Games and Gaming History HIST5165

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

In this course, students will critically engage with the challenges and opportunities of using history in games, from electronic (video games) to tactile (tabletop/board games).

 

Assessments are designed to give students the opportunity to use skills learned during the course to analyse games and either design a game, or create new methods for using existing games in education.

 

The course gives students some choice over which areas they wish to specialise in through selecting particular hours of weekly seminars to attend (e.g. History MSc students who may want to explore a broader range of historical social/simulation, exploration and puzzle games or War Studies MSc students choosing course seminar options which are centred on strategy games and wargaming).

Timetable

10x3hr seminars over 10 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus.

Requirements of Entry

Standard entry to Masters at College level.

Excluded Courses

None.

Co-requisites

None.

Assessment

Project Proposal (2000 words) -  40%

Guided Research Project (3000 words)  - 60% (other formats are possible, including video, audio or infographic submissions).

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ Analyse the ways in which history (from different time periods) has been used in games and gaming, highlighting the advantages/challenges of such usage.

■ Appraise key debates and approaches to using history in games.

■ Encourage greater social and ethical awareness of the potential implications of using history in games.

■ Develop skills in the analysis of games and in educational game project design.

■ Examine the development of strategies for using history in games for educational purposes.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Identify and critically evaluate the challenges and potential benefits of using history in games.

■ Conduct in-depth analysis of the use of history in particular games.

■ Identify and investigate an original research question into the use of history in games.

■ Formulate a project output (in written or other format) informed by existing scholarship.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.