A Culture Of Play

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology written by Jaan Valsiner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-08 with total page 1149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of cultural psychology is to explain the ways in which human cultural constructions -- for example, rituals, stereotypes, and meanings -- organize and direct human acting, feeling, and thinking in different social contexts. A rapidly growing, international field of scholarship, cultural psychology is ready for an interdisciplinary, primary resource. Linking psychology, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, and history, The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology is the quintessential volume that unites the variable perspectives from these disciplines. Comprised of over fifty contributed chapters, this book provides a necessary, comprehensive overview of contemporary cultural psychology. Bridging psychological, sociological, and anthropological perspectives, one will find in this handbook: - A concise history of psychology that includes valuable resources for innovation in psychology in general and cultural psychology in particular - Interdisciplinary chapters including insights into cultural anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, culture and conceptions of the self, and semiotics and cultural connections - Close, conceptual links with contemporary biological sciences, especially developmental biology, and with other social sciences - A section detailing potential methodological innovations for cultural psychology By comparing cultures and the (often differing) human psychological functions occuring within them, The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology is the ideal resource for making sense of complex and varied human phenomena.

Download or read book Play Culture In A Changing World written by Kalliala, Marjatta and published by McGraw-Hill Education (UK). This book was released on 2005-11-01 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cultural context in which children grow up has a powerful influence on the way they play. At a time of rapid change in post-industrial societies, childhood play is changing to reflect children’s experiences. Adults need to understand that children have their own play culture, which might be different from that of the adults’ own childhoods. Enlivened by the voices of young children engaged in contemporary play, this accessible book enables readers to re-evaluate the contribution of play in childhood. It explores the persistence of fundamental play themes alongside new variations on traditional themes, including: Competitions and games Games of chance and luck The world of make-believe ‘Dizzy play’ This book helps adults to be reflective and to encourage children’s play by understanding and valuing their play culture. It is important reading for early years students and practitioners.

Download or read book Play and Performance: Play and Culture Studies written by Carrie Lobman and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2011-10-16 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Play and Performance offers hope to those lamenting the loss of play in the twenty-first century and aims to broaden the understanding of what play is. This volume showcases the work of programs from early childhood through adulthood, in a variety of educational and therapeutic settings, and from a range of theoretical and practical perspectives. The chapters cover an array of practices that can be seen across the play to performance continuum. Taken together, the myriad ways that play is performance and performance is play become clear, sometimes blurring the need for distinction. The volume provides play advocates, researchers and practitioners a wealth of practical and theoretical ideas for expanding the use of performance as a tool for creating playful environments where children and adults can create and develop.

Download or read book A Culture of Play written by Brad Fortier and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-12-24 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Improvised Theatre as a form of performance has blanketed the globe. From New York City to Hong Kong to Mumbai, there are performers who share a common philosophy and vocabulary of action that allows them to create stories and relationships that move and entertain people. In this book of essays, Fortier explores this art as a tool for reflection, a means of cross-cultural communication, and a window into a way of being that may be our key to survival as a species. Fortier's interdisciplinary approach to the subject brings together the fields of anthropology, performance, evolutionary biology, and neuroscience to help expand the view of improvised theater beyond trite games into a grass-roots form of social rebooting. These essays are relevant to anyone who is curious about new approaches to personal, professional, and group development. This book may also be the beginning of the conversation on how we can transform away from disparate cultures of fear to a more unified Culture of Play.

Download or read book Video Games as Culture written by Daniel Muriel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-03-14 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Video games are becoming culturally dominant. But what does their popularity say about our contemporary society? This book explores video game culture, but in doing so, utilizes video games as a lens through which to understand contemporary social life. Video games are becoming an increasingly central part of our cultural lives, impacting on various aspects of everyday life such as our consumption, communities, and identity formation. Drawing on new and original empirical data – including interviews with gamers, as well as key representatives from the video game industry, media, education, and cultural sector – Video Games as Culture not only considers contemporary video game culture, but also explores how video games provide important insights into the modern nature of digital and participatory culture, patterns of consumption and identity formation, late modernity, and contemporary political rationalities. This book will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, interested in fields such Video Games, Sociology, and Media and Cultural Studies. It will also be useful for those interested in the wider role of culture, technology, and consumption in the transformation of society, identities, and communities.

Download or read book Digital Culture, Play, and Identity written by Hilde Corneliussen and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book examines the complexity of World of Warcraft from a variety of perspectives, exploring the cultural and social implications of the proliferation of ever more complex digital gameworlds.The contributors have immersed themselves in the World of Warcraft universe, spending hundreds of hours as players (leading guilds and raids, exploring moneymaking possibilities in the in-game auction house, playing different factions, races, and classes), conducting interviews, and studying the game design - as created by Blizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, and as modified by player-created user interfaces. The analyses they offer are based on both the firsthand experience of being a resident of Azeroth and the data they have gathered and interpreted.The contributors examine the ways that gameworlds reflect the real world - exploring such topics as World of Warcraft as a "capitalist fairytale" and the game's construction of gender; the cohesiveness of the gameworld in terms of geography, mythology, narrative, and the treatment of death as a temporary state; aspects of play, including "deviant strategies" perhaps not in line with the intentions of the designers; and character - both players' identification with their characters and the game's culture of naming characters." -- BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book Cultural Issues in Play Therapy written by Eliana Gil and published by Guilford Publications. This book was released on 2021-07-14 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique resource is now in an extensively revised second edition with more than 90% new material and an expanded conceptual framework. Filled with rich case illustrations, the book explores how children's cultural identities--as well as experiences of marginalization--shape the challenges they bring to therapy and the ways they express themselves. Expert practitioners guide therapists to build competence for working across different dimensions of diversity, including race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability. Purchasers get access to a companion website featuring chapters from the first edition on play therapy with major cultural groups: African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. New to This Edition *Virtually a new book; incorporates a broader definition of culture and an increased social justice focus. *Chapters on working with children of color, LGBT children and adolescents, undocumented families, and Deaf children. *Chapter on dismantling white privilege in the play therapy office. *Chapters on school bullying and on how technology is transforming play, including tips for conducting tele-play therapy.