Throughout the 1990s, artists experimented with game engine technologies to disrupt our habitual relationships to video games. They hacked, glitched, and dismantled popular first-person shooters such as Doom (1993) and Quake (1996) to engage players in new kinds of embodied activity. In Unstable Aesthetics: Game Engines and the Strangeness of Art Modding, Eddie Lohmeyer investigates historical episodes of art modding practices-the alteration of a game system's existing code or hardware to generate abstract spaces-situated around a recent archaeology of the game engine: software for rendering two and three-dimensional gameworlds. The contemporary artists highlighted throughout this book-Cory Arcangel, JODI, Julian Oliver, Krista Hoefle, and Brent Watanabe, among others -- were attracted to the architectures of engines because they allowed them to explore vital relationships among abstraction, technology, and the body. Artists employed a range of modding techniques-hacking the ROM chips on Nintendo cartridges to produce experimental video, deconstructing source code to generate psychedelic glitch patterns, and collaging together surreal gameworlds-to intentionally dissect the engine's operations and unveil illusions of movement within algorithmic spaces. Through key moments in game engine history, Lohmeyer formulates a rich phenomenology of video games by focusing on the liminal spaces of interaction among system and body, or rather the strangeness of art modding.

Communication plays a critical role in enhancing social, cultural, and business relations. Research on media, language, and cultural studies is fundamental in a globalized world because it illuminates the experiences of various populations. There is a need to develop effective communication strategies that will be able to address both health and cultural issues globally. Dialectical Perspectives on Media, Health, and Culture in Modern Africa is a collection of innovative research on the impact of media and especially new media on health and culture. While highlighting topics including civic engagement, gender stereotypes, and interpersonal communication, this book is ideally designed for university students, multinational organizations, diplomats, expatriates, and academicians seeking current research on how media, health, and culture can be appropriated to overcome the challenges that plague the world today.

Qualitative Research in Education and Social Sciences, Second Edition provides readers with an in-depth guide on planning, conducting, and reporting qualitative research to inform professions, communities, and scholarship as a whole. It also considers the importance of cultivating the relationships that researchers develop with others as well as within themselves as they navigate complex questions that impact them both professionally and personally. Authors Danica G. Hays and Anneliese A. Singh organize this step-by-step guide in four sections: Foundations of Qualitative Inquiry; Qualitative Research Design; Data Collection and Analysis; and The Qualitative Research Proposal and Report. A focus on shared power, collaboration, and personal and political activism is infused in their research approach and recommended often throughout the text. This second edition reflects a more multidimensional perspective of the role of the qualitative researcher, a restructured and updated presentation of qualitative research paradigms and traditions, an expansion on online media research, and a continuing eye toward empowerment and advocacy within the research conducted with participants and communities. This text is written at a level most suitable for graduate-level students, practitioners, and educators in a variety of education and social science disciplines.

The evolution of how gender and feminism have been portrayed within media and literature has changed dramatically over the years as society continues to understand the importance of representation within entertainment. To fully understand how the field has changed, further study on the current and past forms of media representation is required. The Handbook of Research on Gender Studies and Feminism in Literature and Media engages with literary texts, digital media, films, and art to consider the relevant issues and empowerment strategies of feminism and gender and discusses the latest theories and ideas. Covering topics such as gender performativity, homophobia, patriarchy, sexuality, LGBTQ community, digital studies, and empowerment strategies, this major reference work is ideal for government officials, policymakers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

This open access book brings together an international team of experts, The Middle Ages in Modern Culture considers the use of medieval models across a variety of contemporary media - ranging from television and film to architecture - and the significance of deploying an authentic medieval world to these representations. Rooted in this question of authenticity, this interdisciplinary study addresses three connected themes. Firstly, how does historical accuracy relate to authenticity, and whose version of authenticity is accepted? Secondly, how are the middle ages presented in modern media and why do inaccuracies emerge and persist in these works? Thirdly, how do creators of modern content attempt to produce authentic medieval environments, and what are the benefits and pitfalls of accurate portrayals? The result is nuanced study of medieval culture which sheds new light on the use (and misuse) of medieval history in modern media. This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched.

This book traces the cultural transformation of nostalgia on the Chinese screen over the past three decades. It explores how filmmakers from different generations have engaged politically with China's rapidly changing post-socialist society as it has been formed through three mutually constitutive frameworks: political discourse, popular culture and state-led media commercialisation. The book offers a new, critical model for understanding relationships between filmmakers, industry and the State.

The purpose of Research At Grass Roots is to accompany the novice researcher, in both the social sciences and human service professions, step by step through the research process. The description of the research process is probably unique in that this view has been developed over at least two decades through work with postgraduate students. The section for experienced researchers is less structured and discusses current topics of interest such as evaluation research, intervention research, participatory action research, and analysis of concepts such as evidence-based practice.

The interplay between scientific theory and research, and between research and professional practice, has once again been highlighted. This encompasses important debates for experienced researchers and practitioners, including crucial concepts for novice researchers to master as early as possible in their academic careers.

The section dealing with different models for combining quantitative and qualitative styles of research has been updated to include recent debates and developments in the field of mixed methods designs. Both sections dealing with qualitative and quantitative designs and analysis have been substantially revised and updated. We have included contributions from experienced researchers such as Prof. Willem Schurink, a qualitative researcher and doctoral supervisor, Prof. Wim Roestenburg, a senior academic and researcher, and Dr Allen Bartley, an international contributor and expert in statistical analysis. Prof. Minrie Greeff has again provided insight from her vast experience of research interviewing. Salient features of the previous three editions have been retained in order to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of current users of this very successful book.