For my digital project, I chose Games & Colonialism from the MIT Game Lab. This research project began in 2017 and examines the history of colonialism-themed board games and what these games can tell us about colonialism and society today. The project is connected to the MIT Game Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This section focuses on the project’s research activities from 2017 to 2019.
The project is led by researchers Mikael Jakobsson and Mary Flanagan. It examines how historical events are presented through games and how games can affect the way people understand history and interact with one another.
One part of the project is Creating Counter-Colonial Games. This part uses workshops to create games through cultural engagement with people affected by colonialism. It gives people an opportunity to help create games that explore colonial history and different cultural perspectives.
This project connects to Digital Humanities because it uses games to study history, culture, and people’s experiences. Instead of looking at games only as entertainment, the researchers study how games represent historical events and social issues. This is important because games can influence how people understand the past and how they think about society today.
