LBST 390, Tutorial N0. 1: The Culture of Magic: The Gathering
By Cody Peters.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gillian Crowther, Department of Anthropology.
For this tutorial project between myself and Dr. Crowther, the learning outcomes were fairly straightforward. We set out with the intention of me conducting independent research and compiling it into a coherent research brief in which I would discuss the research findings and explain their significance. As seen throughout the course of the tutorial, I believe I have done an adequate job of assessing information, conducting one on one interviews, and then compiling the information gained from these interviews, coupled with my own personal knowledge on the subject area, into a coherent and interesting research brief on the culture surrounding Magic: The Gathering in the Greater Vancouver area.
As for unanticipated learning outcomes, the most surprising aspect of going through with this project was discovering the wealth of different levels and layers that are related to Magic: The Gathering culture, and how diverse and stratified the culture truly is. Talking over the different details and intricacies with Dr. Crowther truly brought to light the potential for further research projects and even my personal graduate project to be based around the Magic: The Gathering culture in Vancouver.
The research methods utilized in this tutorial, namely one on one interviews and ethnographic studies, were very sustainable As the project centered around the culture of the games players and their personal understanding and participation in this culture, participant-observational ethnographic research worked quite well in obtaining an understanding on the different cultural aspects of the game, as well as the different emphasis placed on each aspect by individuals.
As mentioned earlier, I had previously not planned on doing interconnected tutorials or graduate projects, but as Dr. Crowther and myself went through this project, we realized the immense amount of information and stratified levels of culture that can be seen throughout Magic: The Gathering. As such, it has given rise to several different project ideas centered around the game and its culture, and as such I am basing my next two tutorials around different aspects that I have realized have a much greater depth of detail than I had previously thought.
As such, I am planning to utilize the different aspect that I am studying throughout all of my tutorials to generate a more in-depth, and holistic understanding and highlighting of the culture of Magic: The Gathering as a graduate project. I am unsure of what direction I plan to take with this information, but I am quite certain that my graduate project will center around my tutorials.
Student, Chef, & Amateur Cultist