James Paul Gee, nationally known scholar in language, literacy, and education, will speak on the topic of how good video games can set a new paradigm for future learning at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in the Great Hall of Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester's River Campus.
His talk, "Video Games, Learning, and Literacy," is the first in the 2005-06 Scandling Lecture Series presented by the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the University. It is free and open to the public.
Gee, the Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, will argue that "work on games and learning can help reinvigorate the New Literacy Studies, as well as set new standards for curricular reform and learning fit for the modern global world."
Over the last decade, Gee's work has centered on the development of an integrated theory of language, literacy, and schooling, which draws on work in socially situated cognition, sociocultural approaches to language and literacy, language development, discourse studies, critical theory, and applied linguistics. He is the author of many books and articles, including What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003) and Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling (2004). He earned a doctoral degree in linguistics from Stanford University.
The Scandling Lecture Series, named to honor the generosity of William F. Scandling, brings to campus noted researchers, policymakers, and professional educators from throughout the world who contribute their insights and exchange ideas with faculty, students, and alumni at the Warner School, as well as colleagues in the University and the local education community.
For more information, contact the Warner School at (585) 275-7428 or check the Warner Web site at www.rochester.edu/warner.