A First in the BUG Curriculum: Games and Philosophy

The gaming industry continues to develop and grow every day, and this growth is not limited to the market. Interest in games is also rising rapidly in the academic world.

In this context, a new Digital Game Design department is added in Türkiye every year. Digital Game Design departments, which by their nature lend themselves to constant innovation and renewal, are very popular in our country. The Digital Game Design department operating under Bahçeşehir University Games "BUG" is a good example of this. Attracting attention with its academic publications as well as its projects and collaborations, BUG has this year added a brand-new elective course titled "Games and Philosophy" to its curriculum, a first in Türkiye.

As its name suggests, the ultimate aim of the course, taught by Dr. Ertuğrul Süngü, is to bring games and philosophy together. Seeking to look at games and the ever-changing gaming industry from a philosophical perspective, the course content includes applying the ideas of philosophers such as Foucault and Derrida to games as well as creating new topics for discussion.

Rather than seeing many games, especially digital games, merely as "experiences," the "Games and Philosophy" course aims to examine from a philosophical perspective both the art forms they create as a medium and the texts they carry. The course also focuses on developing students' analytical thinking and questioning skills.

The course focuses on topics such as games, virtual worlds, ethics and existence.