In this class we will explore the value and affordances of digital history play and games.

Read a short overview of digital history game genres from Jerome De Groot.

Timothy Compeau and Rob MacDougall, “Tecumseh Lies Here: Goals and Challenges for a Pervasive History Game in Progress” PastPlay, (University of Michigan Press), 2014.

Have a look through volume of PastPlay from the University of Michigan Press Online – to get a sense of some of the discussions historians are having about games, play, and history.

Susan Engel, “Playing to Learn,” New York Times, 1 February 2010.

Niall Ferguson, “How To Win A War,” New York Magazine, 15 October 2006.

Have a look through past blog posts by Rob MacDougall: “History at Play,” “Playful Historical Thinking,” “History Invaders,” “Toys Not Games,” and “The Action Figure Curriculum.”

Can games be used to harness collective intelligence? Jane McGonigal, “Why I Love Bees: A Case Study in Collective Intelligence Gaming,” in The Ecology of Games (MIT Press, 2007).

Play: Bring in great or horrible examples of learning history through digital gaming and play.

Introduction to Layar