Category Archives: Blog

Blog, History/Government Games

Guest Bloggers: Sean Smith and Jeffrey Lawler – Native American Agency and Visibility

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On this particular Monday, it seems fitting to feature CGN members Sean Smith and Jeffrey Lawler as our guest bloggers of the week. Smith and Lawler are full-time lecturers in the History Department of California State University, Long Beach and co-directors of the CSULB Center for the History of Video Games and Critical Play. Their blog, titled Critical Play, focuses on history games and education.  

As Smith wrote, “I think the post that best fits with the mission of the Games Network is probably our piece on Native-American agency in table top games,  Pawns of Manifest Destiny: Native-American Agency and Visibility in History Based Tabletop Games.”

The piece spotlights three games that employ Native American characters: 1775: Rebellion; Discoveries: The Journals of Lewis and Clark; and Bang! The Dice Game. In writing about each game, Smith’s and Lawler’s intent is “not to engage in the totality of Native American representation, but to analyze the ways that the structure and mechanics of each game reinforce mythic identities in juxtaposition with a lack of purposeful agency for Native characters.”

To read the post in full, click here: https://www.criticalplay.org/blog/2018/3/2/pawns-of-manifest-destiny-native-american-agency-and-visibility-in-history-based-tabletop-games.

Are you interested in being featured on the CGN website? If so, submit a blog post on any topic related to GBL in higher ed., and/or send links/descriptions of your blogs to contactcunygames@gmail.com. Stay tuned for another guest contribution next Monday. 

Blog, History/Government Games

Guest Blogger: Patrick Rael – History Games

This fall, the CUNY Games Network is featuring a series of guest blog posts from CGN members. Our first contributor is Patrick Rael, history professor at Bowdoin College.

Patrick operates a blog to share his experiences with GBL in college-level History classes. As Patrick explains, “The Ludica blog is dedicated to exploring the connection between modern tabletop games, historical scholarship, and college-level pedagogy.”
Some of his recent posts center around a game by Harold Buchanan called Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection. For ideas on how to use this game in a history classroom, check out his post from Sept. 27, 2017: “Essay prompts for Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection.” In the comments you will find feedback from the game’s creator, Harold Buchanan.

Access the Ludica blog here: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/6500/ludica

Additionally, Patrick operates a Facebook group called “Games in the college classroom.” To join the group, click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1773710516258929/ 

Are you interested in being featured on the CGN website? If so, submit a blog post on any topic related to GBL in higher ed., and/or send links/descriptions of your blogs to contactcunygames@gmail.com. Stay tuned for another guest contribution next Monday. 

Blog, What We're Reading Now

Game-Based Learning as Professional Development

CUNY Games Network member Anders Wallace has a great post up on the blog of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Office of Career Planning and Professional Development about the ways that game-based learning can be professional development for faculty. In Game-Based Learning: from Teaching to Professional Development, Anders reviews GBL and discusses a workshop that the CUNY Games Network offered last year. He notes that:

One of the reasons most people turn to game-based learning (GBL) is that they want to enliven their classroom. This blog post discusses some reasons, benefits, and drawbacks for using game-based learning as part of your teaching practice. It also discusses some simple ways to get started, as well as some resources that can take you further should you find that your curiosity is piqued.

Head on over to the Office of Career Planning and Professional Development’s blog and read the whole piece!