Humanities+
A Digital and Public Humanities Podcast produced by Phoenix Studios
Humanities+ is a collaboration between Dr. Caroline Boswell, associate professor of Humanities and History, Rachel Scray, a student in History, Digital and Public Humanities, and Arts Management, and Kate Farley, the producer of Phoenix Studios Podcast Network. The goal of Humanities+ is to provide listeners with meaningful discussions with enthusiasts, scholars, and experts on the intricate fields of Digital and Public Humanities in order to expand our listeners’ thinking and perspective on the subject.
Episode 6: Let’s Talk Games & Digital Humanities
In this episode, student host Rachel Scray is joined by guests assistant professor of English and Humanities, Julialicia Case and assistant professor of English and Humanities, Christopher Williams. Together, we discuss how the field of digital humanities approaches interactive modes of learning like gamification, especially through game design and participation. We discuss the importance of narrative building and storytelling to create “edutainment” and to address issues to promote social change.
Games referenced in this episode:
- Eterna Project: “Empowering citizen scientists to invent medicine”
- You are Jeff Bezos by Kris Ligman: Ever wonder what it would be like to be Jeff Bezos?
- Valiant Hearts developed by Ubisoft Montpellier: An immersive and touching story about life during World War I combining action, puzzles and adventure inspired by letters from the war.
- Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna): A partnership between world-class game makers and Alaskan Native storytellers and elders to create a game that delves deeply into the traditional lore of Iñupiat people to present an experience like no other.
- King’s Quest: One of professor Julie Case’s favorite adventure games.
- Assassin’s Creed developed by The Odd Gentlemen: The player can use “exploration mode” and play their way through history while being immersed in a different culture and terrain
- Player Two by Lydia Neon: Requires the player to reflect and deal with interpersonal conflicts.
- Papers, Please developed by Lucas Pope: a puzzle simulation video game where the player takes on the role of a border-crossing immigration officer in a fiction country during the Cold War era which parallels the division between East and West Berlin.
Upcoming events:
HergenraderPoster-1Links to the sources that inspired some of the discussions we had in this weeks episode:
Wilson, R., Saklofske, J. and INKE Research team, T., 2019. Playful Lenses: Using Twine to Facilitate Open Social Scholarship through Game-based Inquiry, Research, and Scholarly Communication. KULA: knowledge creation, dissemination, and preservation studies, 3(1), p.5. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/kula.11
Bogost, Ian. How to Do Things With Videogames. University of Minnesota Press, 2011. Accessed February 25, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttttmwd.
