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| Semester | spring semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Béatrice Gauvain (beatrice.gauvain@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Heritage is understood as tangible and intangible cultural assets, serving as evidence of human creativity and ingenuity with significant historical, societal, artistic, scientific, or economic importance. They are protected, maintained, and made accessible to the public. Cultural heritage is not static but undergoes constant change, particularly in the digital realm where new possibilities arise for presenting and conveying cultural assets. An intriguing genre in this context is video games, where the consumer doesn't play a passive and observational role but actively interacts with digital representations of cultural heritage. This raises several questions to be addressed in this seminar: How is tangible and intangible cultural heritage represented in video games? To what extent does this contribute to the preservation and continuation of these cultural assets, and do they develop a life of their own? How does this impact cultural memory? How do video games handle historicity? What is the player's approach and interaction with cultural heritage? What cultural knowledge is conveyed to players, and what potential issues may arise? How do various interest groups in commercial game development deal with cultural heritage? After an introduction, participants will independently explore and present topics. There are numerous facets of cultural heritage in video games that can be examined, such as 3D models and representation of cities (Assassin’s Creed), urban structures and city building (BioShock Infinite, Age of Empires, Civilization), societal constructions (Total War, Age of Empires, The Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, Way of the Samurai), reception of antiquity (Caesar, Populous, God of War), reception of the Middle Ages (The Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft), reception of indigenous peoples (Never Alone, This Land is My Land, …), Christianity and Bible reception (Darksiders, Devil May Cry, Diablo, Fallout), as well as virtual sacred places and rituals (Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, The Talos Principle, Valheim, The Legend of Zelda, World of Warcraft, Mass Effect). |
| Admission requirements | The number of participants is limited. In the event of oversubscription, students of Digital Humanities will be given preferential admission. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 05.03.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 12.03.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 19.03.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 26.03.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 02.04.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 09.04.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 16.04.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 23.04.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 30.04.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 07.05.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 14.05.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 21.05.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 28.05.2024 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Modules |
Modul: Digital Humanities, Culture and Society (Master's degree subject: Digital Humanities) Modul: Koordinaten der Kreativität (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Digital Humanities Lab |