http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39100 Thu, 23 May 2013 09:36:56 GMT 2013-05-23T09:36:56Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59733 Double play : athletes' use of sport video games to enhance athletic performance Silberman, Lauren (Lauren Beth) A design feature of contemporary sport video games allows elite athletes to play as themselves in life-like representations of actual sporting events. The relation between playing sport video games and actual physical performance has not yet been established. Drawing on data from interviews and observations of elite athletes playing sport video games, this thesis explores why elite athletes are playing these video games as their virtual selves, and establishes a framework for understanding how this play may enhance learning opportunities. Building on theories based in the disciplines of psychoanalysis, education, and neuroscience, this thesis argues that virtual play by athletes playing as themselves in sport video games has the potential to support and encourage physical performance. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, February 2010.; "October 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-94). Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59733 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59732 Dis/locating audience : transnational media flows and the online circulation of East Asian television drama Li, Xiaochang, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology It is commonly accepted that media and communication technologies play pivotal roles in the complex processes of what is broadly termed "globalization." The increasing speed, volume, and scale of transnational circulation has been one of the most dramatic development in the media landscape, creating what Appadurai has dubbed global "mediascapes" that are reshaping the way we understand cultural formation. While the rise of massive global commercial media enterprises leads to renewed discussion of the dominance of the "West" upon the "Rest," the increasing portability, transmitability, and reproducibility of media has helped to generate a grassroots globalization of migrant populations who circulate and engage with media from the "homeland," creating deterritorialized social imaginaries that transcend national boundaries. In examining the flourishing online fandom around the circulation of East Asian television drama, however, the established models of transnational media audiences prove insufficient. With the emergence of internet technologies, these mediascapes have now become networked, increasing the visibility and complexity of transnational media flows and the audiences around them. No longer are we seeing transnational media flows through only commercial markets or diasporic audiences seeking to connect with a virtual "home." In the online circulation of East Asian television dramas, fans with a broad range of cultural, ethnic, and national backgrounds are consciously working to shape audience engagement with these transnational television texts through fansubbing, content aggregation and curation, and the production of vast reservoirs of information, discourse, and meta-data that is constantly being expanded. More importantly, they are doing so publicly, collaboratively, and outside the domain of commercial television markets. enabling individuals to participate in the selection, (re)production, and circulation of texts and images that shape the very social imaginaries they inhabit. This work draws on insights from work on globalization, diasporic media use, fan and audience studies, and new media and employs various ethnographic, textual, and theoretical strategies and stances in an effort to illuminate key dimensions of these collaborative grassroutes of transnational media. What manner of cultural encounters are taking place within the interplay between diasporic conditions and fan practices? How do the circulation and consumption practices afforded by new media technologies inform, and can in turn be informed by, the conditions of global media audienceship? From there we may begin to remap some of complex social, technological, and textual entanglements of cultural negotiation in an increasingly global media age. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2009.; "September 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-126). Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59732 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59731 Not just in it to win it : inclusive game play in an MIT dorm Kolos, Hillary (Hillary Anne) The recent increase in digital gaming players and platforms does not imply that digital gaming is as inclusive as it could be. There are still gaps in participation that, if left unaddressed, will exclude groups who have been historically marginalized. Women are among those individuals most vulnerable to exclusion from gaming. In order to better understand the motivations and practices of female players, this study focuses on a group of undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who have created a community that plays digital and non-digital games together and includes women. The research was conducted over eight months using interviews and participant observations. The study concludes that there are interrelated factors at the group, game play, and individual levels that influence this particular community's inclusiveness. These factors include how the community values the play process over who wins or loses a game, uses games as facilitators of playful socializing, and negotiates their identities in relation to the "gamer" stereotype. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-136). Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59731 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59730 Laugh out loud in real life : women's humor and fan identity Klink, Madeline LeNore The emerging field of fan studies has, until recently, been defined only by the research that has taken place within it. Almost universally, this research focuses on self-identified fans. However, scholars are beginning to examine and debate what the limits of the field should be. This study argues that self-identified fans are not the only group that ought to be examined under the heading of fan studies. It also highlights the fact that humor is rarely discussed in fan studies, and argues that this is a major lacuna. In order to accomplish these goals, this study turns to three examples. The first example is an online discussion community for the Twilight novels, Twatlight, which does not define itself as a fan community but nevertheless exhibits all the characteristics of a fan community and is in conversation with self-identified fan communities. The second example is humorous images produced by the Twatlight community, which use jokes to make serious arguments about the Twilight books. The third example is humorous fan vids produced within the mainstream media fandom vidding community; fan vids have been traditionally treated by fan studies as purely melodramatic artworks. The study concludes that fan studies should define itself as the study of people who are affectively engaged with texts in the context of critical communities. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-91). Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59730 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z