By Roger Coda
The “call for papers” is being issued to students and faculty spanning virtually all disciplines to participate in this year’s American Studies Symposium, whose theme is the American Play Ethic, March 22-24.
“Our intention is to bring together faculty and students from different disciplines, and the general public, for enlivening exchange on how certain leisure, play and gaming activities shape and define American identity and culture,” said Shannon McRae, associate professor and coordinator of American Studies INDS.
Few topics offer as much potential to stimulate interdisciplinary interaction as this year’s theme.
The concept of play includes games and gaming, McRae explained, which can encompass mathematics and other sciences, as seen in game theory and biological modeling, or political and social sciences, as shown in foreign policy and the notion of zero-sum games, or the psychology of gambling.
“To a significant extent, play and gaming drives our economy in ways that can also be examined from a multidisciplinary perspective: the art, science and psychology of playing the stock market, for example. Video games, which require coding, graphics and the construction of narrative, merge computer science, visual arts, and English, and marketing them involves economics, business and communications,” McRae said.
Play, as a concept, involves theatrical productions, which includes improvisation – also a type of game. Play is also relevant in historical, anthropological or psychological studies of American rituals, customs and behavior, as well as physical education and sports management.
Moreover, it has implications for education theory and practice. For composers, such as 20th century American musician and artist John Cage, music represents games played by musicians, both as art and strategy.
William Gleason, associate professor of English at Princeton University and author of “The Leisure Ethic: Work and Play in American Literature, 1840-1940,” will open the convocation with the keynote address Thursday. The program will be held 4 to 6 p.m., with Gleason’s address starting at 4:30 p.m., at 209 McEwen. A light reception will follow.
An interdisciplinary faculty panel, student presentations and poster sessions, along an award for the best theme-related project and other activities, will be staged Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Horizon Room. Faculty proposals should be a 20-minute talk; student proposals can consist of a talk, a project or an individual or group activity. A cash prize will be awarded for the best student project.
All proposals should be submitted to Shannon McRae, Department of English, mcrae@fredonia.edu, 257 Fenton, by Feb. 20.
Numerous activities for students will be staged Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at various locations. Individual students and organizations from all majors are invited to propose activities for Saturday that fall within the symposium theme. These can also be sent electronically to mcrae@fredonia.edu or submitted in hard-copy form to 257 Fenton.
Faculty and staff are also invited to offer vintage toys or games that may be tucked away in their homes for display during the three-day event.
The American Studies Symposium is sponsored by INDS and supported through campus' Convocation Committee and the Mary Louise White Foundation. All of these events are free and open to the public.
