Past Panels

Past Panels

Title: The Relationship between Video Games and US Foreign Policy

Location: Room 2W22

Time: 10:00 A.M.

Host: Justin Whittington

Description: The act of playing a video game may not seem impactful at the level of international relations, but is this the case? Our foreign policy decisions have certainly shaped game design decisions like story and setting, but could any influence also flow the other direction? Through examining four areas—military, intelligence, diplomacy, and the 2016 presidential election—the relationship between video games and US foreign policy will be highlighted in brief, utilizing methods from history, political science, media studies, and game studies.

 

Title: An Hour with Jeni Conrad

Location: Room SRCB

Time: 10:00 A.M.

Host: Jeni Conrad

Description: Author Jeni Conrad (Don’t Haunt Ghosts, Don’t Bite Vampires, and more) will discuss her background, how she got into writing, and what tools she uses to help her structure writing a whole book, and then if the audience is interested, she will discuss Indie publishing and how that process works. She will also read a snippet of one or two of her books, as time allows. There will also be time for questions.

 

Title: “How Do You Want to Do This?”: Building Story and Community Through D&D and other TTRPGs

Location: Room 2W22

Time: 11:00 A.M.

Host: Kallel Peterson

Description: Collaborative storytelling is at the heart of tabletop role playing. While a Game Master or Dungeon Master shapes the basics of a story, campaign, or setting, the world comes alive with players’ interactions. From The Adventure Zone to Critical Role, from the local table to the internationally known, TTRPGs build community and narrative together. We shape both our own enjoyment of our stories and the direction of the games themselves. In this panel, we’ll look at how TTRPGs became popular, how producing narrative works collaboratively in both famous and local groups, and how those evolutions have shaped and become reflected in wider cultural understanding.

 

Title: So You’d Like To Start A Podcast: A Panel Discussion With Area Podcasters

Location: Room SRCB

Time: 11:00 A.M.

Hosts: Kellie Arbuckle (Only Orcs Podcast), Nuri Collins (Only Orcs Podcast), Justin Tyler (Only Orcs Podcast), Brandon Schreiber (Critically Absurd TV Podcast) and Tobey Wilson (Reel Opposites Podcast).

Moderators: Michelle Alford (HerdCon PopCast) and Heather Lauer (HerdCon PopCast)

Description: Join us for a discussion on podcasting. What motivated and inspired our panelists, how they got started, what kinds of resources are available, why they chose their podcast format, and time for your questions.

 

Title: Stretching the Medium: How Comic Books Often Tell Unlikely Stories

Location: Room 2W22

Time: 1:00 P.M.

Hosts: Bill Bissett

Description: An exploration of the comic book medium that goes beyond super-heroes. While capes and secret identities tend to be the most popular genre in comic books, comic books have for decades told other stories unrelated to costumed adventurers. From romance to westerns to horror, the comic book medium gives the reader stories as diverse as what we see on television or at the movies. This presentation will not only share the diverse storytelling aspects of the medium but also share the best examples of these different types of stories that the presenter has found in his more than four decades of comic book reading and collecting.

 

Title: Zine Scene 101

Location: Room SRCB

Time: 1:00 P.M.

Hosts: Elliott Stewart

Description: Have you ever wanted to make your own paper zine?  Elliott will teach you how, while also giving an overview of the history of zines.

 

Title: From “Gaslight” to “Euphoria”: Domestic Violence as the Unseen Narrative

Location: Room 2W22

Time: 2:00 P.M.

Hosts: Sara Blevins (Director of Development, BDVS), Emily Lingenfelter (Court Advocate, BDVS Cabell County) and Amber Ross-Chapman (Director of Client Services, BDVS)

Description: This panel is made up of Branches Domestic Violence Shelter advocates that take a look at how our favorite forms of media, from movies, to TV shows, to comics often center around the unseen narrative of domestic violence.  Advocates dive into key moments in pop culture and examine how these moments influence our collective perception and response to relationship violence.