Gamification: Shifting of Boundaries between the Ludic and the Non-Ludic

11. Mai 2021, 12.00 bis 13.00 Uhr ONLINE on MS Teams

Invited Lectures Series on Critical Data mit Mathias Fuchs.

Meeting Link: teams.microsoft.com
For connectivity problems, please contact davide.bevilacqua@ufg.at

Gamification: Shifting of Boundaries between the Ludic and the Non-Ludic
The notion of "gamification" seems to explain a plethora of phenmena in marketing, health, journalism, education and science. We might think of a gamified society, where every social activity from learning to dating can be conceived as a playful activity. There is however little research undertaken about how the dynamics of shifting borders between playfulness and seriousness have been, before we even started talking about gamification. Is gamification really a trend that started in 2011? Or have there been predigital precursors of gamification? The intention is to analyze gamification in a framework of Cultural Studies, History and Media Studies.

(German) Als populäres Schlagwort der Gegenwartsdiagnose hat „Gamification“ in Journalismus und Marketing, in Management, Gesundheitswesen und Wissenschaft Hochkonjunktur. Allerdings existiert so gut wie keine Forschung darüber, wie Grenzziehungen zwischen dem Spielerischen und dem Nichtspielerischen vor der angeblichen Stunde Null dieses Konzeptes verhandelt wurden und inwiefern es sich bei „Gamification“ tatsächlich ein neues und originäres Phänomen digitaler Kulturen handelt. Das Projekt unterzieht daher die Diagnose der „Gamification“ einer grundlegenden kulturhistorischen und medienwissenschaftlichen Kritik und Revision.

Mathias Fuchs
Mathias Fuchs is a game artist, musician and media scholar. He pioneered in the artistic use of computer games and exhibited work at ISEA, SIGGRAPH, transmediale and the Greenwich Millennium Dome. In 2012 he became a professor at Leuphana University in Lüneburg and is currently working at the Institute of Culture and Aesthetics of Media.

Publications include:
Phantasmal Spaces. Bloomsbury Academic 2019
Diversity of Play. meson press 2015
Weltentzug und Weltzerfall, in: Philosophical Perspectives on Play. Routledge 2015
Passagen des Spiels. (with E. Strouhal) Springer 2010