RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 15, 2019 - The Triangle Game Initiative (TGI), a non-profit trade association for the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. interactive entertainment industry, has announced a partnership with C.H.A.T. (Collaborations: Humanities, Arts & Technology), a digital arts and humanities festival scheduled for February 16-20, 2019 on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The festival will explore the ways digital technologies are transforming the practices of the arts and humanities, including how we learn, think, know, teach and express ourselves both as individuals and as communities.
Through discussions, performances, interactive exhibitions and hands-on workshops, festival attendees will explore entrepreneurship, gaming, art, literary mashup, pedagogy and more as leaders in industry and academics discuss the challenges and opportunities of technology in arts and humanities. For the full schedule and to register, visit www.chatfestival2019.com.
"It was a great realization in planning the C.H.A.T. festival that there was an industry trade association right here in the Triangle with goals so closely aligned to our own: promoting the Triangle region in terms of our gaming and academic resources, and inspiring collaboration between research and industry," said Megan R. Granda, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for the Arts and Humanities, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Triangle Game Initiative has been a true partner in this initiative, and we look forward to future opportunities to work together."
"Games are a cornerstone of the digital arts, so when we were invited to support the C.H.A.T. festival we knew it would be a fruitful collaboration," said Alexander Macris, president of the Triangle Game Initiative. "It's been inspiring to work closely with our colleagues in academia, and the success of C.H.A.T. is further proof of the Triangle area's emergence as a hub for entertainment and technology."
The festival will feature TGI member speakers from industry-leading companies in the Triangle, including Insomniac Games, Ubisoft, Red Storm Entertainment, Vicious Cycle and Themis Media. Thought leaders from three leading research institutions - the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University; the supercomputing institute RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute; and top technology firms IBM and Cisco will also participate in panels, discussions and workshops.
Game-related panel topics will include:
•User Driven: Does Size Matter?
•The Ubiquity of Games
•Games & Storytelling
•Serious Teaching and Learning in Serious Games
•Game as Medium
CHAT will also feature a "Festival Art Walk" of interactive exhibitions to provide participants special access to the artists and scholars behind the festival, who will be on hand to discuss their work. The "Art of Gaming" exhibit will showcase the artistic work of video game artists, developers and designers. A "Virtual Performance Factory" will present a performance environment using both real and virtual space where participants will explore a virtual world.
Jesper Juul, international game theorist and New York University Game Center visiting professor, will present a Keynote titled "Gaming and the Future of the Arts and Humanities." Juul will argue that the meaning of a video game comes not just from its theme, but from the way it fits into social situations and the way it lets players experience personal development, failure and success.
For more information about the C.H.A.T. Festival, visit www.chatfestival2019.com.
About Triangle Game Initiative
Triangle Game Initiative is the trade association for the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. interactive entertainment industry. Its members are market-leading companies and prominent industry figures who have gathered in the Research Triangle area to master the arts and sciences of gaming. The Triangle Game Initiative's mission is to build a thriving community of companies and professionals dedicated to the advancement of the interactive entertainment industry in the Triangle region. For more information and to register to become a member, visit www.trianglegameinitiative.org.
About the Institute for the Arts and Humanities
The Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH), a faculty enrichment center in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill, is coordinating the C.H.A.T. The IAH offers programs and activities that support UNC faculty at every stage of their careers. The IAH funds individual and collaborative research, showcases faculty work, develops faculty leaders and teachers, and facilitates the formation of collaborative, interdisciplinary communities that promote intellectual exchange. Visit www.iah.unc.edu for more information.