PhD Seminar Series, 25 October 2023
This week Dr Seth Giddings will be talking about his new book, Toy Theory (MIT Press 2023) and about the process of getting it published. Toy Theory explores the histories of toys and unpacks their relationship with technology. Seth argues that toys and play have always been technological and provide a unique framework to construct a philosophy of technology based around play rather than around tools. The book will be out later this year. For an idea of some of the topics and themes the book covers, see: https://www.microethology.net/tag/toys/
Seth Giddings is Associate Professor of digital culture and design at Winchester School of Art. He is a media researcher and teacher with particular interests in cultures and economics of games, toys, and play; design for postdigital play; and Artificial Intelligence and robotics in art, games, and everyday life. He is the author of Toy Theory (MIT Press: forthcoming 2024), Gameworlds: virtual media and children’s everyday play (Bloomsbury 2014), editor of The New Media and Technocultures Reader (Routledge 2011), and co-author of New Media: a critical introduction (2nd ed. Routledge 2009).
Recent publications