When he welcomes the Class of 2028 to the University of Chicago’s intellectual community, Prof. Patrick Jagoda will encourage College students to play.
“It might sound like a strange foundation for education at a top university, but to me, play is essential to intellectual discovery, and unlike fun, it is a serious project,” said Jagoda, who will deliver the annual Aims of Education address—a revered UChicago tradition for incoming undergraduates. “Learning is play. It’s joyful experimentation. It’s a multiplayer game. And games have become a huge form and metaphor in the 21st century.”
Jagoda’s address will not only focus on how play can spur creative thinking and innovation—but also how it can encourage students to take risks, think courageously, and discover new and just ideas. He hopes to inspire students to think beyond individual goals and tackle complex, global problems together.
“Fun is advertised and sold to us constantly as a means of escape. By contrast, I think play is about being deeply present. It is the power of inventing yourself, your community and your world,” said Jagoda. “Play helps us discover new possibilities. Fun is easy, but play is more profoundly challenging.”
This year’s address, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, will be webcast on the the UChicago News website and social media channels.
Jagoda is the William Rainey Harper Professor in the Departments of English Language and Literature, Cinema and Media Studies, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the College. A renowned scholar of media theory, game studies and design, he has created alternate reality games about topics such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also serves as faculty director of the Weston Game Lab, which recently designed Haven—a new pre-orientation video game for incoming first-years designed to explore topics including free expression, open discourse and difference. More than 1,000 incoming students have played Haven this summer, and during O-Week, students will discuss their experiences and lessons learned in the game.
“I always like to discuss free expression and difference in the same sentence because both depend on one another,” said Jagoda. “Some treat these as opposed values, but there are ways of thinking about them together. We should pursue promising ideas, even when they’re not popular. At the same time, the ways we communicate matter. They can lead to better or worse, even disastrous, consequences, especially depending on who shares or is allowed to share certain ideas.”
Jagoda joins a group of world-class scholars, and UChicago leaders to give the time-honored address since 1961. He said he appreciates the opportunity to lead students in a shared moment of reflection as they embark upon their college careers.
“It’s an enormous honor, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Jagoda. “I feel lucky to reflect on the purpose and possibilities of higher education in our time. The privilege to learn and receive a university education saved my life in so many different ways, and now I have the chance to work with some of the most intelligent, hardworking and curious students in the world.”
—A version of this story was originally published on the University of Chicago College website.