Prof. J. Patrick Williams, an associate professor of sociology from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was invited by the School of Sociology of CCNU to give a lecture in the afternoon of March 31, 2016, at the lecture hall on the 1st floor of Yifu International Conference Center at CCNU. The topic of his lecture was “Screen time, digital literacy, and experience in online game environments”.
Li Xiangnong, Vice President of CCNU, Darrell Irwin, Dean of School of Sociology, Wan Rende, Vice Dean of School of Sociology, Xu Xiaojun, Professor from School of Sociology, Guo Jingxiao, School Youth League Committee Secretary, and Alex Milvae, Guizishan Fellow from Yale-China, attended the lecture along with the students.
President Li Xiangnong opened the event with a short introductory speech, in which he briefly shared his understandings on screen time, digital literacy and online game environment, and extended warm welcome to Prof. Williams for his lecture. After that, Dean Irwin briefly talked about his understandings on computers and computer games, and formally introduced Prof. Williams to the audience.
Prof. Williams mainly discussed the concept of media literacy and expand on the research question on how users make sense from the digital environment. The protectionists believe that media have the potential to exert a wide range of potentially negative effects on individuals, while the pragmatics believe media are increasingly foundational in the accomplishment of everyday life. He also discussed the function of user interfaces and domain literacy. Both player-to-game interaction and player-to-player interaction are mediated by user interfaces. As Prof. Williams pointed out, users interpret and act toward UI elements in a contextually acceptable way, thus aligning roles and actions, and the extent to which role and actions align directly influences the success of joint action. Toward the end of the lecture, Prof. Williams shared the rapid expansion of digital domains in Singapore, and raised the question on how government and individuals should use these developments in digital technology properly.
In the Q&A session, Prof. Williams answered the question on how he turned probably his biggest hobby in life, playing video games, into the research area he is probably best known for. When asked if he agreed that people who have problems making friends in real life tend to be more likely to turn to online games, he used his own example of playing online games with his old friends that he hadn’t seen in years. While some people would believe playing online games is a way to keep yourself from communicating with outside world, Prof. Williams believed it can also be a good way to interact with your old friends or even making new friends.
Prof. Williams also gave a speech on March 30, on youth culture and subculture, entitled “Ethnography as Perspective and Method: Reports on two field studies on youth culture and everyday Life”, to the students from School of Sociology. Both lectures were well-received.
