Moorpark College’s game design department will welcome Marientina Gotsis to speak about how video games and personal wellness intersect in today’s culture and in the future.
Marientina Gotsis, research assistant professor of interactive media and games and director of the USC Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center, will speak regarding “Living, Loving, Dying in Games & Virtual Reality” on Thursday, April 14, at 1 p.m. in PS 202.
The hour-long lecture will cover the most promising directions in games and virtual reality for health, living and wellness as well as ethical challenges for future makers, consumers, observers and interventionists using technology and storytelling, said Gotsis.
“I hope the talk will provide inspiration and intellectual challenge to the students to move beyond conventional thinking about wellness,” said Gotsis. “I chose this topic because it is what interests me the most and I taught a practicum class in the fall of 2015 with a trans-disciplinary team of students on this topic, and it was profoundly moving and enjoyable. I have never laughed and cried as much in a class.”
Tim Samoff, instructor of game design and multimedia, found Gotsis through Bonnie Ruberg, who’s well-known for her research and work on issues of gender and sexuality in digital cultures. Ruberg recommended Gotsis because of her work combining media, games and health, said Samoff.
Gotsis is a generalist designer with core training in virtual reality. She learned game design while working at the number one game designing program in the country since 2004 and received her Master in Fine Arts in Electronic Visualization from the University of Illinois.
Samoff hopes to fill the lecture with students from all disciplines, since he believes video games tie in with human development.
“Games are more than just trivial pastimes that provide a mean of escape and entertainment,” said Samoff. “Games are another form of human behavior. Understanding how games help, hinder, advance or stunt our growth as human beings is an important venture. It requires input from all disciplines, not just from those who enjoy playing and making games.”
With the launch of the new game designing program at Moorpark College, Samoff feels there’s no better time to invite the greater community into this discussion.
“My hope is that Marientina’s talk opens eyes, forces people to think more deeply and acts as a catalyst for communication around these and other pertinent game-related topics,” Samoff said.
Gotsis also hopes to inspire students by showing emerging examples of how games and virtual reality can provide great opportunities for improving the human condition.
“I think this will be beneficial to all students living with technology who are pursuing creative work,” said Gotsis. “I hope it could inspire some new career directions, or provide some artistic inspiration to the students.”
Gotsis recommends attendees to come with an accepting outlook because by doing so people can learn to conceptualize.
“Come with an open mind to new directions of how you apply your creative and technical skills,” said Gotsis. “The world needs informed designers desperately to imagine and problem-solve the big challenges that lie ahead.”
