The Central and Eastern European Game Studies Conference aims to be a meeting place for academics, journalists, developers and members of the public to discuss the phenomenon of computer and video games. It builds on the three year long tradition of the national game studies conference hosted by Masaryk University. This year, the conference will take place on October 10-11, 2014, and will be international in scope, bringing together experts from the Central and Eastern European region. Espen Aarseth will be the keynote speaker.
Brno, Czech Republic, October 10-11, 2014
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
500 word abstract deadline: May 12, 2014
THEME AND SCOPE
The main theme of the conference is “Digital Games in the Context of Central and Eastern Europe”. (We use the term “digital games” as a broader term which covers computer and video games.)
Due to many historical, social, economic and cultural specifics of the region, digital games have developed differently in Central and Eastern Europe than in the well-documented areas such as the U.S. or Japan. Research into games has also traced a path different from the “mainstream” of game studies represented by the U.S., the U.K. and Scandinavia. This conference will question these specific developments as well as more universal theoretical and empirical questions and design challenges faced by scholars and game creators in the region. We understand the region in a broad sense, including the Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary), the Baltic countries, the Balkans, the European successor states to the Soviet Union (Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia), and also Germany and Austria.
Being an interdisciplinary conference, we invite submissions in all fields related to the study of games, including, but not limited to, media studies, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, literature, film studies, history, philosophy, theory of art, computer science, law, and design. Although CEEGS is primarily an academic conference, we will welcome contributions not only by game researchers, but also by designers, artists, writers, critics or journalists, given that their submissions fit the theme and the aim of the conference. Despite the regional focus, we welcome abstracts from anywhere in the world. The conference language is English.
To present at the conference, you must submit a 500 word abstract of your presentation. All submissions will be reviewed by a board of reviewers, comprised of games and media scholars based in Central and Eastern Europe and appointed by the conference’s program committee.
We invite abstracts on any of the following topics:
- digital games and Central and Eastern European societies
- digital games and the national cultures of Central and Eastern Europe
- histories of digital games and homebrew computing in Central and Eastern Europe
- current trends among game players and audiences, especially in the region of Central and Eastern Europe
- current trends in game design and game industry, especially in the region of Central and Eastern Europe
- challenges and opportunities in game scholarship and education
- legal issues and market regulations concerning digital games
- non-digital games in Central and Eastern Europe – LARP, tabletop and card games
Please submit abstracts using Easychair at the following link:
https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ceegs2014
Following the acceptance, we will provide letters of invitation when requested. For any inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us at ceegs@gamestudies.cz.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Abstract submission: May 12 (length: 500 words)
Notification: June 12
Early bird registration deadline: August 31, 2014
Conference: 10-11 October 2014
Conference fee: 40 euro / Early bird: 30 euro
Conference fee for students: 20 euro / Early bird: 10 euro
Conference Program Committee:
Jaroslav Švelch, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic (program coordinator); Jan Miškov, MU Game Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Piotr Sitarski, University of Łódź, Poland; Zsófia Ruttkay, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest; Zdenko Mago, Constantin The Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia; Jakub Macek, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Sabine Harrer, University of Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Keynote speaker:
Espen Aarseth is a principal researcher at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen. Previously, he co-founded and was a professor at the Department of Humanistic Informatics at the Universiy of Bergen. Aarseth’s influential work includes his 1997 book Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature, which defined many theoretical questions which would later face game studies. After Cybertext, he went to be one of the key figures in the establishment of game studies as a discipline. In 2001, he co-founded the academic journal Game Studies and has since been its editor-in-chief.