For four decades video games have reflected, paralleled, and influenced the pop cultural landscape, but they are rarely given the credit shared by movies, books, and other more accepted mediums. In his book Porn & Pong, Damon Brown argues that games can be used to show how technology has changed our modern sexuality. Brown brings his insider stories and hidden histories to UC Santa Cruz at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 20, with a free public lecture. Brown's talk on "Human Sexuality and Video Games" will take place in Room 180 (Simularium) of the Engineering 2 building on the UCSC campus.
Brown has covered sex, technology, and popular culture for Playboy, New York Post, Planet Out, the AARP, CNN, and more. He holds a master's degree in magazine publishing from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in journalism and computing from Detroit's Oakland University.
Brown's book, Porn & Pong, explores how both pornography and video games have profited from new technologies and influenced our culture in tandem. His talk will reveal the rich subtext that hides just underneath popular games and give the audience a glimpse at where tech, sex, and interactivity will be going in the future.
Brown's talk is co-sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Center for Games and Playable Media and the Feminism and Pornography Research Cluster. For more information about the UC Santa Cruz Center for Games and Playable Media, visit games.soe.ucsc.edu.
