Public Knowledge Talk: How to Play a Serious Game

As part of Public Knowledge, this monthly series casts SFMOMA as a venue for discussing public issues. Hear from a diverse range of speakers invested in the Bay Area’s urban culture as they examine shared concerns, especially around the meaning, value, and challenges of civic life today.

Video games are an increasingly powerful form of cultural expression in our contemporary media landscape. But what does it mean to take games seriously as an art form? How can we also see them as forms of public knowledge? In this conversation with games scholar Tracy Fullerton, creator of Walden, A Game, we will discuss these and other related topics, unpacking the unique ways that games convey meaning, and reflecting on how they can address vital social and cultural issues. This talk is presented in collaboration with PlaySFMOMA.

Public Knowledge is organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library. The project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.

Activities in the Koret Education Center are generously supported by the Koret Foundation.