Player Studies - JKM207

• Anglický název: Player Studies
• Český název: Výzkum hráčů
• Podoba výuky: přednáška+seminář
• Zajišťuje: Katedra mediálních studií (23-KMS)
• Fakulta: Fakulta sociálních věd
• Platnost: od 2026
• Počet semestrů výuky: 1
• Semestr: zimní
• E-Kredity: 6
• Způsob provedení zkoušky: zimní s.:
• Rozsah, examinace: zimní s.:1/1, Zk [HT]
• Počet míst: 10 / 10 (10)
• Maximální kapacita předmětu: 10
• Minimální obsazenost: neomezen
• 4EU+: ne
• Virtuální mobilita / počet míst pro virtuální mobilitu: ne
• Stav předmětu: vyučován
• Jazyk výuky: angličtina
• Forma uskutečňování: prezenční
• Možnost opakovaného zápisu: 2 / 2 / 1 / 2
• Poznámka: předmět je možno zapsat mimo plán; povolen pro zápis po webu; při zápisu přednost, je-li ve stud. plánu
• Garant: doc. PhDr. Irena Reifová, Ph.D.; Mgr. Tereza Fousek Krobová, Ph.D.
• Vyučující: Mgr. Tereza Fousek Krobová, Ph.D.
• Třída: Courses for incoming students

Anotace

The course will not be taught in the academic year 2025/2026

This class explores the players, their motivations and strategies. The subject emphasizes the different demographic characteristics of players, which give rise to stereotypes that affect their specific position in gaming culture. Students will learn about different aspects of game culture and contradictory as well as complementary perspectives on its toxicity and freedom. The subject is also dedicated to describing the complicated and complex relationships between players and their avatars. The goal of the class is to equip students with the ability to critically assess various aspects of player culture - understanding why it's often perceived as toxic, homophobic, or male-dominated. Students will gain the capacity to reflect on players and their strategies from an intersectional perspective.

Poslední úprava: Bednařík Petr, PhDr., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)

Cíl předmětu

The goal of the class is to equip students with the ability to critically assess various aspects of player culture - understanding why it's often perceived as toxic, homophobic, or male-dominated. Students will gain the capacity to reflect on players and their strategies from an intersectional perspective. 

Poslední úprava: Fousek Krobová Tereza, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.08.2024)

Podmínky zakončení předmětu

Grades will be determined based on the following breakdown: 

• 20% for participation and engagement during classes (including discussions and small assignments) 

• 30% for completion of 3 minor assignments throughout the semester (10% each) 

• 50% for the final presentation on players (video game communities, strategies of players with specific demographic, etc.) 

Grading scale: A: 91–100, B: 81–90, C: 71–80, D: 61–70, E: 51–60, Fail: <50 

Assignment 1: Who Is the Player? 
Choose a specific group of video game players and, using academic literature, critically discuss its demographic characteristics, player typologies, and common stereotypes or assumptions about the group. (500–800 words) 

Assignment 2: Observing a Gaming Community 
Choose an online video game community and analyse how players interact, establish norms, negotiate belonging, and potentially reproduce or challenge forms of toxicity, exclusion, or gatekeeping. Use specific examples from the community. (500–800 words) 

Assignment 3: Players as Active Agents 
Choose a specific example of an alternative or subversive way of playing (e.g., cheating, modding, speedrunning, contra-gaming, or queering) and analyse what it reveals about the relationship between players, game rules, and gaming culture. (500–800 words)  

Final Presentation: Players in Context 
Choose a topic related to video game players, communities, or practices and develop an analytical case study based on relevant academic literature and concrete material. The presentation should include a research question, theoretical/contextual background, analysis, and conclusion. (10-minute presentation + 5-minute discussion) 

Poslední úprava: Fousek Krobová Tereza, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2026)

Literatura

Aarseth, Espen. 2009. A hollow world: World of Warcraft as spatial practice. In H. Corneliussen & J. Walker-Rettberg (Eds.), Digital culture, play and identity: A World of Warcraft reader (pp. 111–122). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 

Boellstorf, Tom 2008. Coming of age in Second Life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 

Condis, Megan. 2018. Gaming Masculinity: Trolls, Fake Geeks, and the Gendered Battle for Online Culture. Fandom & Cuture. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. 

Eklund, Linna. 2015. ‘Who Are the Casual Gamers? Gender Tropes and Tokenism in Game Culture.’ In Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape, edited by Tama Leaver and Michele Willson, 1st ed. Vol. 15–30. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501310591. 

