10 Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom
Abstract
This chapter addresses the practical application of user modification as a pedagogical method within an undergraduate module and a taught postgraduate module at the University of Winchester. Through a practical example it demonstrates that tabletop games may provide an effective medium for students to explore historical arguments, to interrogate these arguments, and ultimately to create their own counterarguments and debate through the alteration of the game. In doing so, this chapter engages with a diverse range of pedagogical literature and highlights the potential and pitfalls of the approach. In sum, the chapter makes a case for the use of games as educational tools at the highest levels of history study.
Abstract
This chapter addresses the practical application of user modification as a pedagogical method within an undergraduate module and a taught postgraduate module at the University of Winchester. Through a practical example it demonstrates that tabletop games may provide an effective medium for students to explore historical arguments, to interrogate these arguments, and ultimately to create their own counterarguments and debate through the alteration of the game. In doing so, this chapter engages with a diverse range of pedagogical literature and highlights the potential and pitfalls of the approach. In sum, the chapter makes a case for the use of games as educational tools at the highest levels of history study.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- 1 Introduction: Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games 1
-
Part I: The Educational Impact of Games
- 2 Learning About the Past Through Digital Play: History Students and Video Games 29
-
Part II: Teaching through Commercial Games
- 3 Historicising Assassin’s Creed (2007): Crusader Medievalism, Historiography, and Digital Games for the Classroom 47
- 4 Declaiming Dragons: Empathy Learning and The Elder Scrolls in Teaching Medieval Rhetorical Schemes 69
- 5 “What if you are a Medieval Monarch?”: A Crusader Kings III Experience to Learn Medieval History 87
-
Part III: Creating Educational Games
- 6 A Video Game for Byzantine History – Akritas: Playing at the Byzantine Borders 113
- 7 Collaborative Constructions: Designing High School History Curriculum with the Lost & Found Game Series 131
- 8 The Renaissance Marriage Game: A Simulation Game for Large Classes 155
-
Part IV: User Modification as Learning Practice
- 9 Alchemy and Archives, Swords, Spells, and Castles: Medieval-modding Skyrim 175
- 10 Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom 201
- 11 Game Development in a Senior Seminar 229
-
Part V: Games beyond the Classroom
- 12 The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays: Playing with Medieval Sonic Histories 249
- 13 Beyond Education and Impact: Games as Research Tools and Outputs 279
- List of Contributors 299
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- 1 Introduction: Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games 1
-
Part I: The Educational Impact of Games
- 2 Learning About the Past Through Digital Play: History Students and Video Games 29
-
Part II: Teaching through Commercial Games
- 3 Historicising Assassin’s Creed (2007): Crusader Medievalism, Historiography, and Digital Games for the Classroom 47
- 4 Declaiming Dragons: Empathy Learning and The Elder Scrolls in Teaching Medieval Rhetorical Schemes 69
- 5 “What if you are a Medieval Monarch?”: A Crusader Kings III Experience to Learn Medieval History 87
-
Part III: Creating Educational Games
- 6 A Video Game for Byzantine History – Akritas: Playing at the Byzantine Borders 113
- 7 Collaborative Constructions: Designing High School History Curriculum with the Lost & Found Game Series 131
- 8 The Renaissance Marriage Game: A Simulation Game for Large Classes 155
-
Part IV: User Modification as Learning Practice
- 9 Alchemy and Archives, Swords, Spells, and Castles: Medieval-modding Skyrim 175
- 10 Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom 201
- 11 Game Development in a Senior Seminar 229
-
Part V: Games beyond the Classroom
- 12 The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays: Playing with Medieval Sonic Histories 249
- 13 Beyond Education and Impact: Games as Research Tools and Outputs 279
- List of Contributors 299
- Index 303
