Game & IDN DiGRA Italia Talks

The “Complex Artefact and System Design Studio” of the MSc in Communication Design (School of Design, Politecnico di Milano) is proud to host new chapters from the 2024 DiGRA Italia Talks Series.

A new series of open lectures on Interactive Transmedia Narrative and Game Studies “Game & IDN DiGRA Italia Talks", organised by Ilaria Mariani and Mariana Ciancia, with DiGRA Italia.

Lecturer:
Dr. Hartmut Koenitz is a scholar, designer, and artist. He explores ways to use narrative and the interactive digital medium together to better understand the complex world of the 21st century, the project behind his latest books “Understanding Interactive Digital Narratives”. Koenitz connects theoretical insight with practical application and is concerned with the theory, practice, education and societal impact of interactive narratives and games. Hartmut Koenitz is Full Professor in Media Technology at Södertörn University in Sweden, a visiting researcher at the University of Amsterdam, and a visiting research fellow at Trinity College Dublin. He has published over 90 scholarly publications including the co-edited volume Interactive Digital Narrative – history, theory and practice (Routledge 2015). Koenitz is the chair of the EU COST Action 18230 INDCOR (Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representations) and the president of ARDIN, the Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives which runs the International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS). He is also the editor-in-chief of the upcoming Journal for Interactive Narrative (co-published by ARDIN and ETC Press). He is also a visual artist, and his works have been shown in Atlanta, Paris, Istanbul, Seoul, Copenhagen and Porto.

Topic:
This lecture delves into the core issues and developments in the study and application of Interactive Digital Narratives, presenting key findings and theories discussed in the book "Understanding Interactive Digital Narrative. Immersive Expressions for a Complex Time" by Hartmut Koenitz. The lecture will offer a clear, critical evaluation of the major discussions that have shaped the field over the past three decades, exploring the context and evolution of IDN across various disciplines, including game design, media studies, and narratology. The discourse will also address common misconceptions and introduce a new conceptual framework influenced by cybernetics and cognitive narratology to better understand and apply principles of IDN in modern media. Finally, the lecture will identify representation of complex issues (e.g. climate change and migration) as a crucial application area for IDN with the potential of positive societal effects.

More info and a sneak peek of the book here.

The lecture can be accessed upon registration at this link.

Next lectures from the 2024 Game & IDN Talks series:

• Stefano Gualeni & Riccardo Fassone “On Fictional Games” May 27, 2:15 - 3:15 pm CEST