shinobi602
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Rice University teaching course on....Skyrim.....
- Thread starter shinobi602
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GarthVaderUK
Banned
That's actually pretty cool.
That is a highly ignorant statement.
shinobi602
Member
Rice? lol
:lol wut
Sarcasm?
Gareth Bale
Member
Read a book, do a fetch quest. You can do that at home.
No? It'll probably function like a literature or humanities course except Skyrim will be used as a legitimate source.
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Elder Scrolls has enough to lore to warrant a course, ya know.
Anyways, I'm off to scan Dorritos bags at 7-11.
Anyways, I'm off to scan Dorritos bags at 7-11.
Phoenix's Rage
Neo Member
Rodney McKay
Member
"This course has two goals: To take your money, and advertise Rice University as a school wat am hip wit teh gamerz."
Rice alum here. I thought that was going to be one of the bullshit courses that get offered by the residential colleges (each Princeton style "dormitory" gets to offer one class a year) but I was shocked it was actually from the English department and a 300 level class. I think it was Sid Rich who always offered the beer tasting course.
I like the UT avatar's comments and the other responders not getting it.
I like the UT avatar's comments and the other responders not getting it.
CambriaRising
Member
"How not to build an engine"
somuchwater
Member
Huh, sounds interesting.
What I'd love to hear someone talk about is the (underlying?) nostalgia in the affection for Norse or Anglo-Saxon mythology - i.e. the bad guys are dark and ugly, the good guys are fair and elvish, and the women are often ornamental.
Actually, come to think of it, that's probably been said a thousand times. But it'd be interesting to think about why games/fantasy specifically exhibit that nostalgia.
What I'd love to hear someone talk about is the (underlying?) nostalgia in the affection for Norse or Anglo-Saxon mythology - i.e. the bad guys are dark and ugly, the good guys are fair and elvish, and the women are often ornamental.
Actually, come to think of it, that's probably been said a thousand times. But it'd be interesting to think about why games/fantasy specifically exhibit that nostalgia.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
Shoulda used Witcher.
Rice has 3 categories of classes:STEM, humanities, and social sciences. If your major is in STEM, you have to complete a certain number of hours in humanities and social sciences. It is the Rice version of a liberal arts core curriculum. Basically, I am agreeing with you.
should have been Dark Souls. 90% of the class fails and there's no curve.
Baaahahaha!
I'm guessing you're a jealous Longhorn student?
Could be =P
Just checking if international GAF have heard of Rice.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
10 page thesis on Skyrim and the perception of females in games.
They should pick a more all-encompassing game like Devil May Cry.
Gothic architecture, political satire, shakespeare, greek and roman mythology, contemporary fashion, the aesthetics of murder, e.t.c.
They should pick a more all-encompassing game like Devil May Cry.
Gothic architecture, political satire, shakespeare, greek and roman mythology, contemporary fashion, the aesthetics of murder, e.t.c.
Avatar quote. Longhorn lol.
Rice is pretty spectacular.
EDIT: I see that you were in jest!
Damn
Yeah, I really don't see the issue here. For their purposes, Skyrim is a perfectly acceptable source. And hey, if it's more likely to engage students with the work, there's nothing wrong with that.
If this is sarcasm, a literature class about Scandinavian fantasy and lore probably wouldn't make you competitive in the global workforce anyway. Why not make it better with Skyrim?
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
This reminds me of a course in philosophy back around 2001 that used the Matrix for one semester to try and get concepts through to people. It wasn't a crappy university or anything. It was merely an attempt to use something from popular culture that most of the young adults understood.
Ace Harding
Member
"I couldn't finish my homework because the quest is bugged - the NPC just stands there and won't give me any dialogue options."
"Did you reload a previous save?"
"Professor, to reload to a point before that quest bugged I would have to lose 25 hours of work!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't give you credit for the work. As an alternative, for extra credit you need to build a complete manor, with all wings complete and fully decorated. Then write an essay on the family dynamics in Skyrim society, including the adoption process and the interaction between your spouse and adopted children, and how this contrasts with medieval Scandinavian societies. Then write 200 words on the advantages and disadvantages of the crossbow versus traditional bows, and what you would change to make these weapons historically accurate."
"What?! The DLC wasn't on the syllabus!"
"Take it up with the dean, adventurer."
"Did you reload a previous save?"
"Professor, to reload to a point before that quest bugged I would have to lose 25 hours of work!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't give you credit for the work. As an alternative, for extra credit you need to build a complete manor, with all wings complete and fully decorated. Then write an essay on the family dynamics in Skyrim society, including the adoption process and the interaction between your spouse and adopted children, and how this contrasts with medieval Scandinavian societies. Then write 200 words on the advantages and disadvantages of the crossbow versus traditional bows, and what you would change to make these weapons historically accurate."
"What?! The DLC wasn't on the syllabus!"
"Take it up with the dean, adventurer."
WiiredShawn
Member
Considering I just finished my Master's paper on treating videogames as textual discourse, I have to say this seems pretty interesting - and it's personally cool to see it coming out of my field (English).
It's a little weird to see people who spend likely above-average amounts of time on videogames being skeptical of a game's thematic potential. Regardless of what you think of Skyrim as a commercial product, its representations and lore might make a useful launching pad for a broader academic discussion, which seems to be the point of such a course. Also, I think it's important to work through some of the pragmatic classroom issues that Fong Ghoul implies, such as students' varying skill levels, appropriate difficulty settings, free vs. guided exploration, etc.
It's a little weird to see people who spend likely above-average amounts of time on videogames being skeptical of a game's thematic potential. Regardless of what you think of Skyrim as a commercial product, its representations and lore might make a useful launching pad for a broader academic discussion, which seems to be the point of such a course. Also, I think it's important to work through some of the pragmatic classroom issues that Fong Ghoul implies, such as students' varying skill levels, appropriate difficulty settings, free vs. guided exploration, etc.
Point well made!
No, but this attitude is exactly what's wrong with higher education in America. College proper should be a place for purely intellectual excercises such as this, not trade school. Since college is now the norm we have way too many average kids flooding our universities, looking for job placement, instead of doing internships or going into trade programs, technical schools or community colleges.
Grinchy
Banned
That's about how college normally feels.
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