*CFP* CALL FOR PROPOSALS, MULTIPLAY NETWORK'S FIRST CONFERENCE

MultiPlay Network 1st Conference

University of Sunderland (London)

19th January 2022

 

 

We have released a call for papers for MultiPlay network's first conference. MultiPlay is a new network for multidisciplinary research on digital play and games. It was created with the support of the University of Sunderland, which will be host our first event.

The theme of the conference is identity – how games shape identity, how gamers define themselves, how place and space in games can build a sense of identity, and how marginalised identities are depicted in games and can challenge or reinforce dominant power structures.

We are accepting submissions on this theme. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words, with an accompanying biography which should describe your fields of interest. We will respond to each applicant before October 1st to confirm whether their presentation proposal has been accepted.

Papers should be created for twenty minute presentations. There will be ten minutes allowed for questions at the end of each presentation. Harvard referencing should be used. Any papers that are presented during conference will be published on our blog, if the researcher, of course, consents to that. But they may choose to publish elsewhere and will retain all rights to their work.

We welcome presentations on the topics of (but not limited to):

• How games may help inform a person’s queer identity, or otherwise allow exploration of queerness
• How customisation options support/oppose representation
• Games as political protest
• Environments as a form of identity-building
• Where and when people choose to play games – and how it reflects their identity
• Games and consoles as spaces for disabled people
• The reinforcement of/ or resistance to colonialism in video games
• Has anything changed since Gamergate?
• Effective tactics that challenge bigotry/marginalisation in the gamer community
• The future of representation in video games
• Whether gaming brands exploit consumer attachment and how
• Twitch, misogyny and parasocial relationships

Please email your topic proposal, abstract and a short biography to networkmultiplay@gmail.com with the subject line ‘January Conference 2022’.

If you have any further questions about the submission process then please email us at networkmultiplay@gmail.com

Our first conference will be a hybrid event with online presentations and round tables, and an in-person networking event during the evening. The networking event will take place at The University of Sunderland. The in-person event may be subject to change due to the nature of the pandemic. We will release a timetable of the full day once submissions have been collected.

More information