CFP: Race and Video Games (2/16/07; (dis)junctions, 4/6/07-4/7/07)

Race and Video Games

This call for papers is for a proposed panel to be held at =
(dis)junctions 2007: Malappropriation Nation, the University of =
California Riverside's 14th Annual Humanities Graduate Conference on =
April 6-7, 2007.=20

This panel will explore race and video games with the intention of =
mapping out some of the more pressing critical issues surrounding the =
inclusion or exclusion of race in games. The game industry and game =
studies are both interesting and exciting, but the discourse on race has =
been sparse and focused primarily on forms of reductive representation. =
Therefore, this panel is dedicated to critical works that push beyond a =
focus on representation. Panelists are sought that attempt to describe =
and analyze the visualization and political implications of race in =
games and game cultures.

Potential contributions may involve, but are not limited to, some of the =
following concepts:

1. Excessiveness
2. Invisibility/Visibility=20
3. Minstrelsy
4. Political economy of games
5. Racial performance/passing
6. Logics of race at the interface and beyond
7. Default whiteness
8. Token representation
9. Blackness, Asianness, etc.
10. Masculinity and race
11. Race and gender
12. Orientalism
13. Character creation
14. Race in game design
15. Language issues
16. Cultural borrowing
17. Commodification

Submissions are encouraged that deal with any game, platform, genre, =
theme, or era, as well as any aspect of game culture itself (fan =
networks, review sites, manuals, peripherals, and so on).

Additionally, submissions that deal with race from different global =
perspectives are of great interest.

Abstracts of 250-300 words should be e-mailed to Tanner Higgin at =
thigg001@ucr.edu by February 16, 2007 (text in the body of the message; =
please no attachments).=20