Bakersfield College hosted a presentation by Alenda Y. Chang on April 19 at 7p.m. inside the Levan Center on Campus. This was the 3rd event sponsored the National Endowment for the Humanities Grant (NEH).

BC Professor Josh Ottum began the presentation by introducing guest speaker, Alenda Y. Chang with a brief blurb about her credentials and work as a Professor at UC Santa Barbara. He also mentioned that he got the chance to interviewed her beforehand for a podcast. Chang greeted everyone, the proceeded to her PowerPoint presentation about humanities and the sciences.

She explained the existing divide between both throughout history and even today and how it effects studies.

Chang made a great statement summing up the conflict;
“literary intellectuals vs scientists” she said.

The second half of her presentation transitioned to video games and the ecology of them. She even introduced the topic of nature and technology and how they coexist together. Chang also mention that some people feel video games keep people away from nature and how that’s bad for their health. Chang let the audience know that she loves playing video games especially farm based applications on her mobile phone.

“I play Farmville, and other variations including in different languages” she said.

Chang went on to discuss the many games that have had an impact, both positive and negative. The video game franchise Pokémon, for example has brought about controversy she explained. Peta the animal right activist group has openly went against the game’s objective and even criticized it by considering it animal abuse. They even made their own version of the game in order to raise awareness.

Chang also brought up how technology today changes the way people manage the waste produced by it. People have also created video games about taking care of the planet to promote a safer environment.

“This inspired me to write my own book” Chang said. “It’s titled Playing Nature: Ecology of Video Games”.

The audience enjoyed the presentation and even interacted in a live quiz during the PowerPoint.

Attendee Manuela Bahena enjoyed the topic of video games, “I play a lot of the video games that were discussed in the presentation” Bahena said. “It was really cool being able to identify yourself with that.”