Play Research Group
The Play Research Group is a forum for the development of research into the cultural significance of play and games. A number of the group are actively engaged in theorising computer and videogames, whilst others are concerned with other forms of playful media and culture from children's media culture and toys to play and urban cultures. The group is made up of both staff and research students from UWE but also includes a number of external members and collaborators from the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Members of this group speak at a wide variety of public conferences, seminars and symposia as well as organising local events that over the past seven years have established the Play Research Group as a key node in an international network of researchers of play and games. In 2001 members of the group co-organised the Game Cultures conference at the Watershed, and have followed this event with a series of international symposia - Power Up in 2003, Playful Subjects in 2005, Playful Subjects II on Games and Technology in 2006, Playful Subjects III "Wii Technicities" (November 2007) and in 2009 the Play Research Group convened a one day symposium entitled 'BadGames'. The next event is a symposium entitled 'Gesture, Play and Technology' on May 17th 2010.
These events are also supported by a programme of visiting scholars and guest PhD students as well as smaller focussed research seminars led by experts in the field. Play Research Group activities will be documented on this website and covered in our blog feeds. Earlier debates and events are archived, more information is also available on the UWE website.
Active Members:
Tom Abba, Patrick Crogan, Rod Dickinson, Dan Dixon, Jonathan Dovey, Seth Giddings,Richard Hornsey, Rune Klevjer (Bergen, Norway), Bart Simon (Concordia University, Montreal, Canada), Hanna Wirman (PhD Student).
See the Playful Subjects website for more details on Play Research Group activities.