Communications, Drama and Film – Practice Blog
Celebrating the breadth and variety of practical work in the department
Communications, Drama and Film – Practice Blog
Celebrating the breadth and variety of practical work in the department
Posted by jgprimro
5 November 2024On the 5th of November Exeter Comms hosted a panel on digital leisure in the Global South where ideas on leisure in families, intimacies on dating platforms, toxicities in gaming, young people and their approaches to leisure were brought to the fore by Prof. Usha Raman, Head of Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, India, Prof. Nimmi Rangaswamy from International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad, and Dr. Devina Sarwatay, Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at City St. Georges University, London. Also joining the panel was Exeter Comms’ Dr Aditya Deshbandhu who discussed the role played by digital games in the pandemic.
The two-hour panel had the four presenters being their diverse perspectives together to present the members of the audience a cohesive meta understanding of how acts of digital leisure are performed by people in contexts like India where language, gender, region, and religion shape not just aspects of the identity but also approaches to leisure and society. Following the presentations, the questions from the audience ranged from a variety dimensions like nostalgia, freedom, personal growth, content creation, and doom scrolling on social media. As the questions kept the presenters on their toes the evening offered a number of avenues for future collaborations on research and teaching.
The event which showcased research from the 2024 book, 21st Century in 100 Games by Dr Aditya Deshbandhu also highlighted research from the department in region and the potential of the Routledge Series on Games and Contemporary Culture that is co-edited by Prof. Neil Ewen, Dr Alexander R.E. Taylor, Dr Shannon Lawlor and Dr Aditya Deshbandhu that hopes to bridge understandings from the Global South and the Western world.
The talks and discussion were also well attended by PGT students and should benefit them as they are working towards a “digital leisure dossier” for the module CMMM003 Gaming in Everyday Life.
