Games & Early Modern History | Games and Early Modern History

Seminar at the University of Oldenburg in the winter semester 2022

Bachelor | Master | Teacher Training | Master's degree programme | Museum and Exhibition

Lecturer: Dr Lucas Haasis

Description: Games shape the culture of history. Games shape our image of the past. Games are popular with young and old. But games at university and school? For the most part, no. This is an omission and ultimately no longer in keeping with the times, because games have a high relevance to the real world, allow new forms of mediation and enable competences and a critical examination of history and its mediation. This is why digital and analogue games are at the centre of this seminar.

In this semester, we will focus on games from the early modern period and look at the early modern period from the perspective of games and game development. What games - digital and analogue - are available for the early modern period? On which themes is the market booming? Which themes are popular, which are being marginalised? What topics should there be games about in the future? What images of history do games reproduce? How do they shape our culture of remembrance of the Renaissance, Reformation, French Revolution or American War of Independence? How do games relate to topics such as colonialism, slavery or European expansion? What should change in games and the way we deal with games?

We will be talking to international experts from the fields of history, history didactics, public history, game studies and the international games industry. In January, we are also organising a practical workshop and game jam in cooperation with Creative Gaming and UOL Medientechnik, where students can also realise and discuss their own ideas. The final examination consists of a game analysis, a teaching project or a game pitch as projects of research-based learning, which are finally presented at a public poster session at the university.

The seminar offers insights into current research on digital and analogue games and the early modern period as well as practical components. The course is complementary in content to the lecture on the introduction to the early modern period. The format of the seminar is a combination of face-to-face events at the university on Fridays with one-hour online sessions, usually the evening before. These online sessions consist of short lectures by international guests and Q&A sessions on various topics. Further highlights of the event are the co-operation with teachers and students from the Artland-Gymnasium Quakenbrück, the IGS Flötenteich in Oldenburg and the Goethe-Gymnasium Hannover. Previous knowledge or practical experience is not necessary to participate in the seminar. However, interest and a clear willingness to actively participate are required.