Week 1 – Avatars & Psychology/Self Representation
- The Psychology of Video Game Avatars
- Virtual Worlds are Real
- Touching online funerals that gamers hold for friends they have never met
- Controlling vs “Being” Your Video Game Avatar
- Rethinking Agency and Immersion: Videogames as a Means of Consciousness-Raising
Week 2 – Avatars & Ethics/Ownership
- Athletes & Video Games: Balancing Publicity Rights and the First Amendment
- Hollywood’s Post-Biological Future: Where Actors Can Perform After Death
- ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ — A New Hope (For Deceased Actors)
Week 3 – Avatars & Gender
- Internetting With Amanda Hess – Welcome Our New Fembot Overlords
- How Video Game Breasts Are Made (And Why They Can Go Wrong)
- Gender Accessibility in User Interfaces (Videogames and Beyond)
- Becoming Dragon: A mixed reality, durational performance in Second Life
- You can skip the technical part of this reading unless it interests you.
Week 4 – Avatars & Violence
- Confronting the “Shocking” Virtual-Reality Artwork at the Whitney Biennial
- GTA V Has A Big YouTube Scene Dedicated To The Most Brutal Kills
- The Truth About Video Games and Gun Violence
- Modders Keep Finding Ways To Make GTA V’s Violence More Intense
Week 5 – Avatars & The Future
Week 6 – Avatars & Race