Prof. Burke faculty lecture on World of Warcraft

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
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<p>Swarthmore</a> College Faculty Lectures Blog Archive Around the Virtual World: Cheating, Sex, Sweatshops, and Play from Azeroth to Zero-Zero Space</p>

<p>The latest edition of the Swarthmore faculty lecture podcast series is one that some online game-playing 'spects might enjoy. History Professor Tim Burke gives a faculty lecture of World of Warcraft and other massively multiplayer online computer games.</p>

<p>There's a link to the podcast and another link to a PDF file with all the references in the lecture -- mostly to You Tubes of various game sequences.</p>

<p>Pretty interesting lecture. Prof. Burke is one of Swarthmore's most popular professors. There's also a link to a new full-length documentary film on these games by a Swarthmore alum, along with some of his impressions of visiting sweatshops in China where hundreds of workers are playing these games to accumulate points and other "game currency" which is then sold online by credit card to players wishing to get to higher levels in the game! A collision of real and virtual economies!</p>

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<p>My daughter took his Leisure and Play class last semester. She LOVED it! Prof Burke was a fantastic professor. She said the discussions in class were so interesting. And yes, as part of the class, the students had to download the trial version of World of Warcraft. My daughter is now hooked on the game. (too bad there is a subscription to keep the game)</p>