Students in Georgetown’s Communication, Culture and Technology program are currently battling for control of Washington, D.C.

Graduate students in the CCT introductory class, taught by Professors Michael Coventry and Jeanine Turner, are participating in a strategy-based game similar to Risk known as GoCrossCampus.com. The Web site divides a university’s campus or city into territories, which are fought over to determine the winner.

Rather than play as merely individuals, however, GoCrossCampus is a team-based game. Coventry and Turner divided their class of approximately 60 students into six teams and encouraged the teams to recruit additional players. The teams currently range in size from 78 players to 147 players. With such large teams, Coventry and Turner said that networking is vital as each group chooses a leader, picks a strategy and forms alliances.

In the game, D.C. has been divided into 60 territories – including Georgetown, Foggy Bottom and Columbia Heights. A team’s territories are distinguished by the team’s color. At this point, the orange team leads with 15 territories while the violet team trails with only five territories.

Coventry said that rather than reading and discussing theory, the students are able to study how individuals in a large team express their preferences and how teams decide to act. Students are able to explore gaming culture and the role of technology in communication in a common setting. Coventry said that the class is not merely playing for fun, however; their goal is to learn.

The experiences of the losing teams provide valuable lessons for the class, Turner said. Those who are not victorious can explore the differences between the groups, their strategies and methods of communication.

The game, which began on Sept. 23, will continue until Oct. 21.

Each student will have to write a midterm on his or her own adventures during the game. The winning team is either the last team remaining or the one that controls the most territories. The victors will have the honor of hosting a pizza party for the CCT department.

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