Ropecon 2023 Academic Seminar

Important dates:
Abstract deadline: June 15, 2023 June 23, 2023
Notification of acceptance: June 25, 2023 June 28, 2023
Paper deadline: July 10, 2023
Academic Seminar: July 28, 2023

We live in a world that is changing faster and faster, with new ideas and technologies changing our cultural landscapes at an ever-growing speed. Games and the emergent subcultures around it are not immune to the change; whether it is about new trends in games themselves, the evolution of the player base, or gamification seeping into the mainstream cultures around us, change is ever present. While some subcultures and gaming conventions are built around resisting change, others immerse themselves in the fast cycles of transformation. The emergence of digital paratexts and tools around conventional gaming has been rapid, and in some case eclipsed the popularity of the source material, bringing new people to the gaming communities – and pushed for an evolution of the established traditions.

The topic of Ropecon 2023’s academic seminar, “Past and Future”, reflects the theme of Ropecon 2023. Whether about the past of games and game studies themselves, about the future trends that can be seen in today’s research, or anything else related to the past or future of tabletop, miniature, and board gaming, we welcome all paper submissions by scholars of all levels, from younger scholars and PhD candidates to more established researchers.

The seminar focuses on working papers, and the aim is to provide gaming scholars with tools and peer-to-peer discussion for developing and refining their papers further. Every paper will be presented for 10 minutes and discussed for 20 minutes. The sessions will be open for all Academic Ropecon ticket holders, but the presentations should be drafted with an academic audience in mind.

Submission guidelines

The papers to be presented will be chosen based on extended abstract review. The abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words (plus references). Abstracts should be delivered in PDF format. In order to facilitate discussion, full papers are distributed prior to the event to all participants. Though the majority of the seminar and discussion will be in English, paper submissions are also accepted in Finnish.

As per the main focus on Ropecon itself, the academic seminar accepts papers on inherently non-digital gaming: papers that discuss games, gaming, and the cultures around these on tabletop games, card games, miniature games are welcome, while papers discussing inherently digital games and gaming are not in the scope of this seminar. 

Their aim is that all participants can familiarize themselves with the papers in advance. Therefore, the maximum length for a full paper is 5000 words (plus references). The seminar presentations should encourage discussion instead of repeating the information presented in the papers.

Submissions should be sent to: academic.program@ropecon.fi