The national conference for DiGRA Australia will be held at Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point campus, Brisbane, On 10-11 February, 2020.

As with all previous DiGRA Australia events, the 2020 conference has free registration, and we encourage game studies researchers and students, and industry representatives to attend and participate in the conversation.

Please register via this link if you intend to attend.

More details, including the program, will be published in the new year.

DiGRA Australia 2020 National Conference

We invite you to contribute to a two-day game studies conference to be held on the 10th and 11th of February at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Registration for DiGRA Australia conferences is free.

The DiGRA Australia 2020 National Conference has been made possible due to financial support from QUT’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the QUT Digital Media Research Centre.

Key Dates

October 18th – Submission deadline *Submission deadline extended until Friday 1 November*
November 15th – Notification of submission outcomes
February 10th and 11th – Conference dates

Details

The academic field of game studies is alive and well in Australia. Previous DiGRA Australia events have brought together a vast range of junior and senior scholars, embedded in different disciplines, approaching game research from a variety of perspectives.

In recognition of this diversity, the DiGRA Australia 2020 National Conference will not impose a theme on submissions. Instead, you are invited to make a submission relevant to your own ongoing research. Our intent is to acknowledge the vibrancy of game studies in Australia, and to ensure DiGRA Australia continues to be a space that facilitates community, conversation, and collaboration.

Following on from the success of previous DiGRA Australia events, DiGRA Australia will remain a single track conference.

DiGRA Australia is actively concerned with cultivating an inclusive research community. As such, and consistent with previous DiGRA Australia events, registration for the 2020 National Conference will be free. We welcome and encourage submissions from graduate students, researchers located ‘outside’ game studies who approach games from different perspectives, and researchers without an institutional affiliation. Game developers, too, are encouraged to make submissions they feel are relevant to critical discussions of games research.

Further, up to ten travel bursaries of up to $500 each will be available for students and non-salaried early-career researchers (no more than five years out from the end of their PhD) from Australia, New Zealand, or South-East Asia to help cover travel and accommodation costs. Further information can be found below.

Submission Format

We invite interested authors or makers to submit either a 400–800 word abstract (not including references) or a full paper no longer than 5000 words (not including references), anonymously for peer review.

We have decided to include the option for full paper submissions to better acknowledge that some researchers may require an accepted full paper to access institutional funding options. Please note that full paper and extended abstract submissions will receive the same amount of presentation time, and will be reviewed to the same standard.

Accepted abstracts will be available on the DiGRA Australia website. Accepted full papers will be published on the open-access DiGRA Digital Library. After the conference, the possibility of a special issue of the Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association journal for select submissions (both full papers and abstracts) will be explored.

We advise potential authors to review abstracts accepted for publication at previous DiGRA Australia conferences [see here] as a guide to the expected tone and quality. Some further tips:

• Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship.
• We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but should represent novel (unpublished) scholarship. If the submission resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRA Australia submission.
• We recommend that submissions articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, and indicate the findings or conclusions to be presented and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline.
• Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches.

Accepted abstracts and papers will be published on the DiGRA Australia website as part of the conference program.

Submission Process

Submissions are to made online via EasyChair at this link.

Submissions should be formatted according to the extended abstract and full paper templates.

We ask authors not to submit more than one submission to the conference as lead author (see below).

Submission Rules

To ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to present their work at the conference, only one submission may be made per lead author, and individuals may only present one paper during the conference. There is no limit on secondary authorship.

From 2020, DiGRA Australia is implementing a ‘grey list’ policy for accepted submissions that are withdrawn with no reason provided, or for which the presenter simply does not attend. Please familiarise yourself with the specifics of this policy here.

Travel Bursary

DiGRA Australia will offer up to ten travel bursaries of no more than $500 to students or sessionally-employed early-career researchers based in Australia, New Zealand, or South-East Asia.

Applications for a travel bursary can be made through this form. Please submit your extended abstract or full paper to EasyChair before you apply.

