[Air-L] CfP: Special Issue "Teaching with Games: Educational Gaming in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics" - gamevironments

[Lisa Kienzl]

Dear all,

If you are interested in "Teaching with Games: Educational Gaming in 
Religion, Philosophy and Ethics" please check out the CfP for the 
upcoming special issue edited by Tim Hutchings. The special issue will 
be published in the international peer-reviewed open-access journal 
GAMEVIRONMENTS.

Best wishes,

Lisa


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CALL FOR PAPERS

Special Issue GAMEVIRONMENTS

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Teaching with Games: Educational Gaming in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

edited by Tim Hutchings

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This special issue invites contributions that address the history and 
future of educational gaming, with particular attention to the fields of 
religious studies, theology, philosophy and ethics. While the 
representation and influence of religion in mainstream games has been 
studied extensively, we argue that much less attention has been paid to 
games developed specifically for the purpose of exploring religious, 
ethical and philosophical perspectives. This issue challenges that 
oversight, calling for fresh attention to the ways in which games and 
gaming have been adopted for didactic purposes within religious 
communities, ethical campaign groups, academic contexts and beyond. We 
invite discussion of any and all kinds of games, including videogames, 
boardgames and other game formats.

Since the 1980s, more than 1500 videogames have been created by and for 
religious communities, as demonstrated by the extraordinary archive 
produced by Vivian Gonzalez (http://www.religiousgames.org/). Videogames 
and playful virtual environments have also been produced by academic 
teams for educational purposes, from elaborate religious environments 
constructed in Second Life to new virtual reality settings that locate 
the user within religious and ethical situations. One pioneering example 
is The Durga Puja Mystery, an educational game created by Xenia Zeiler 
and Flying Robot Studios in 2020. Other games take a more questioning 
approach to religion and ethics, forcing players to reckon with the 
consequences of religious hypocrisy and spiritual abuse, or challenging 
players to wrestle with moral conundrums that threaten to compromise 
their values and commitments. What unites these games, and gives a 
shared focus to this special issue, is their intention to guide the 
player through a process of change and formation.

This special issue invites contributions in a wide range of formats. 
Peer-reviewed journal articles are welcomed, but we will also consider 
research reports, game reviews, interviews with game developers, reports 
from the classroom and reports on games currently under development. 
Potential authors are encouraged to contact the editor to discuss ideas 
for theme and format.


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Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects are welcome, including 
research informed by religious studies, philosophy and other humanities 
disciplines. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  * studies of games from all religious, spiritual or ethical traditions
  * games inspired by sacred texts and stories
  * games that promote social justice or social change
  * philosophical analysis of the ethics of educational/formational games
  * studies of discourses around gaming in religious or educational
    contexts
  * evaluation of the impact of educational games in religious or
    ethical settings
  * new trends and developments in educational or formative gaming
  * educational uses of innovative gaming technologies, including
    virtual reality
  * case studies of innovative educational games
  * reports on the use of games in the classroom

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SUBMISSION DETAILS

Journal articles should be 5-8000 words in length and will be subject to 
double-blind peer review. Reviews, interviews and other formats will be 
reviewed by the special issue editor. Submission guidelines can be found 
here and the journal style guide can be found here: 
https://www.gamevironments.uni-bremen.de/submission-guideline/.

There is no article processing charge.

Authors are encouraged to use images but will be required to request 
permission from copyright-holders when needed.

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TIMELINE

For all contributions, please submit a title, a 300-word abstract and a 
100-word biographical statement about each author. Send this to guest 
editor Tim Hutchings (tim.hutchings at nottingham.ac.uk) by 1 June 2022.

Abstract submission: 1 June 2022

Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 15 June 2022

Full text submission of all contributions: 15 December 2022


-- 
Dr. Dr. Lisa Kienzl

(sie/ihr | she/her)

Literaturen und Medien der Religion | Institut für Religionswissenschaft und Religionspädagogik
http://www.religion.uni-bremen.de

Lab "Media and Religion" | ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/zemki/labs/media-and-religion

Managing editor gamevironments
https://www.gamevironments.uni-bremen.de/

Universität Bremen
Sportturm (SpT)
Postfach 330 440
28359 Bremen
T. +49 (0)421 218 67912