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2021 Humanities Lecture Series

The 2021 Humanities Lecture Series will feature three talks by Ian Bogost, the noted media studies scholar, game designer, and WU faculty.

Professor Ian Bogost will present three talks that explore the theory and concepts of play and games, and in the final lecture, discuss "How to Live Playfully." 

  • Monday, 11/15 "A Theory of Play"  (4:00-5:30 – Women’s Building Formal Lounge)   View the Lecture on U-tube
  • Wednesday, 11/17 "Think Inside the Box"   (4:00-5:30 – Women’s Building Formal Lounge)
  • Thursday, 11/18  "How to Live Playfully"  (reception before lecture—reception 5:00-5:45; Lecture 5:45-7:00 p.m. – Women’s Building Formal Lounge)

Bogost is internationally recognized for his writing on video games and media studies. He is the author of 10 books, most recently Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games, and is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. His research approaches media studies from the perspective of both a critic and a practitioner. While in graduate school, Bogost also worked for tech companies in the digital media space. After completing his doctorate in comparative literature at UCLA in 2004, he joined the faculty at Georgia Tech, where he held appointments in media studies, interactive computing, business, and architecture. He recently joined Washington University in St. Louis where he holds a joint professorship with Engineering and Arts and Sciences, and is the director of Film and Media Studies.

“I’ve worked in the technology and media industries, and I come to WashU from a major technical institute,” said Bogost. “But I was trained as a literary comparatist — the humanities form a cornerstone of both my scholarship and my identity. WashU is home to world-class talent in the humanities. I’m thrilled to be coming home to those disciplines again, but also to have a new opportunity to apply my experience in computing, design, and media to inspire transformative change.”

This lecture series is hosted by the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities.  For more information, contact iph@wustl.edu. 

These lectures are open to the public. Visitors to campus must adhere to the current visitor protocols.  Parking information for visitors can be found here.

Please RSVP below.