Weird Fiction Research Group kindly invites you to the fourth Weird TV meeting in spring semester. We’re continuing the subject of the game/TV relationship with Dominik Kędzierawski’s lecture about (among others) Until Dawn and Bandersnatch – “Becoming the Horror – Interactive Movies as the Perfect Horror Medium”!

Tuesday, April 15, 2025
4:45 pm

*3 OZN*

Where?

Dobra 55, room: 2.118
(the building features some mobility accommodations: ramp and lift)

What?

Faced by the mysterious killer, would you try to run away or confront them? Often, decisions made by the on-screen characters in horror movies are head-scratching, leading to conclusions that in their place we would do completely opposite. Typical horror tropes lead to conviction that viewers are simply smarter and in “life or die” situations, we would make correct decisions. Some games, however, offer the opportunity to test this conviction out. Titles such as Until Dawn or The Quarry give players a chance to play as the characters in a slasher movie, writing their own story and deciding everyone’s fate. Will everyone survive in your own story? During the meeting, we will take a closer look into genre of interactive horror movies Supermassive Games. How do they connect successfully two clashing types of media? How do they turn the horror experience directly into player’s hands? And what do they tell about us?

Who?

Dominik Kędzierawski: sophomore at ASC’s MA programme and BA graduate. Current academic interests revolve around game studies and moral philosophy, with MA research focusing on procedural rhetoric of American colonialism in videogames.

Year 2024/2025

June 12: Beyond Homeland(s) and Diaspora: Russian-Israeli Literature at Multiple Crossroads

June 6, 2025

We would like to invite you to a special guest lecture by Maria Rubins of University College London who will present a talk titled “Beyond Homeland(s) and Diaspora: Russian-Israeli Literature at Multiple Crossroads”. This lecture will examine the transnational, hybrid and translingual character of contemporary Russian-Israeli writing and its unique position within the evolving landscape of Russophone literature on the one hand, and Israeli culture on the other.

Year 2024/2025

June 5: Scaling Migrant Worker Rights. How Advocates Collaborate and Contest State Power

May 30, 2025

We are pleased to invite you to the second lecture of the Western Hemisphere Lecture series in the 2025 Spring semester! In the United States, immigration policy has undergone substantial changes in recent years. These changes have been particularly evident since the beginning of President Donald Trump’ recently inaugurated second term. In her analysis, Professor Xóchitl Bada will address these changes by focusing on the experience of migrant workers.

American Studies Colloquium Series

May 29: Surveillance and AI in the Military (and Beyond)

May 29, 2025

We are pleased to invite you to the last lecture of the American Studies Colloquium Series in the 2025 Spring semester! This lecture focuses on the revelatory power of media technology, particularly AI and other new media innovations. Beginning with an analysis of contemporary military surveillance projects, the presentation looks at the role of drones and similar technologies in making new enemies visible.

Year 2024/2025

May 27: Intersections of Queer and Class

May 27, 2025

We would like to invite you to a discussion meeting introducing the book “Reading Literature and Theory at the Intersections of Queer and Class” (Routledge 2025). We will talk about various crossovers of queer and class in American and German literary texts to explore, among others, queer precarity, intersections of queerness and class privilege, interclass queer sexuality, and lesbian response to class inequalities.

Year 2024/2025

May 26: Without the US? Europe in the New World Order

May 26, 2025

Together with Gazeta Wyborcza we are delighted to invite you to the whole-day conference “Without the US? Europe in the New World Order” concerning the first months of Donald Trump’s second term and its impact globally and in our part of the world. We will reevaluate past assessments, revise potential scenarios, and parse through options that lay ahead of us regarding European security, civil liberties in the age of globalized political polarization, and media freedom. Invited guests include ASC professors, journalists, and experts from think tanks.