The online game “World of Warcraft,” allows players to explore landscapes, fight enemy monsters, complete quests and interact with other players all around the globe.

Many play the game, but Radhika Gajjala, a professor in the American Culture Studies department, goes deeper.

Gajjala is currently planning the “Digital/Media, Race, Affect and Labor Conference,” taking place on campus Thursday and Friday, which is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the American Culture Studies department, the event will analyze how race, diversity and gender are used in the media. More than 10 lecturers will be at the University to speak on different issues online, on television and other parts of the media.

Gajjala’s personal research takes a closer look at race, labor and globalization in different games and social networks. Even though she’s not too much of a gamer, she has dabbled in gaming and said some of her friends and colleagues are gamers.

With “World of Warcraft,” among other games, Gajjala studies the action of players creating online identities and growing in social interactions. The game provides players the opportunity to use virtual money to buy and sell avatars.

“It’s like a nation unto its own,” Gajjala said. “[We are] being trained to have online identities,” she said, not only on games, but social networking sites as well.

The conference will study issues involving race, gender and sexual orientation on social networks as well.

Robert Bodle, an assistant professor from the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, will talk about the implications of homophobic speech on social networks.

In an email, he detailed what he did for his research, which he did with Lisa Wagner, also an assistant professor from the same school.

Bodle and Wagner examined many anti-gay Facebook groupandfan pages to look at the language used. They will also refer to the new online video channel “It Gets Better Project” to discuss cyber bullying and hate speech against homosexual teenagers.

Bodle and Wagner’s presentation will be the first given on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

Sarah Florini, an assistant instructor from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, will give a lecture on African Americans on the social networking site Twitter. Currently a Ph.D. candidate, she is looking to get a paper she wrote on the subject published.

Data and statistics were released reporting 25 percent of Twitter users are African American, yet are still “made completely invisible,” Florini said.

Florini, who regularly uses Twitter, will talk about the communication habits among African Americans on Twitter, as well as what some refer to as “Black People Twitter.” A lot of people stereotype African American users, Florini said.

 ”Not all black people are the same,” Florini said. “Not all black people on Twitter are the same.” People sometimes “tend to focus on stereotypical things,” she said.

Florini will present her research on Thursday.

The conference will analyze gadgets as well.

Robert Spicer, an instructor of communications from DeSales University in Pennsylvania, will be lecturing about the “interesting marketing techniques” Apple used to promote the iPhone 4. He’s been evaluating the promotion campaign since it was launched.

During his talk, taking place Thursday afternoon, Spicer will be explaining the significance in the visual elements of the advertising. In the series of advertisements he will use in his presentation, viewers will see only a hand using the iPhone’s touch-screen and the face of the caller on the phone. Spicer will explain the reasoning behind this marketing scheme, and why the theme of the commercials appeals to an older audience.

 ”The market of young people was probably saturated,” Splicer said. “The commercials surrounding middle-aged people “stretches to parents [and] grandparents,” he said.

The face is the primary tool of the affective connection and emotion, Splicer said. In one commercial, when a pregnant woman uses the iPhone to send a picture of her ultrasound to her loved one overseas in the military, the emotions are meant for older audiences, Splicer said.

Students and staff can hear more from these and other lecturers at the conference. On Wednesday, speakers will be in the Union in room 208 from 9:30-10:50 a.m. and 2:15-3:35 p.m., and room 315 from 11 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. On Thursday, more speakers will be in the East Hall Conference Room from 9-10:30 a.m. and a roundtable discussion will be in Olscamp room 101 at 11 a.m.

Doctoral candidate Katarzyna Chmielewska, also from Indiana University’s Bloomington campus, is looking forward to hearing other lectures.

 ”You meet people with different perspectives … really interesting people doing cutting edge research,” Chmielewska said. “[We’re having the] important conversation of the role of the Internet and the media.”

She will present her findings concerning the history of the Internet and the impact it had on gender identity, namely women.

Gajjala wishes to connect race issues in the real and digital world.

“Life inspires what you do online,” Gajjala said.