The UCL Institute of Archaeology is delighted to host the 41st annual Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference in December 2019. Founded in 1937, the Institute is one of the largest centres for world archaeology, archaeological sciences and heritage & museum studies in the UK, situated in the heart of the capital.
Venue: UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL
The field of archaeogaming, the study of the intersection between archaeology and video games, has been gaining increased academic recognition. Some of the main research strands have included examinations of the ethics of looting in video games and establishing video games as archaeological sites. This session aims to build on this existing research, whilst also inviting new perspectives, specifically examining how power dynamics are produced or reproduced in games from an archaeological point of view.
Whilst archaeogaming studies have tended to focus on digital games, this session is open to submissions focusing on any kind of game, from prehistoric gaming pieces to 19th century boardgames to upcoming video game releases. We are open to considering a wide range of interpretations of this core theme. Some suggested topics, which are by no means exhaustive, include:
· Colonialism and historical/archaeological games · Power dynamics in games affected by race/gender/sexuality/age/disability · Accessibility and games · Working conditions in games development and archaeology
We particularly encourage submissions from individuals outside of the academy, from other disciplines, individuals who have not presented at a conference before and those at undergraduate level. If you would like to submit but are concerned about conference fees, please do get in touch as we are passionate about making this session as accessible as possible. There will also be a digital stream of the session on Twitter for those who cannot present in person.
As stated in the abstract, we are very keen to have a digital stream for this session running alongside it (e.g. Twitter papers) to allow for greater accessibility. If you have any questions about our proposed session please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Organisers: Florence Smith Nicholls; Independent Scholar • Sara Stewart; Independent Researcher
13:30 | Timon Dawid du Toit, University of Pretoria | A Heritage-Focused Video Game on uKhahlamba Drakensberg Traditions
13:50 | Amanda Gomes, Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University | Booms and Bombs- Situating Breath of the Wild within the “Jomon Boom” trend
14:10 | Ricardo Shankland, Independent Scholar | How the Archaeology of Amazons helped Women in to War Games
14:30 | Xavier Rubio-Campillo, University of Edinburgh, School of History, Classics and Archaeology / Murphy’s Toast Games | Education or fun? Creating video games to promote archaeological thinking
14:50 | Angus Mol, VALUE Foundation | A Game of Stones: Playing with Tim Ingold’s Materials against Materiality
15:10 | - | BREAK
15:40 | Benjamin Hanussek, University of Warsaw | (Digital) Game Archaeologies: Going Digital to understand Material/Going Material to understand Digital
16:00 | Hanna Marie Pageau, University of Cardiff | A Tale of Careers : Archaeogaming and Accessibility
16:20 | Aris Politopoulos, Leiden University; Angus Mol, VALUE Foundation | Dangerously Fun: Politics, play, past, and the phenomenon of archaeogaming
16:40 | Florence Smith Nicholls, Independent Scholar | Working is Broken: Labour Conditions in Commercial Archaeology and Video Game Development
