Supported by the Concordia University Centre for Sensory Studies, the Concordia University Research Chair on Gambling Studies, the Concordia University Ethnography Lab, and the Projet sur jeu responsable à l’ère numérique, the Casino Ethnography Research Group approaches the contemporary casino as a space of risk and consumption, but also as a feast for the senses. We work with the principles of sensory ethnography in order to explore the feel, experience and atmosphere of the casino.
We observe the hypo- as well as the hypersensoriality of the gamblified spaces of everyday life, paying particular attention to the wide range of play experiences in their exhilarating and also in their mundane aspects.
The Casino Ethnography focuses on gambling spaces in Québec, primarily casinos but also VLT-equipped bars and gambling websites. Through this comparative ethnographic perspective, we explore some of the transformations of gambling in the digital era.