Meets: Mondays 1:00pm - 2:30 pm
The Minecraft experience will comprise of about a dozen one-to-two-hour meetings of the faculty with twenty Honors students. Readings, video viewings, presentations, guest lectures, and gaming sessions will serve as catalysts for discussion in the hopes of spurring future research and community connections. Content will include:
Lectures/presentations by faculty and guests on…
- Virtual communities, virtual art, and virtual machines
- Philosophy of art and of games/gaming
- Visual thinking strategies
- Design in Minecraft
- Games, play, learning, and development
- The history of Minecraft
- The mathematics of Minecraft.
Readings and Viewings:
- Half Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds by Jesper Juul
- Games: Agency As Art by C. Thi Nguyen
- Assorted Minecraft YouTube Videos
EXPERIENTIAL SESSIONS:
The course will include access to a dedicated Minecraft server, accessible only to students, faculty, and guests of the course. Some class meetings will occur virtually on the Minecraft server.
EXPERIENCE GOALS:
At the conclusion of the experience, students will complete a final project, which could take a variety of forms including, but not limited to:
- Creating original art within or about Minecraft.
- Developing virtual machines within Minecraft