Aaron Lumnah
Journal Contributor

Suffolk’s Organization for Uplifting Lives through Service (S.O.U.L.S.) began its community service projects this past week with supper clubs at the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Church of the Advent. Video Games and The Military, a Food for Thought discussion, was held with Suffolk professor Nina B. Huntemann last Wednesday. Huntemann, who has taught media courses at Suffolk for eight years, presented her research from her anthology Joystick Soldiers: The Politics of Play in Military Video Games, coauthored with Matthew Thomas Payne.

“I am a gamer, a gamer with a conscious. I try to see the bigger perspective,” said Huntemann. Her presentation focused on the history and evolution of war and strategy board games and then traced the rise and creation of videogames into what they presently are. She predicts videogames will become more social and true to reality in the future. Huntemann’s exposition on the topic provided a glimpse into the gaming industry and how it operates.

In addition to these presentations, the S.O.U.L.S. Community Service and Service Learning Center offers various opportunities for students to get involved on campus as well as give back to the greater Boston community. The center focuses on service learning and community service and works in the classroom to organize opportunities in which students may participate. S.O.U.L.S. is Suffolk’s connection to the community.

The center also collaborates with Connections to College, working with at-risk youth to send them to college, and the Prison Book Program, helping inmates gain access to educational materials. S.O.U.L.S. will also participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Boston Walk on Sunday, October 3.

The next Food for Thought discussion S.O.U.L.S. has planned, will be held on October 6 and November 10, both in Donahue Room 403 at noon.