Ontario College of Art & Design

Course Calendar

COURSE DESCRIPTION

VISM 3B01
Critical Play
0.50 Credit(s)
Academic Course
Prerequisite: 7.5 credits, including all first-year requirements (5.0 credits) and 1.0 credit of second-year liberal arts & sciences (including 0.5 credit in VISA/VISC/VISD/VISM).
Through critical play practices, we experiment with identity, creative expression and invention, and we learn to improvise in a system of rules. This course addresses how such forms of play can generate criticality among players. Students will explore meaning-making in play through exploration of a range of games, and by tracing a history of subversive art practices from Surrealism to contemporary game creation. Finally, the course presents diverse analytical approaches, including art history, critical theory and visual culture, to enable students to construct critical play practices. Understanding games beyond entertainment, the course seeks to foster critically-aware gamers.
Anti-requisite: Students who have taken VISC 3B90 Special Topic in Visual Culture: Critical Play may not take this course for further credit.
Course was last updated May 2, 2012 - 4:45 PM