Several years ago McGill University created a simulation designed to teach students about the history of a Quebec. The simulation is free to download on their site. (Windows only.. sorry Mac users! [myself included]) One of the largest problems with the educational use of computers simulations is a lack of augmentative [...]
The Constructivist recently shared a terrific find – a blog anthology from “To Delight and to Instruct,†chronicling the process of surviving graduate school. This is required reading for those currently in, or considering entering a graduate program in the humanities.
On Friday the American Studies Association launched their new website and moved to a new server. Make sure your bookmarks point to www.theasa.net. The site is based on a networking and blogging model to foster the development of “communities†within the site, be that regional chapters or specific projects. It’ll be interesting [...]
Virtual Powwow was a living museum in Second Life, proposed as a final project in Bernie Dodge’s graduate-level Exploratory Learning through Simulation and Games class. By recreating a powwow, the simulation visualized an environment hosted by Native Americans where students could experience Native American culture and dance.
Although not exactly roleplaying, Virtual Powwow and [...]
As previously mentioned, Native American roleplaying in Second Life is a very popular. In order to understand the Sigil Tribe, I’m exploring active Native American RP sims. Last night I visited La Tribu for the first time, a French-speaking Native American roleplaying sim. (Some background: I don’t speak French, so the [...]
Lucy Maddox’s Locating American Studies: the Evolution of a Discipline is commonly required reading in American Studies theory and methods courses because of its breadth and analysis of the evolution of the discipline. What if we could visualize that disciplinary evolution? What ways could we see the shifting theoretical perspectives of scholars, [...]
Last semester I had the privilege of working under the auspices of Randy Bass at Georgetown University’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship on the American Studies Crossroads Project – an instrumental disciplinary vehicle on the web for American Studies. My most notable contribution to the site was the recreation of a [...]
Before discussing historical roleplaying sims in Second Life any further, it’s important to introduce a side of Second Life that I’ve failed to acknowledge up to this point - sexual roleplaying. As one of the first subcultures to embrace Second Life, sexual roleplayers have influenced the entire Second Life culture - with BDSM references [...]
The most recent addition to the Sigil Archive introduces Native American roleplaying in Second Life, specifically the Sigil Tribe. There are several Native American roleplaying tribes in Second Life, including one that speaks entirely in French. I’ve uploaded a set of guidelines, as well as tribe rules that were used by the Sigil [...]
An enthusiast recently created The Oregon Trail Shrine, archiving images and downloadable copies of both the Oregon Trail and Oregon Trail Deluxe computer games. Similar to the oral histories I collected with my Oregon Trail Survey, the site shares game reviews and stories submitted by fans. This review struck me:
After playing this game [...]
I'm a digital humanist and graduate of American Studies, currently working as a web developer and Omeka community liaison for the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Finding America is my professional blog, and an amalgamation of the many hats I wear ranging from theorist to practitioner. I explore the confluence of American Culture and information technology in the archives, the classroom, and our digital lives.