Speaker:
Celia Pearce

Title:
Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: Exploring Research Methods

Abstract:
Dr. Celia Pearce, Associate Professor of Digital Media at Georgia Tech, will discuss her new book, co-authored with Tom Boellsorff, Bonnie Nardi and T.L. Taylor, Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method (Princeton 2012), a practical guide to conducting ethnographic research in multiplayer games and virtual worlds. Dr. Pearce will talk about some of the principles and methods presented in the book, especially the epistemological frameworks and understandings of the ethnographic tool kit, myths about ethnography, and specific applications of ethnographic approaches to the study of virtual worlds. Dr. Pearce will use examples from her own research as well as that of her co-authors to illustrate the use of ethnographic methods in virtual worlds. Signed copies of the book will be available.

Bio:
Celia Pearce is an award-winning game designer, author, researcher, teacher, curator and artist, specializing in multiplayer gaming and virtual worlds, independent, art, and alternative game genres, as well as games and gender. She is currently an Associate Professor of Digital Media in Georgia Tech’s School of Literature, Media and Communication, where she also directs the Experimental Game Lab and the Emergent Game Group. She is the author or co-author of numerous papers and book chapters, as well as The Interactive Book (Macmillan 1997) and Communities of Play: Emergent Cultures in Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds (MIT 2009). She is also a member of the GVU.