*** Video of the conversation is available HERE. ***
Games, Public Policy, and the Pandemic
A strikingly large number of Americans are now subject to shelter-in-place orders. Many will turn to games to pass the time with family and friends, whether in person or online. The games that they play, and the ways in which they exercise their agency in doing so, have broader political and social significance than might at first be apparent.
In this conversation with Simone Gubler (UNC), C. Thi Nguyen (Utah Valley University/University of Utah) will discuss some of the lessons that we can derive from our game-playing activity – drawing on work from his forthcoming book, Games: Agency as Art (Oxford University Press), as well as on related publications in Mind and Philosophical Review. Special attention will be given to the ways in which game-like practices and online technologies can shape popular values and public policy – especially in the present context, as people around the world struggle to come to terms with one of the most significant and global public policy challenges in living memory.