Submitted by Paul Bouckaert
University of Utrecht, Faculty of Arts, Department of New Media and Digital Culture organizes the inaugural world conference in digital games research. The conference will be the first official event of the new Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA). The Department of New Media and Digital Culture is collaborating closely with DiGRA, the Research Institute for History and Culture, the Institute for Media and Re/presentation (TFT & CIW), our sponsors like EA and Nintendo, and numerous other academic and non-academic partners in the conference implementation.
The conference aims to promote high-quality research of games, recognition of game studies as an academic field of enquiry, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration in games research, design and development. Level Up will include keynote lectures, paper sessions, symposia, workshops, poster presentations, a Gamefest, an exhibition (titled Gamescape) and numerous social events.
Level Up will take place 4-6 November 2003.
Games research and the University of Utrecht
The Digital Games Research Association was founded in 2003 to promote worldwide recognition of games research as an academic field of enquiry. The University of Utrecht, which offers a masters degree in Digital Media, was closely involved in the foundation of DiGRA and is host to this worldwide conference. [same paragraph With the organisation of Level Up, the University of Utrecht is able to share its interest and knowledge on the subject with a broad audience.
The conference will be complemented by various social events, including the Gamefest, a LAN-party, and the exhibition Gamescape. Games research is more than just studying... it involves playing, active participation, and a source of inspiration for artists as well as commercial advertisers.
Games research in the Netherlands
One of the most important game researchers is the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, who wrote the classic book Homo Ludens in 1938, about how culture can be regarded upon as a game. In hosting this conference, we continue the Dutch contribution to games research.
That is why the University of Utrecht wants to make this an experimental, dynamic, inspiring and fresh event. The energy will speak for itself in the conference program in which all the different views on the medium will be shown, but especially in the Gamefest and the Gamescape exhibition. There will also be emphasis on the games industry, acknowledging the importance of a partnership between games and education.
There are sponsorship possibilities for this first large-scaled international games conference, jointly organized by DIGRA (Digital Games Research Association, www.digra.org) and Utrecht University (www.uu.nl). You can profile your company with this active, knowledgeable audience by becoming a sponsor of one or more parts of Level Up.
If you are interested in sponsorship or if you have any questions please contact our conference chair at joost.raessens@let.uu.nl,
We hope to welcome you in The Netherlands in November!
Kind regards,
Level up Games conference team,
Paul Bouckaert, press@gamesconference.org