Using Video Games to Teach the Philosophy of History; or, Hayden White Rides a Digital Trojan Horse

Historical video games, such as Assassin's Creed, Civilization, and Red Dead Redemption are popular, engaging gateways to studying the past. Massive sales figures and flourishing online communities of fans make this fact abundantly clear. But their actual utility in teaching history remains far less definite, even as the body of academic work about them grows in size and sophistication—and visibility, as evidenced in recent AHA meetings and publications. Very often, such games are too riddled with “bad” history or demand too much corrective scaffolding to offer an obvious (or rigorous) pedagogical application. This poster argues, however, that historical video games can serve as powerful, accessible tools for introducing undergraduate students—including non-History majors—to foundational concepts in historiography and the philosophy of history. In turn, the systemic analysis of historical games can encourage students to think more critically not just about the media they consume, but about the very nature of “doing history.” It is also a promising method for “STEAM-ifying” the history curriculum, thus drawing in STEM majors to our courses.

The poster, like its topic, advances both theoretical and practical objectives. It is based on my experiences researching, designing, and teaching the course Historical Representation in Video Games at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. I envision the layout to consist of four equal quadrants, with a fifth box at the center for displaying the title and author. Proceeding from left to right, top row to bottom row, the first quadrant, Core Concepts, will outline the intellectual rationale of the course, with a bibliographic inset. The second, Course Structure, will be skeletal overview of the syllabus, with an inset of a screenshot from one of the assigned games. Third will come Course Assessments, explaining, above all, the major assigned projects, illustrated by a student example. Finally, Outcomes and Takeaways will reflect on how students have received and performed in the course, will a discussion of future changes. This will be accompanied by another image of student work (or another game screenshot), as well as QR code linking to a companion resource website. While present at the poster, I intend to supplement my presentation with an electronic tablet that will allow visitors to view snippets of course videos and student projects.