GERST 1118

GERST 1118

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2020-2021.

Why do we play games and why do we have fun with them? What makes us winners and losers? This course will explore various approaches to games and humans at play. We will try to understand why people play and why they prefer some games to others. Interdisciplinary in nature, the class will offer readings from areas of sociology, psychology, history, mathematics, and cultural studies (just to name a few). By reading and analyzing and playing with Nabokov, Hesse, Zweig, Berne, Huizinga, and Schenkel we will make connections between games, national identity, gender, class, and intelligence, and will construct arguments about various scholarly and fictional written and cinematic texts.

When Offered Fall or Spring.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

Comments No knowledge of German is expected.

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 18457 GERST 1118   SEM 101

    • MW Online Meeting
    • Feb 8 - May 14, 2021
    • Pirozhenko, E

  • Instruction Mode: Online
    For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.