{"174801":{"#nid":"174801","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Nunn School Undergrad Presents Research on Portrayal of WMD in Online Gaming","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn the weekend of November 9-11th, the Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York, hosted the \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hws.edu\/pcwp2012\/\u0022\u003EPop Culture and\u0026nbsp;World\u0026nbsp;Politics v5.0\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Econference.\u0026nbsp; Fourth year International Affairs and Modern Languages (IAML) major, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/students\/iamliberalarts?show=sapphire-liu-international\u0022\u003ESapphire Liu\u003C\/a\u003E, presented independent research assessing and analyzing the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in digital online gaming. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoing beyond an engagement with illustrations of world politics, the\u003Cem\u003E Pop Culture and World Politics \u003C\/em\u003Eannual conferences explore how popular culture integrates with and explains politics on the international level. Conferees address topics ranging from comic book heroes to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or \u201cdrones\u201d) to study the different ways world politics can\u0026nbsp;intersect\u0026nbsp;with media and how popular culture is distributed, produced, and perceived in and across nation-states and regions. Concepts such as \u201cglobal,\u201d \u201cpopular,\u201d and \u201cculture\u201d are questioned for the purpose of\u0026nbsp;analyzing\u0026nbsp;how these words have changed over time and the purpose they serve in modern politics. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdvised by Nunn School Assistant Professor, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.inta.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/margaret-e-kosal-phd\u0022\u003EDr. Margaret E. Kosal\u003C\/a\u003E, Sapphire\u2019s research focuses on the how modern digital gaming and weapons of mass\u0026nbsp;destruction (WMD) affect global politics in the realm of international\/national security. Over the past decade, the acquisition and use of WMD by states and non-state actors, such as terrorists, has received global attention. Within the same decade, modern online gaming has incorporated WMD as game play elements. Concurrently, the popular cultural pursuit of gaming has been recognized by the US military as tools for cultural training and education. There is a dearth of research focusing on portrayal of WMD in gaming. The work explores the unique realm of online gaming and how the presence of WMD can change the dynamics of gamers to resemble non-virtual actors. Dr. Kosal and Sapphire identified past literature that attempted to explore and analyze this phenomena only to find gaps in the literature. Through observations and analysis \u003Cem\u003EMassive Action Game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, \u003C\/em\u003Eand \u003Cem\u003ECall of Duty: Black Ops, \u003C\/em\u003Ethey show that there are strong relationships and significant differences between the virtual and non-virtual communities with regards to how WMD are acquired and used. Ultimately, the research undertaken aims to contribute to the development of a theoretical framework to understand how emerging technologies intersect with traditional security constructs.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn the weekend of November 9-11th, the Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York, hosted the \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hws.edu\/pcwp2012\/\u0022\u003EPop Culture and\u0026nbsp;World\u0026nbsp;Politics v5.0\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Econference.\u0026nbsp; Fourth year International Affairs and Modern Languages (IAML) major, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/students\/iamliberalarts?show=sapphire-liu-international\u0022\u003ESapphire Liu\u003C\/a\u003E, presented independent research assessing and analyzing the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in digital online gaming.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27694","created_gmt":"2012-12-03 12:27:16","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:18","author":"Debbie Mobley","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-12-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-12-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"174991":{"id":"174991","type":"image","title":"Sapphire Liu Pop Culture at World Politics v5.0 conference","body":null,"created":"1449179022","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:42","changed":"1475894816","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:56","alt":"Sapphire Liu Pop Culture at World Politics v5.0 conference","file":{"fid":"195837","name":"sapphire_liu_pcwpv5.0_cropped_longer.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sapphire_liu_pcwpv5.0_cropped_longer_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sapphire_liu_pcwpv5.0_cropped_longer_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":327382,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sapphire_liu_pcwpv5.0_cropped_longer_0.jpg?itok=wVr9G82E"}}},"media_ids":["174991"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"11687","name":"Margaret E. Kosal"},{"id":"1264","name":"WMD"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMargaret E. Kosal, Ph.D.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAssistant Professor\u003Cbr \/\u003ECenter for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy (CISTP)\u003Cbr \/\u003ESam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["margaret.kosal@inta.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}