GMST 300 Gaming and History

One of the most important tools for our understanding of past is our ability to imagine a different time and space from our own lived experience. History-inspired video games are one modern medium for the exploration of an imagined past, just as is done with film, television, historical fiction, and other artistic works. This course works with students to examine how history is presented in gaming (game design, game mechanics, digital storytelling, world building) and discuss pedagogical uses, teaching effectiveness, historical representation, and criticism of each game. By the end of the course, building off discussions throughout the semester, students will design a historical game proposal pitch deck with a group and code a simple historical text-based digital story with Twine building off historical sources. This project will be the culmination of what students have learned in the course related to game design/mechanics, historical representation, and effective teaching strategies. No previous coding experience is necessary for this course project. The units of the course will be built around playing these games together with interspersed contextual historical lectures, reading materials, think pieces on historical gaming, discussion, and occasional guest lectures with game developers themselves. The goal is that by the end of this course students will be able to both critique and understand the place of historical gaming for education and within public imaginations of history more broadly. This course also contributes to the Game Studies minor.