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LTU conference to study GamerGate 10 years later; world-class speakers coming

April 10, 2024

SOUTHFIELD—A decade ago, the online controversy that became known as “GamerGate” exposed an ugly streak of misogyny and homophobia in the online gaming community.

Ten years later, what have we learned? How have things gotten better? What challenges remain?

A major national conference will be held in September at Lawrence Technological University to help answer those questions.

“Alt+F4: Rebooting Community After GamerGate” will be held on LTU’s Southfield campus Sept. 25-28. And excitement is building, given the caliber of speakers already lined up for the event.

Ahu Yolaç, assistant professor of game design in the LTU College of Architecture and Design, said planning for the event began last year. LTU’s College of Arts and Sciences initiated the planning, and the conference committee is led by Paul Jaussen, associate professor and chair of that College’s Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Communications. Other members from the College of Arts and Sciences are Hamad Al-Azary and Julia Kiernan, assistant professors in that department, Franco Delogu, associate professor in the department, and José González-Belmonte, assistant professor of practice in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, as well as Yolaç and Stephen Mallory from the College of Architecture and Design.

Yolaç said that like the committee, the issues raised by GamerGate are interdisciplinary, in that they raise issues in design, technology, social studies, game studies, and media studies.

In GamerGate, Yolaç said, “bad things happened. This event will show how we can use GamerGate as something we can learn from, how we can do better, how we can create a more positive environment. We intend to make this an exciting and inclusive event for scholars, students, game enthusiasts and anyone who is excited about games and the surrounding discourse.”

Scheduled keynote speakers for the conference include:

  • Kishonna L. Gray, PhD, associate professor in writing, rhetoric and digital studies and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky. She is an interdisciplinary, intersectional, digital media scholar whose areas of research include identity, performance and online environments, embodied deviance, cultural production, video games, and Black cyberfeminism.
  • Rachel Kowert, PhD, research psychologist, visiting professor at the University of York in the United Kingdom, and founder of Psychgeist, a multimedia content production studio for the science of games and pop culture. She is a world-renowned researcher on the uses and effects of digital games, including their impact on physical, social, and psychological well-being.
  • Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the award-winning “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games,” a critically acclaimed video series exploring the history of women’s representation in gaming that has garnered nearly 14 million views on YouTube alone. Her work as a media critic, public speaker, and filmmaker who thrives at the intersection of digital culture, accessibility, and social justice sparked a paradigm-shifting conversation about improving the representations of marginalized people in video games.

“Our speakers are rock stars in this environment,” Yolaç said. “I’m so excited about this event.”

Added Mallory: “I think what we’ve been able to accomplish in planning this event reflects really well on us as an institution.” He also said the conference will also reflect and be inclusive of the community, including game jams and community-facing game design events, and would be designed to attract everyone from teen gamers to career academics.

Sponsors for the event are still being sought. So are papers to be presented at the conference. For more information, visit https://www.ltu.edu/alt-f4.

Lawrence Tech offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in game design through its College of Architecture and Design, as well as a Bachelor of Science in computer science with a concentration in game software development. For more information on the BFA program, visit ltu.edu/game-design. For more information on the game software development program, visit ltu.edu/undergrad-comp-sci/game-dev.

Yolaç is a game studies researcher, game designer, and gamer. Her research interests are game design; game studies; gaming subculture; virtual environments; critical play; art, design, and technology in education; virtual spaces; and video games as critical pedagogical tools. She holds a PhD in Arts Education with a focus on game design and game studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an Master of Science in Industrial Design from Middle East Technical University, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior architecture and environmental design from Bilkent University, the latter two institutions in Turkey.

Mallory received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Texas Technological University and Master of Arts and PhD degrees from the University of Texas at Dallas. His research focuses on interactive technologies, American history, fascism, and the philosophy of technology, engaging how they work together to create warped representations of history that become codified into the body politic. Prior to earning his PhD, he worked for more than a decade making digital games. His work has been featured in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Section 8, Aeon Flux, Metal Slug: Anthology, Project Runway: The Video Game and Bloodrayne 2.

Jaussen received his PhD in English with a joint PhD in Theory and Criticism from the University of Washington. His research focuses on poetry and poetics, literary theory and criticism, modernism, contemporary literature, and the relationship between literature and technology. His works have appeared in New Literary History, Criticism, Comparative Literature, Journal of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Chicago Review, and ASAP/J, among others. He co-directs the Humanity+Technology lecture series at LTU, which has received funding support from the Michigan Humanities Council.

Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 private, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.2024

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Use Your Cell Phone as a Document Camera in Zoom

  • What you will need to have and do
  • Download the mobile Zoom app (either App Store or Google Play)
  • Have your phone plugged in
  • Set up video stand phone holder

From Computer

Log in and start your Zoom session with participants

From Phone

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  • Type in the Meeting ID and Join
  • Do not use phone audio option to avoid feedback
  • Select “share content” and “screen” to share your cell phone’s screen in your Zoom session
  • Select “start broadcast” from Zoom app. The home screen of your cell phone is now being shared with your participants.

To use your cell phone as a makeshift document camera

  • Open (swipe to switch apps) and select the camera app on your phone
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