Dear Rosa and Andrea (and Michael)
Thanks to the colleagues and co-authors who helped inspired me to edit a concise book for students that will be open access (i.e. free PDF downloads).
Virtual Heritage: A Guide will be available on Thursday 22 July 2021 at https://www.ubiquitypress.com
I’d appreciate any feedback from staff or students for future editions.
What have I been doing this year? Playing a lot of piano, badly. But also (and I hope to add 2 journal articles and a book project and a serious game design project to this mix):
This is our proposed draft chapter (7500-9000 words) for a book on medieval modding within a game (Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim).
Ear Zow Digital, Australian National University, University of Western Australia
Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller, Australian National University
Katrina Grant, Australian National University
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, through its rich modding possibilities, has great potential as a teaching and learning tool. The world of Skyrim, although “pseudo-medieval”,[1] can, through the use of mods, aim for a level of historical accuracy comparable to many scholarly digital 3D reconstruction projects. These types of projects are now widely accepted as a vehicle for a new way of thinking about old topics, and as a valuable prompt for engaging students. The advantage of using Skyrim is that the historically informed mods can be combined with sophisticated game mechanics to immerse and inspire students as procedural, contestable, and reconfigurable simulations. Through playful exploration, students can investigate the game world and engage with both the historically-informed and fantastical elements. But they can also become designers, and investigate historical developments through the creation of new assets, modified game mechanics, and social storytelling. Designing simulations is a further learning experience and Skyrim’s Creation Kit is thus also a pedagogical tool.
In this chapter we will explore ways in which Skyrim can be used and modified to explain, through play, three related aspects of medieval society: culture, architecture, and landscape. We will then discuss the modding capability of Skyrim, and conclude with some suggestions for how future Elder Scrolls games and game mods could be leveraged as a teaching and learning tool.
[1] von Lünen, Alexander, Katherine J Lewis, Benjamin Litherland, and Pat Cullum. 2019. Historia Ludens: The Playing Historian. Vol. 30. New York, USA: Routledge.
I have started an 18 chapter 25 author edited book project with De Gruyter (Video Games and the Humanities series) and Dr Juan Hiriart as co-editor. I hope to publish it in 2022. Confirmed authors are from Canada, USA, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The aim is to explain how the Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed Series can and has and could be used in the classroom, museum, or gallery (or as escape space). De Gruyter and Ubisoft historians have been very encouraging. I’d love contributions from the Caribbean or Middle East but very happy with what we have going forward.
There is some possibility of related online learning materials being made available.
Alternative title: Assassin’s Creed: History’s Playground or a Stab in the Dark?
NB This is not the final chapter order.
Have sent out a proposal to people who use the above game series in the classroom and/or write about it. Have spoken to Ubisoft about this so possibly can work with historians and archaeologists working with Ubisoft as well.
Authors: Will be an ongoing negotiation process, from abstract/title to publisher and external reviews (depending on the publisher).
Audience: Would be useful if it can be used in a classroom (perhaps university-level undergraduate) but with some thoughtful articles.
Content: How Assassin’s Creed evolved in terms of history and simulation, how it is seen (inside and outside Ubisoft) in terms of its potential in education, heritage and tourism. Indeed a book I am co-editing has a chapter on Assassin’s Creed and screen tourism and I have been tasked to write it! But for this project, I would be very happy to get a conversation going between game designers, consultants, historians, academics and game design teachers.
Focus: How could Assassin’s Creed change or create more flexibility for use and reuse and input from these sectors? How do the scholars and designers see new ways of using games to learn about aspects of history that would be of interest to Ubisoft in particular and game companies in general?
Language: I think I should find a co-editor and possibly French-speaking, would it make sense to have French language chapters and or a French version?
Publisher: I don’t have funds for open access publisher fees but ideally it would be (at least in part) free on the web so it could easily be picked up by classrooms. Update: have received some interest already.
Timing: We are looking at a mid to late 2021 final submission by authors so the book might have to appear in 2022.
Last week I was asked if I would write a book chapter for an edited volume “Difficult Pasts and Immersive Experiences” to be published by Routledge (History, Heritage Studies & Archaeology series) in 2021, edited by Dr. Agiatis Benardou and Dr. Anna Maria Droumpouki.
I suggested a chapter on the theoretical problems but also potential interaction design-related ways to create more reflective virtual environments to engage with these “difficult pasts”. I have been inspired by an article on Forbidden Knowledge by Stanley Godlovich, but I have now lost that paper reference (here is another: https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2020/04/can-we-morally-judge-past-on-williamss.html)
Current working title: Chronological Relativism: Retrovisiting Dark and Forbidden Heritage.
I’ve been thinking of asking historians, art historians and archaeologists, if they would like to contribute to a new edited book, primarily (or only) on Assassin’s Creed. How do they or could they use it for teaching and research. What new features would they love to see? Could we get some of the professional historians who advised on the series to write their thoughts, advice, and experiences? Perhaps even one of the game designers who worked on the series?
What would be a good title?
References
According to Routledge’s online article “Publishing Open Access Books: Chapters” I am allowed to archive a preprint copy on my own site or the site of my institute (but not the published version). Please remember there may be slight variations to the published chapter. My thanks to Associate Professor Anna Foka, (Humlab and Uppsala University) for being such a wonderful co-author and collaborator.
To cite the article (in APA format):
Champion, E., & Foka, A. (2020). Art History, Heritage Games, and Virtual Reality. In K. J. Brown (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities and Art History, (pp. 238-253). Oxford, UK: Routledge.
DOI is: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429505188
Preprint chapter:
Cultural Heritage Infrastructures in Digital Humanities (2017) is free to access for one week, get free access to the book (via this link) for 7 days.
After this 7-day period, you can buy a copy for £10/$15!
You can also visit the official Routledge History, Heritage Studies etc. Twitter page
and thanks to Routledge editor Heidi Lowther.
Routledge is running a monograph sale through June 11th. Readers can now access The Phenomenology of Real and Virtual Places free-of-charge for seven days. At the end of the trial period, they’ll have the opportunity to purchase the eBook for £10/$15.
Here are the links to the offer.
With Dr Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller and Dr Katrina Grant (both at ANU), I have decided to write a chapter on serious games for medieval(!) purposes for an edited book by Dr Robert Houghton (publisher still to be confirmed) on medieval games.. but this is not due until March 2021. Still, does this sound potentially interesting?
Chapter 12 by Erik Champion, Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller, and Katrina Grant explores the ways in which Skyrim can be used and modified by undergraduate and postgraduate students to explain, through play, three related aspects of medieval society: the distinctive, related and unique characteristics of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, the art, craft and preservation of calligraphy, literature, inscription and lore; and the importance of the medieval landscape in art history.
Ear Zow Digital