Conference Committee

• Dr Brendan Keogh, Queensland University of Technology
• April Tyack, Queensland University of Technology
• Dr Benjamin Nicoll, Queensland University of Technology
• Dr Dan Padua, Queensland University of Technology
• Erin Maclean, Griffith University
• Ori Diskett, University of Queensland

Registration is required for DiGRA A 19. Please register at the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/digra-australia-2019-whats-next-tickets-51994263241

DiGRA Australia 2019 Conference Program

University of Sydney, Sydney

Day One Program – February 12th, Social Sciences Building LT200

Day Two Program – February 13th, Social Sciences Building LT200

Acknowledgements

DiGRAA 2019 is made possible thanks to the generous support provided by the School of Literature, Arts and Media and the Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre at The University of Sydney

Frequently Asked Questions and Other Information

Lunch at the conference will be provided. Coffee and biscuits will be provided for the coffee/tea breaks.

Registration is required, please register here via Eventbrite.

DiGRA Australia is actively concerned with cultivating an inclusive research community. As such, as with previous DiGRA Australia events, registration for the 2019 National Conference will be free. Further, and for the first time, up to ten bursaries of no more than $500 each will be available for students and non-salaried early-career researchers no more than five years out from the end of their PhD who have a paper accepted to the conference to help cover travel and accommodation costs.

Applications for a travel bursary can be made through this form. Please complete your EasyChair submission of your abstract before completing this form.

DiGRA Australia has a long-standing commitment to inclusivity and diversity. We note that parent-researchers often face inequitable hurdles to attend and fully participate in conferences. As such, we have assembled the following information for parent researchers considering attending DiGRAA 2019.

Children at DiGRAA

We welcome children to DiGRA Australia, and any children in attendance are welcome to attend conference talks, meals and events for free. For catering purposes, please register your child on Eventbrite separately which will allow you to notify us of any dietary requirements your child has. The social event on the evening of the 12th will be held in the dining area of a local pub, where accompanied children can attend until 9pm. It is our hope that this will allow parent-researchers to more easily participate in the social events that are an important part of conferences.

Please note that some conference presentations may involve content that is unsuitable for younger audiences (such as discussions of violent or sexual imagery from videogames, or mature themes). Presenters will be notified in advance that there may be children in attendance, and to provide a content warning at the start of their talk so that children can be removed.

Parenting Space

We welcome babies to DiGRA Australia and breastfeeding is welcome anywhere at the conference. The conference venue is accessible to prams.

On Level 2 of the venue (accessible via lift) there is a dedicated parenting space for babycare needs including feeding and changing, with a microwave and hot water available. Unfortunately the parenting space does not have a refrigerator. Parents with babies are welcome to leave bags of childcare paraphernalia at the registration desk nearby.

Simply speak to a conference organiser on the day if you’ll require access to this space, and we’ll show you where it is.

Access to Child Care

As a small, free conference it is not possible for DiGRA Australia to provide on-site childcare. However, the following childcare centres located near The University of Sydney offer occasional care:

Redfern Occasional Care
55 Pitt Street
Redfern NSW 2016
+61 2 9288 5620

SDN Glebe Children’s Education & Care Centre
112a Glebe Street
Glebe NSW 2037
+61 2 9552 3747

Marrickville Occasional Care
356 Victoria Road
Marrickville NSW 2204
+61 2 9558 1591

Flexibility for Parents

To assist parent-researchers juggling child-care challenges, we are able to offer presenters flexibility in the day their talk is scheduled. Please contact the conference organiser after your talk is accepted if you have a preferred day, or time of day, for your talk.

As a free conference, caregivers are welcome to also attend with the researcher-parent, and caregivers attending alongside a researcher-parent are welcome to also attend conference talks, meals and events. Please register caregivers separately via eventbrite for catering purposes.

If you have questions or suggestions to improve this page, please contact the conference organiser Marcus Carter <marcus.carter@sydney.edu.au>

Acknowledgements

Calisi, R. (2018) Opinion: How to tackle the childcare-conference conundrum. Proceedings of the Natural Academic of Sciences USA 115(2): 2845-2849.

We are delighted to announce that DiGRAA 2019 will be held at The University of Sydney, February 12-13. The CFP is available here.

Key Dates

November 12^th – Abstract Submission Deadline

December 12^th – Notification of Submission Outcome

February 12^th & 13^th – Conference

DiGRA Australia 2019: What’s Next?

We invite you to contribute to a two-day game studies conference to be held 12^th and 13^th February at The University of Sydney. Registration for DiGRA Australia conferences is free.

