10%), short essays (20%), group presentations (10%), final project proposal (5%), final project (30%)
Class Materials (Required)
All reading materials provided in PDF form; games will be made available in the Kresge Media and Design Studio
Class Attributes
WCAS First-Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only