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CS886 | Virtual Humans, Games and Narrative Fall 2012 (TENTATIVE SYLLABUS)

Organizational Meeting:
Friday Sept 14 2012 1:00-4:00
DC2306C AI Conference Room/h3>
Copies of readings will be available on course reserve. Text books will be available on short term loan.

Course Overview

This course will be a graduate reading seminar on the related themes of virtual humans, persuasive language technologies, and narrative and storytelling in games. We will cover readings in linguistics, rhetoric, and narrative. Topics covered will include: models of rhetoric and persuasive language; persuasive games; the use of narrative and storytelling in games, including games for health; and the social benefits of virtual worlds in designing online therapeutic interventions.

Participants will be expected to read widely and in-depth, and to participate in a class project. Some background in Linguistics or Computational Linguistics (e.g., CS784 Computational Linguistics) may be helpful. Some basic knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (e.g., CS486/686 Artificial Intelligence) would be an asset, but is not necessary. Programming knowledge is not required for non-Computer Science students.

Evaluation of student performance will be based on the following criteria:

  • Participation (20%)
  • Weekly position papers (30%)
  • Class term paper (40%)
  • Final presentation (10%)

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    COURSE OUTLINE

    Organizational Meeting/Session 1: Narrative and Cognition in Virtual Environments

    Friday Sept 14 1:00-4:00 (HH ???)

    Janet H. Murray
    Hamlet on the holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace
    The MIT Press, 1998

    Readings:

    Part 1: A new medium for storytelling (Chapters 1-3)

    DC Library Short-term loan call number: UWD XXXX

     

    SESSIONS 2 to 4: Background: Narrative in Computer Storytelling

    Friday Sept 21 1:00-4:00

    Friday Sept 28 25 1:00-4:00

    ***READINGS from Lesley Northam***

    SESSIONS 5 to 8: Persuasive Games and Narrative Theory

    Session 5: Procedural Rhetoric

    Friday October 5 1:00-4:00

    Ian Bogost
    Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames
    The MIT Press, 2007

    DC Library Short-term loan call number: UWD XXXX


    Readings:

    Chapter 1

    Session 6: Learning

    Friday October 12 DC2306C

    Readings:

    Bogost, Chapter 8 (Procedural Literacy), Chapter 9 (Values and Aspirations), Chapter 10 (Exercise), Chapter 11 (Purposes of Persuasion)

    Session 7: Narrative Theory

    Friday October 19 DC2306C

    Readings:

    Readings from George Ross and Neil Randall

    SESSION 8: Health Rhetoric

    Friday October 26 DC2306C

    Readings:

    SESSION 9>: VIRTUAL HUMANS

    Friday November 2, 9, 16

    Readings:

    Demos of the Virtual Human Toolkit ***to be given by Lesley Northam ***