Healey, Gareth. 2016. „Proving Grounds: Performing Masculine Identities in Call of Duty: Black Ops". Game Studides 16 (2). http://gamestudies.org/1602/articles/healey. 

Higgin, Tanner. 2009. Blackless Fantasy: The Disappearance of Race in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Games and Culture, 4(1), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412008325477 

Chandler, Adrianna L. 2019. „Gamer Speak: Analyzing Masculine Speech in Gaming Culture". CLA Journal, č. 7. 

Chang, Edmond Y. 2017. „Queergaming". In Queer Game Studies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 

Chess, Shira, Adrienne Shaw. 2015. „A Conspiracy of Fishes, or, How We Learned to Stop Worrying About #GamerGate and Embrace Hegemonic Masculinity". Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 59 (1): 208–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2014.999917. 

Kendall, Lori. 2002. Hanging out in the Virtual Pub: Masculinities and Relationships Online. Berkeley: University of California Press. 

Klevjer, Rune. 2006. What is the Avatar? Fiction and Embodiment in Avatar-Based Singleplayer Computer Games. Bergen: University of Bergen.  

Krzywinska, Tanya. 2009. World creation and lore: World of Warcraft as rich text. In H. Corneliussen & J. Walker-Rettberg (Eds.), Digital culture, play and identity: A World of Warcraft reader (pp. 123–142). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 

Paaßen, Benjamin, Thekla Morgenroth, and Michelle Stratemeyer. 2017. ‘What Is a True Gamer? The Male Gamer Stereotype and the Marginalization of Women in Video Game Culture’. Sex Roles 76 (7–8): 421–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0678-y. 

Pearce, Celia, and Artemesia. 2009. Communities of Play: Emergent Cultures in Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 

Ruberg, Bonnie. 2019. Video Games Have Always Been Queer. Postmillennial Pop. New York: New York University Press. 

Saldanha, L., da Silva, S. M., & Ferreira, P. D. (2023). “Community” in Video Game Communities. Games and Culture, 18(8), 1004-1022. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120221150058 

Scott, Suzanne. 2019. Fake Geek Girls: Fandom, Gender, and the Convergence Culture Industry. Critical Cultural Communication. New York: New York University Press. 

Swalwell, Melanie, Helen Stuckey, and Angela Ndalianis, eds. 2017. Fans and Videogames: Histories, Fandom, Archives. Routledge Advances in Game Studies 9. New York: Routledge. 

Taylor, T. L. 2002. „Living Digitally: Embodiment in Virtual Worlds". In The Social Life of Avatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virual Enviroments. London: Springer-Verlag.  

Taylor, T.L. Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2006. 

The ESA. 2024. „2023 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry". The ESA. https://www.theesa.com/2023-essential-facts/ 

Turkle, Sherry. 1997. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. 1. Touchstone ed. A Touchstone Book. New York, NY: Touchstone. 

Yee, Nick. 2006.  "Motivations for Play in Online Games." CyberPsychology & Behavior 9, 6 (2006): 772-775. 

Yee, Nick. 2006. „The Demographics, Motivations, and Derived Experiences of Users of Massively Multi-User Online Graphical Environments". Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 15 (3): 309–29. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.15.3.309. 

Weber, R., U. Ritterfield, a A. Kostygina. 2012. „Aggression and Violence as Effects of Playing Violent Video Games?" In Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences, 347_361. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. 

Poslední úprava: Fousek Krobová Tereza, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.08.2024)

Sylabus

1. Introduction 
2. Players Demography, Player typologies 
3. (Online) video game Communities 
4. Playing video games: social or antisocial activity? 
5. Positive and negative effect of playing video games (violence, addiction) 
6. Toxicity of the Game Culture – basic concepts (dynamics of the culture) 
7. Toxicity of the Game Culture – sexism (gamergate), homophobia 
8. Subversive playing (contra gaming, cheating, queering) 
9. Players and avatars, identification 
10. Women and men playing video games – gender perspective (motivations, position in the culture, stereotypes, case studies) 
11. Children and video games, older adults and video games 
12. Final presentations
    

Current syllabus can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G32eOoprH8513WoQxOTAOomxKTmQzgHe0Mz5mRnlMok/edit?usp=sharing

Poslední úprava: Fousek Krobová Tereza, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2026)