This workshop introduces \u201ccollaborative close play,\u201d a new method for teaching video games developed by UTA English faculty Doug Stark and Stephanie Kinzinger and recently published in Computers and Composition. Facilitated by Dr. Stark, Dr. Kinzinger, and Experiential Learning Librarian Chlo\u00e9 Bennett, the session invites faculty to experience this approach firsthand through guided play and analysis of two games\u2014Oregon Trail and When Rivers Were Trails\u2014that frame westward expansion from contrasting cultural perspectives.<\/p>\n
Participants will examine how each game constructs ideas about American identity, Indigenous dispossession, land use, and historical narrative through its mechanics and visual design. The workshop models how assigning structured roles to students\u2014player, observer, notetaker\u2014can turn gameplay into a collective act of critical interpretation and discussion.<\/p>\n
Designed for instructors across the College of Liberal Arts, the event highlights adaptable teaching strategies, prompts, and resources for bringing games into the classroom. It also showcases The Basement as a campus resource: a playable game library and media lab available for faculty-led teaching and research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This workshop introduces \u201ccollaborative close play,\u201d a new method for teaching video games developed by UTA English faculty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-47623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-calendar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}