Key Dates

November 12^th – Abstract Submission Deadline

December 12^th – Notification of Submission Outcome

February 12^th & 13^th – Conference

Keynote Speaker

Professor Mia Consalvo, Canada Research Chair in Game Studies & Design, Concordia University

Details

The academic field of game studies has largely arisen in the past 20 years, energised by the phenomenal growth of the digital games industry. More recent developments such as mobile gaming and the resurgence of non-digital play have encouraged scholars to acknowledge the plurality of game experiences, practices, cultures and design. Across Australia, studying games is increasingly becoming institutionally recognized and encouraged, and nominated as key areas of interest in job advertisements in departments traditionally specializing in literature, media studies, human-computer interaction and design.

So, this year’s DiGRA Australia conference asks, ‘What’s Next?’

It is our intent with this theme to encourage research and discussion that speaks to and guides the future direction of games research in Australia. We encourage submissions that reflect all aspects of scholarly engagement with games. It is not a requirement that submissions engage with this theme.

We organise such an event acknowledging that understanding games is not an exclusively academic endeavour and excellent work is occurring in a wide variety of spaces outside of formal scholarship. Consequently, we encourage non-academic game researchers, critics, designers, developers and artists to attend and contribute to the event.

Following on from the success of previous DiGRA Australia events, DiGRA Australia will remain a single track conference.

DiGRA Australia is actively concerned with cultivating an inclusive research community. As such, as with previous DiGRA Australia events, registration for the 2019 National Conference will be free. Further, and for the first time, up to ten bursaries of no more than $500 each will be available for students and non-salaried early-career researchers no more than five years out from the end of their PhD who have a paper accepted to the conference to help cover travel and accommodation costs.

Submission Format

We invite interested authors or makers to submit 400-800 word abstracts (not including references), anonymously for peer review.

We advise potential authors to review the abstracts accepted for publication at previous DiGRA Australia conferences [see here] as a guide to the expected tone and quality. Some further tips:

• Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship.
• We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but should represent novel (unpublished) scholarship. If the abstract resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRAA submission.
• We recommend that papers articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, and indicate the findings or conclusions to be presented and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline.
• Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches.

Accepted abstracts will be uploaded to the DiGRA Australia website.

Submission Process

Submissions will be made online, via easy chair:

Please enter your 400-800 word abstract or full paper in the abstract box in easy chair, as well as uploading it as a formatted attachment using the template here.

We ask authors not to submit more than 2 abstracts to the conference.

Applications for a travel bursary can be made through this form. Please complete your EasyChair submission of your abstract before completing this form.

Conference Committee

• Dr Marcus Carter, The University of Sydney
• Dr Ben Abraham, University of Technology Sydney
• Dr Malcolm Ryan, Macquarie Univeristy
• Mahli-Ann Butt, The University of Sydney
• Jacob Grice, The University of Sydney
• Ben Egliston, The University of Sydney
• Harriet Flitcroft, The University of Sydney
• Kyle Moore, The University of Sydney
• Soojeong Yoo, The University of Sydney
• Geoff Hill, SAE Sydney

FAQ

Do I have to be a member of DiGRA or DIGRA Australia to submit an abstract or attend the conference?

No you do not have to be a member! The conference is open to all.

The Australian chapter of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) invites expressions of interest from relevant departments, schools, or centres at Australian universities to host the fourth DiGRA Australia National Conference in February 2019.

The successful host will be selected by the DiGRA Australia board. The board will be guided by the following criteria in making their decision:

1. The conference should be run by a department with a cohort of academics and postgraduates producing research relevant to the field of game studies.
2. The host should be able to provide the necessary institutional support to ensure a successful conference.
3. The host should be able to head the peer-review process, with assistance from the DiGRA Australia board.
4. Following the success of previous national conferences, the 2019 conference should have no registration fee and, pending on submissions, be capable of running a single track for two days.
5. In the event of more than one competitive bid, cities other than Sydney and Melbourne will be preferenced to support regional equity.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Friday, 31 August. The board will decide on a successful host in early September, with the intent to see a Call For Papers released shortly afterwards. Ideally, the peer review process for abstracts will be complete by mid-December.

Please send expressions of interest that address the above criteria, or any queries, to the DiGRA Australia President, Brendan Keogh (brendan.keogh@qut.edu.au).