"HONR 101D FYS P L A Y | | G A M E ( S ) | | R E L I G I O N ( S )Gless" by Justin Glessner
 

Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 9-1-2024

Course Description

“All play means something,” or so wrote theorist Johan Huizinga in 1938. Playfully speaking, our serious work in this course considers the cultural meaning(-making)s of game(s) and religion(s) as complex and intersecting embodiments of deeply human, serious play-forms. Transdisciplinary connections between Religious Studies and Game(r) Studies have a number of vectors, and, for the sake of convenience, we’ll be toying with a four-part paradigm of puzzles: gaming in religion; religion in gaming; religion as gaming; and, "nally, gaming as religion? In balanced measure, we'll be making room for BOTH the (serious) cultivation/enrichment of transferable, critical academic skills, through conventional coursework (especially writing!), AND all manner of experiential learning contexts afforded through close-playing a curated selection of (social, tabletop, role- playing, physical, and digital) games. How might we contextualize the play-ful ways folk relate to game(s) and religion(s)? More seriously, what discourses and relations of power are at work in such considerations, and how might we imagine the relationships we have with game(s) and religion(s), while growing in (self-)critical awareness of the ideological/contextual nature of engaging broadly with homo ludens, the human at/in play? Come and play!

Student Outcomes

By the end of the term, you will be able to (further)… • Cultivate high levels of curiosity and openness • Formulate interdisciplinary knowledge and awareness of a range of areas and perspectives, identify and explore implications of interconnections between perspectives, and integrate ideas across perspectives • Apply intellectual courage in a willingness to be challenged and to challenge, an openness to change and engagement with uncomfortable topics

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