Working Paper seminar for Game Jam Research(ers)
Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
11.-12. June 2019
During the past decade game jams have become an important part of game industry ecosystems. As thousands of games are created in a wide variety of jams annually, these game creation events have become increasingly important sites for various game makers. Game jams are fostering diverse local scenes and cultures, are part of commercial game development, provide an outlet for divergent thinking in games, and create spaces for collaborative game art. The phenomenon of “jamming” is connected to a wider trend of maker cultures and learning-by-doing and are thus a multifaceted educational tool. Furthermore, game jams have also been used as a platform for research. Yet as a phenomenon of its own game jams remain woefully understudied.
Jamology 2019 is a working paper seminar for game jam researchers. We are driven to facilitate collaboration on game jam research and encourage junior and seasoned game scholars alike to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on game jams. Additionally our aim is to facilitate discussion among the researchers, students, jammers and jamtivists interested in all issues related to game jams, their use, and the cultures around them.
Jamology 2019 is organized by Aalto University, Tampere University, and the Growing Mind research project. The seminar emphasises work-in-progress submissions, and we strongly encourage submitting late breaking results, working papers, as well as submissions from graduate and PhD students. The purpose of the seminar is to have peer-to-peer discussions and thereby provide support in refining and improving research work in this area. The format of the seminar follows the legendary Spring Seminar format of University of Tampere Game Research Lab. The papers to be presented will be chosen based on extended abstract review and full papers are distributed prior the event to all participants to facilitate discussion. Jamology is organized in collaboration with Jam Jam Festival and the Center of Excellence in Game Culture Studies.
They invite abstract submissions on various topics, including, but not limited to:
- Game jams and creativity
- Game jams and learning
- Game jam communities
- The impact of game jams
- Analysis of jam games
- Game Jam theory
- Studies on the organizers of game jams
- Online game jams and physical game jams
- Ethnocultural issues and game jams
- Gender and queer studies & game jams
- Different jam methods
- Reports and reflections on jams
- Game jam ideas and concepts for new game jams
- Other events related to game jams (hackathons, game development workshops and competitions, streamed game development, etc.)
The seminar will be chaired by Dr. Annakaisa Kultima, and there will be invited expert commentators. The seminar will be held at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland. Participation to the seminar is free of charge, but the seats are limited. Registration will be opened in April 2, 2019.
Submission guidelines
The papers will be selected for presentation based on extended abstracts of 500-1000 words (plus references). Abstracts should be delivered in PDF format. Please use 12 pt Times New Roman for your text. Full paper guidelines will be provided with the notification of acceptance. Our aim is that all participants can familiarise themselves with the papers in advance. Therefore, the maximum length for a full paper is 5000 words (plus references). The seminar presentations should encourage discussion, instead of repeating the information presented in the papers. Every paper will be presented for 10 minutes and discussed for 20 minutes.
Submissions should be sent to: jamologyseminar@gmail.com
Important dates:
- Abstract deadline: April 11, 2019
- Notification of acceptance: April 18, 2019
- Full Paper deadline: May 21, 2019
- Seminar days: June 11-12, 2019