Learning Outcomes
What am I going to learn?
We want you to learn how to read, how to write, how to interpret, how to research and most importantly how to think like a historian. This course will generally answer the questions, "What is History?" and "What is the purpose of History?". To that we will also add the question, "What is a game?" and "What do games teach us about History?".
What are the Learning Outcomes for this Class?
Generally...
You will learn tools and techniques for making notes, organizing a long term research project and developing products of your learning
In terms of content, you will:
play, think about and dissect games to see them as assemblages of texts, images, objects and mechanics
learn terminology, frameworks and analytical methodologies to allow you to approach games critically and as a historian through hands-on play, observation and analysis
pickup a general history of games in the Western tradition
have an opportunity to explore underlying concepts, technologies, and languages of contemporary games and gain an understanding of available game resources not only from the viewpoint of a game player but also from that of a game maker.
In terms of skills:
You will learn how to closely read and analyze sources with different historical methodologies.
You will learn how to take digital notes (class notes and research notes), synthesize them, and use them to develop research work.
You will learn digital tools for working on projects and collaborating with others
You will learn the basics of game design
You will learn how to work independently and as a group, using digital "enterprise" tools to plan and execute written assignments. You will learn ways to manage your time and your work flow.
Learning outcomes are usually practical things, such as (imagine this said in a grumpy professor voice), "Learning enterprise tools allow you to succeed in the world after graduation". But one of the most important things to do in this class is to get to know your fellow students!
Your peers are potential essay editors, project brainstormers, emotional supports and –dare I say– possible friends. Try to reach out and befriend at least one other of your classmates, because the odds are, the effort you put into it will be paid back. Even if we're stuck doing this all online, it'll be worth it.
Why Study History?
Everyone has their own reason to study history and if you're in this class, you likely already have a sense of why it appeals to you. The AHA (American Historical Association) will tell you about the good job prospects that await you after graduation (it was written before the pandemic, mind you...). This practical advice supersedes the previous explanations from 1985 and 1998. Read these explanations and you'll see that even the reasons to study history, have a history.
I don't think many people study history because they worry, as George Santayana put it, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". When I've asked students over the years, "why did you take this or that course" they have tended to say they decided to take history (or medieval studies) because of a book, movie or video game that they played – maybe when they were kids, maybe what they were playing at the time. That "something" kindled an interest in the period and a desire to learn more.
That's why I study and teach the Middle Ages. Long long ago (the 1990s) in a land far, far away (i.e. Winnipeg), I fell in love with the period by reading novels about the Middle Ages - especially Arthuriana like T.H. White's Once and Future King or Thomas Berger's Arthur Rex. So I studied history because I fell in love with the subject and then, during university, became passionate about how exciting the world of the past showed people to be. The past was a wonderful refuge for me to explore its complexity and to see a world so different (but related) to our own. It suggested ways in which our world could be different (for better or worse). It revealed how people who say that the world "has always been this way" are usually lying. So I saw the study of history as liberating. And this, I deeply believe, is the value of History. It liberates us by showing us how we (as individuals or as a society) could be different and better.
So, once you're ready, go save the world with History.
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