Robert Houghton (dir.), Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games. Using, Modding and Creating Games for Education and Impact, “Video Games and Humanities” vol.11, De Gruyter, 2022.

Games can act as invaluable tools for the teaching of the Middle Ages. The learning potential of physical and digital games is increasingly undeniable at every level of historical study. These games can provide a foundation of information through their stories and worlds. They can foster understanding of complex systems through their mechanics and rules. Their very nature requires the player to learn to progress.

The educational power of games is particularly potent within the study of the Middle Ages. These games act as the first or most substantial introduction to the period for many students and can strongly influence their understanding of the era. Within the classroom, they can be deployed to introduce new and alien themes to students typically unfamiliar with the subject matter swiftly and effectively. They can foster an interest in and understanding of the medieval world through various innovative means and hence act as a key educational tool.

This volume presents a series of essays addressing the practical use of games of all varieties as teaching tools within Medieval Studies and related fields. In doing so it provides examples of the use of games at pre-university, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels of study, and considers the application of commercial games, development of bespoke historical games, use of game design as a learning process, and use of games outside the classroom. As such, the book is a flexible and diverse pedagogical resource and its methods may be readily adapted to the teaching of different medieval themes or other periods of history.

Table des matières

Acknowledgements
Introduction: Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games, Robert Houghton

PART I: THE EDUCATIONAL IMPACT OF GAMES

 Learning About the Past Through Digital Play: History Students and Video Games, Eve Stirling and Jamie Wood

PART II: TEACHING THROUGH COMMERCIAL GAMES

 Historicising Assassin’s Creed (2007): Crusader Medievalism, Historiography, and Digital Games for the Classroom, Mike Horswell
Declaiming Dragons: Empathy Learning and The Elder Scrolls in Teaching Medieval Rhetorical Schemes, David DeVine
“What if you are a Medieval Monarch?”: A Crusader Kings III Experience to Learn Medieval History, Ahmet Erdem Tozoğlu and Mehmet Şükrü Kuran

PART III: CREATING EDUCATIONAL GAMES

 A Video Game for Byzantine History – Akritas: Playing at the Byzantine Borders, Klio Stamou, Anna Sotiropoulou, Phivos Mylonas and Yorghos Voutos
Collaborative Constructions: Designing High School History Curriculum with the Lost & Found Game Series, Owen Gottlieb and Shawn Clybor
The Renaissance Marriage Game: A Simulation Game for Large Classes, Courtnay Konshuh and Frank Klaassen

PART IV: USER MODIFICATION AS LEARNING PRACTICE

Alchemy and Archives, Swords, Spells, and Castles: Medieval-modding Skyrim, Erik Champion, Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller and Katrina Grant
Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom, Robert Houghton
Game Development in a Senior Seminar, Frank Klaassen

PART V: GAMES BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays: Playing with Medieval Sonic Histories, Mariana López, Marques Hardin and Wenqi Wan
Beyond Education and Impact: Games as Research Tools and Outputs, Robert Houghton
List of Contributors
Index

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