THATCamp IMMERSe is an unconference hosted by the University of Waterloo Games Institute, in partnership with the IMMERSe Research Network for Videogame Immersion, and inspired by THATCamp Games. THATCamp IMMERSe was founded as a way to bring together theorists and practitioners of game studies and the digital humanities, game developers and designers, games enthusiasts and advocates, and humanities instructors and scholars interested in games, pedagogy, and player experience. THATCamp IMMERSe serves as a space for those from all sides of the field to engage in challenging and meaningful conversation in hopes of learning from one another.

We invite games scholars, students, developers, designers, and enthusiasts interested in the confluence of games and the digital humanities to join us for a weekend this July to discuss, debate, create, and play.

THATCamp IMMERSe 2013 will be held in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario from July 12th-14th. It will feature workshops, unconference sessions, dork shorts, a design jam, gaming events and more!

Great! But what does “IMMERSe” mean?

From IMMERSe-Network.com:

The Interactive and Multi-Modal Experience Research Syndicate (IMMERSe) is a new project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada’s primary federal agency for social science and humanities research. IMMERSe brings together researchers from different games-related fields to uncover new insights into player experience and new strategies for improving it.

IMMERSe will expand on and apply new and existing knowledge of the gameplay experience to advance the fields of game studies and game development. The research network will connect and create relationships between stakeholders, expand opportunities for innovative scholarship at the universities associated with IMMERSe, and train highly qualified people to work in this growing field.