Video Games and Religious Studies with Greg Grieve
Channel: Religious Studies Project
Date: 15/02/2016

If video games once struggled for legitimacy as a cultural product, today they are both business and art. The business of video games is booming, and increasingly the art of video games is turning to religious themes as not just inspiration but as central plot elements. Games now involve moral decision, rely on invented religions, allow users to create and experience virtual religious spaces, and much more. Students often come to video games in need to critical tools to move beyond play to critical thinking with/about games, but Grieve's laboratory methods create miniature experimental situations for students to assess gaming content alongside the gaming experience. Like many other technical tools, games in the classroom require not just some elements of hardware but also new techniques, methods, and theoretical models. This is challenging, yes, but in Greive's opinion the hurdles are well-worth the results: invested students, powerful classroom experiences, and content that is as diverse and rich as any other popular culture materials.