"The Game Archive as Thinking Space" presented by Judd Ruggill and Ken McAllister

Abstract: Since its formation in 1999, the Learning Games Initiative Research Archive (LGIRA) has served as a vital resource for game scholars the world over. Often, when scholars first consult with us, they have an idea, concept, or argument they are exploring and need the Archive as a source of evidence. Once they arrive at the Archive (physically or digitally), they frequently discover that the LGIRA spurs new, sometimes even competing ideas. To us, this is one of the most valuable elements of archives generally—that is, they are thinking spaces, places where material objects, reanimated with new contexts, purposes, and ancillary artifacts, prompt unexpected lines of inquiry. In this colloquium, we will explore this idea of the archive as thinking space, citing examples from our work building and directing one of the largest game archives in the world.

Bio: Judd Ruggill and Ken McAllister co-founded the Learning Games Initiative and its corresponding research archive in 1999. Its purpose was simple: to provide a resource for computer game scholars studying the medium and its industry, but who didn’t have physical access to the objects of study themselves. Today, LGIRA houses more than 250,000 items, hundreds of which are in circulation around the world. Ken is Associate Dean of Research & Program Innovation for the College of Humanities, and Judd is the Head of the Department of Public & Applied Humanities.