Critical Gaming: Interactive History and Virtual Heritage

Erik Champion is Professor of Cultural Visualisation at the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts, Curtin University, Australia.

• Introduction; Chapter 1 Digital Humanities and the Limits of Text; Chapter 2 Game-based Learning and the Digital Humanities; Chapter 3 Virtual Reality; Chapter 4 Game-based History and Historical Simulations; Chapter 5 Virtual Heritage and Digital Culture; Chapter 6 Worlds, Roles and Rituals; Chapter 7 Joysticks of Death, Violence and Morality; Chapter 8 Intelligent Agents, Drama and Cinematic Narrative; Chapter 9 Biofeedback, Space and Place; Chapter 10 Applying Critical Thinking and Critical Play;

’If anyone doubts that games, gamification, and play do not provide a serious and essential path to creativity and knowledge-production about the past, then Erik Champion’s book will surely change their minds. The book is a must for teachers, historians, archaeologists, and museum and cultural heritage professionals interested in critically using games and virtual reality as tools for teaching and research.’ Ruth Tringham, University of California, Berkeley, USA ’Champion’s newest work represents a treasure trove of ideas for both scholars and practitioners in the field of digital heritage. Digital media designers will find a plethora of design ideas while researchers will encounter as many useful evaluation suggestions, both with the goal of creating virtual environments that convey a sense of cultural presence and facilitate cultural learning.’ Natalie Underberg-Goode, University of Central Florida, USA ’By emphasizing the new cultural role of serious games, game-based learning, and virtual heritage in making scholarly arguments, this book demonstrates the relevance of visualization, interaction and game design in a contemporary humanities discourse. It will be of great use to scholars and educators who want to include new digital methods in their research and courses while it will provide indispensable digital literacy, references, and case studies to 21st century students in humanities and heritage-related fields.’ Nicola Lercari, University of California, Merced, USA