Event Description

ITU Copenhagen and the ERC Making Sense of Games research project are proud to host their first Character Seminar. The aim of the Character Seminar is to take preliminary steps towards a general field of character studies. While the focus of the MSG project is on characters in games, the Character Seminar aims for a more generalized perspective. The seminar examines characters from many different cultural genres, including games, literature, television, film, comics, historiography, news, sports, and more. A host of cross-disciplinary experts researching characters are invited to participate, including Susana Tosca (Roskilde University), Lukas R. A. Wilde (Tübingen University), Joleen Blom (IT University of Copenhagen), Hans-Joachim Backe (IT University of Copenhagen), Jan-Noël Thon (University of Bergen), Paolo Bertetti (University of Siena), Fredrik Breien (University of Bergen), Nicolle Lamerichs (Utrecht University), James Phelan (Ohio State University), Ida Broni Christensen (IT University of Copenhagen), and Espen Aarseth (IT University of Copenhagen).

Program

Thursday October 31st
10:30 – 11:00
OPENING

11:00 – 12:00
SESSION 1

Susana Tosca
“The many faces of Toshizō Hijikata.
A performative transmedial character in Hakuoki fan fiction”

Lukas R.A. Wilde
“Interacting with Mascot Characters:
From Representation to Assemblage Theory”

12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch

13:00 – 14:00
SESSION 2

Joleen Blom
“The Construction of Game Characters”

Hans-Joachim Backe
“Horsemen, Spacemen, and Cavemen
On Composite Avatars”

14:00 – 14:30 – Break

14:30 – 15:30
SESSION 3

Jan-Noël Thon
“Transmedia Figures/Transmedia Characters:
Drawing Distinctions and Staging Re-Entries”

Paolo Bertetti
“The contribution of Semiotics to a transmedia theory of Character”

Friday November 1st

11:00 – 12:00
SESSION 4

Fredrik Sundt Breien
“Testing and Evaluating a Ludo-Narrative Design Process
to Optimize Positive Effects from Narratives
in Digital Game-Based Learning”

Nicolle Lamerichs
“Feelings and Characters:
A Framework for Affective Reception and Play”

12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch

13:00 – 14:00
SESSION 5

James Phelan
“Character as Rhetorical Resource:
Mimetic, Thematic, and Synthetic in Fiction and Non-Fiction”

Ida Broni Christensen
” ”Right-Hand Pixels”:
Controlling Companion Characters
in Single-Player, Quest-Based Videogames”

14:00 – 14:30 – Break

14:30 – 15:00
SESSION 6

Espen Aarseth
“Characters without Signifiers”15:00

CLOSING REMARKS