Empathy at Play:Embodying Posthuman Subjectivities in Gaming

In this article, we address the need for a posthuman account of the relationship between the avatar and player. We draw on a particular line of posthumanist theory associated closely with the work of Karen Barad, Rosi Braidotti and N. Katherine Hayles that suggests a constantly permeable, fluid and extended subjectivity, displacing the boundaries between human and other. In doing so, we propose a posthuman concept of empathy in gameplay, and we apply this concept to data from the first author’s 18-month ethnographic field notes of gameplay in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Exploring these data through our analysis of posthuman empathy, we demonstrate the entanglement of avatar–player, machine–human relationship. We show how empathy allows us to understand this relationship as constantly negotiated and in process, producing visceral reactions in the intra-connected avatar–player subject as well as moments of co-produced in-game action that require ‘affective matching’ between subjective and embodied experiences. We argue that this account of the avatar–player relationship extends research in game culture, providing a horizontal, non-hierarchical discussion of its most necessary interaction

Children and objects: affection and infection

This paper considers young children’s (aged 3–5 years) relations with objects, and in particular objects that are brought from home to school. We begin by considering the place of objects within early years classrooms and their relationship to children’s education before considering why some objects are often separated from their owners on entry to the classroom. We suggest that the ‘arrest’ of objects is as a consequence of them being understood as ‘infecting’ specific perceptions or constructs of young children. We further suggest that a focus on the dichotomy between affection/infection for and of certain objects may offer new possibilities for seeing and engaging with children, thus expanding the narrow imaginaries of children that are coded in developmental psychology, UK early years education policy and classroom practice

The future of football is female : a case of fan-tastic imaginings?

Consistent with FIFA president Sepp Blatter&rsquo;s proclamation that the future of football is female, the Australian Football League (AFL) has instituted a range of initiatives in an attempt to present a &lsquo;female friendly&rsquo; face and garner women&rsquo;s support for the national game. Given the large number of women who follow the AFL, especially in comparison to other football codes nationally, it&rsquo;s worth considering the motivations behind the AFL&rsquo;s tactics. To what extent does what the AFL think women want correlate with women supporters&rsquo; experiences and realities of being a football fan? This paper presents findings from semi-structured and focus group interviews with female AFL fans to gauge their perceptions of being an Australian rules football supporter and its impact on their lived experiences and sense of self. The responses of women supporters are critically assessed in order to contemplate how women negotiate gender identity through their support of a male dominated sport. As well as offering insights into the role gender plays in leisure pursuits such as sport spectatorship, this paper considers how femininity and masculinity might be contested and/or remade through the practice of following football in the Australian context. By demonstrating the range and diversity of women&rsquo;s experiences, this research has the capacity to generate alternative imaginings of fanship and sporting community beyond gender stereotypes.<br /

Women Sports Fans

Women sports fan

Synthesis and Conformational Characterisation of Hexameric beta-Peptide Foldamers by Using Double POAC Spin Labelling and cw-EPR

A selected set of terminally protected beta-hexapeptides, each containing two nitroxide-based (3R,4R)-4-amino-1-oxyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid (POAC) residues combined with four (1S,2S)-2-aminocyclopentane-1-carboxylic acid (ACPC) residues, was synthesised by using solution methods and was fully characterised. The two POAC residues are separated in the sequences by different numbers of intervening ACPC residues. The conformational features of the doubly spin-labelled beta-hexapeptides were examined in chloroform by FTIR absorption and continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques. In particular, the biradical exchange coupling (I) between two POAC residues within each peptide indicates unambiguously that the secondary structure overwhelmingly adopted is the 12-helix. Taken together, these results support the view that POAC is an excellent beta-amino acid for exploring this type of helical conformation in doubly labelled beta-peptides

EPR distance measurement in a doubly nitroxide-labelled helical beta-peptide

A terminally protected β-hexapeptide, based on trans-(3R,4S)-β-TOAC and trans-(1S,2S)-ACHC, synthesized using classical solution methods, was found by FT-IR absorption and CD techniques to adopt the 3-14-helical conformation. EPR measurements of 1 in MeOH and HFIP (at 1.0 and 0.1 mM concentrations) were performed in the temperature range 120 K - 318 K. The spectra show three sharp lines with separations of about 1.5 mT (the same at all temperatures) superimposed on two broad signals, the separation of which increases as the temperature is lowered. The solvent and concentration effects are of minor significance. The spectra of the polycrystalline solid samples at low temperature extend over about 30 mT and their shape is mainly governed by the electron dipolar interaction. The intramolecular distance (6.1 ± 0.1 Å) between the nitroxide labels of the two β-TOAC residues at positions i and i+3, obtained from the analysis of the low temperature spectra, allowed us to confirm the expected ternary helical structure