| ![]() |
|
|
|
a forum for the uses of videogames in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment
ABOUT About This Site - RSS Feed Ian Bogost (editor) Gonzalo Frasca (editor emeritus) SPONSORS
COMMUNITY
|
Knowledge is Nothing. Tenure is Everything. March 21, 2008 - by Ian Bogost Thanks to David Wessman on the IGDA Education SIG mailing list for pointing out Survival of the Witless, a card game about the academic tenure process. The title above was the game's tagline. It’s a brutal game, where the most common card is "ass-kissing" (to simulate the most common action in academia). Three to eight players try to collect enough writing cards and a contract to finish their book, and enough influence with committee members to win a tenure decision.
In addition to Ass Kissing, other cards you could play in the game included Seduction, Bold New Theory, Student Boycott, and Gossip Attack. There are more images on the Board Game Geek page linked above. But why, you might ask, did I tick the box for the educational category for this game? The chairman of the blue-ribbon panel reviewing the tenure system in Massachusetts bought two dozen and handed them out to the panelists, instructing them to play it. Several universities adopted it as part of their graduate student orientation, to display what sort of life they might expect after receiving their doctorates. And at least one case of adultery was exposed through play of the "Seduction" cards.
Unfortunately the game, originally published by Avalanche Press (scroll down), is out of print. Comment from jccalhoun on April 4, 2008
POST A COMMENT
|
SELF PROMOTION
New Journal: The Computer Game Education Review
RIT professor Stephen Jacobs is the editor-in-chief of a new journal, The Computer Game Education Review. Here's the blurb he ... You Drive Like an Old Man Insurance company Liberty Mutual has created Driver Seat, which they bill as "the world's first senior driving simulator." The game ... Games for Change: Documentary Games A bit late, I suppose, but I wanted to post my notes from the Documentary Games panel at last month's ... Humana's Games for Health Contest Humana's games for health division has announced a new contest, Insert Coin for game concepts that meet the broad goal ... Distraction, Comfort, Sedation I've known for some time that hospitals have used videogames for some time as experimental tools to help children relax ... Games for Change 2009: Nicholas Kristof Keynote Toilet Training for iPhone Bailout! the Board Game 1066 Guru Meditation for Atari and iPhone FAVORITES Does expression come in HD too?
Food Force
A Force More Complicated
PSP and Performance Intelligence
A Review of the Leapster
ALSO VISIT
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © Ian Bogost & Gonzalo Frasca, unless otherwise noted. Re-printing for commercial purposes by permission only (contact us: ). Re-printing for educational purposes is allowed with proper attribution. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||