Expert Steph puts video gaming at centre of global conference
A Sunderland University gaming expert who launched an innovative new network after being inspired by digital play’s power to educate, is staging an international conference.
Steph Farnsworth – the brains behind Multiplay, a platform for education researchers, sociologists and media and gaming scholars – aims to connect with researchers from across the globe at the online event on January 19.
Steph, 31, is studying a gaming PhD at the university.
She said: "It’s all about sharing expertise. We've got amazing academics on board, who have been researching games for years and people working in the games industry, talking about how games can connect with a sense of identity.
“There will be speakers from around the world – the UK, Mexico, Ghana, and America. Different voices giving different ideas about how video games can challenge or confront the different power dynamics in society.”
She added: “We're also hoping to provide a new and refreshing take on what games studies can be.
“We want to show that games studies are invaluable. Our aim is always to create new opportunities for anyone interested in researching video games.”
Also speaking at the event is Sunderland media and cultural
studies MA graduate, Lisa Meek.
The 27-year-old, from
County Durham, is aiming to start her gaming PhD at the university this year, said:
“Video games are a key form of media and central to daily life. Most people game and it doesn’t have to be on a top of the range PC or a new series of console – it can just be playing Candy Crush on your phone while you’re on the bus.
“Video games both influence and are influenced by culture and deserve to get the same kind of attention in academia as other forms of media like film, radio and TV.”
Lee Hall, Head of the School of Media and Communications at the University of Sunderland, said: “Games are not just a popular leisure activity, but a dominant medium in the lives of many people.
“There is a growing strand of research in gaming at the university and this conference provides a focal point for discussion as Steph and her colleagues build the Multiplay network.”